Question about the Sandra Bland suicide

[Paula Sims]

Hello all,
Forgive me if I'm being ditzy or don't get it, but I have some basic questions about her "suicide".

If she hung herself using the bags from the garbage:
1. From what I've seen those aren't 3mil thick contractor bags. Wouldn't she have ripped those bags and just gotten a throat burn (at the worst)? She wasn't heavy but it doesn't seem to me like those bags could hang a person.

2. When trying to commit suicide by hanging, a normal human's FIRST response (reflex) is to stay alive. Her brain may have wanted to die (adhem..big assumption leap), but her body would have fought it -- at least at first. Wouldn't someone have noticed it?

3. When a person is hung, I was understanding that their personal reflexes (urethra, colon) relaxes so things would have come out "very icky". Didn't hear about that.

I may be wrong - I often am. So please enlighten me as to my misunderstanding.

Thank you

Paula

[marym625]

1. Good questions

The way the supposed bag used was rolled up, it wouldn't have broken.

Question is, why was a large can with a plastic liner in the cell?

I haven't read the full autopsy so I don't know it doesn't say that.

Another good question. You would think there would have been scratch marks on her neck. I read there weren't any.

There are a ton of really fishy things with this

[99th_Monkey]

2. Another question: How could the coroners report say she had "no visible signs of a struggle"

when Sandra was dragged out of the car through a window, wrestled with & thrown to the
ground, subdued and handcuffed, at the very least, as clearly seen on the video. ?

[Warpy]

3. First, what it takes is twist.

I can make a rope strong enough to hold my weight out of toilet paper, perforations and all. It's knowing how to twist things together. It doesn't take much experimentation to figure it out, either.

People commit suicide by hanging all the time and they can usually reach something if they change their minds, or rip the material from around their necks. If they don't change their minds, they finish the process. People have also hanged themselves by accident during auto erotic asphyxiation gone wrong, though this was not the case this time. She wanted to die.

Yes, bowels and bladder let go at time of death no matter how death occurs. They wouldn't share that in the media because it's icky.

I just wish there was a way to charge that damned cop with her death. If there had been no DWB stop with him throwing his weight around, she would be alive today.

[BillZBubb]

4. I'm no expert, but I'll give it a shot.

1. If you twist the bags into something like a rope, they are incredibly strong. You might be able to stretch one a very little bit, but not tear it. Try it with any plastic bag.

2. This depends on how the bag was positioned. If the bag prevented breathing, there would be a reaction to try to get it clear. But, in many cases the cord cuts off blood flow to the brain which quickly results in unconsciousness, then death by asphyxiation. In those cases there is no struggle.

3. Bodily functions rely not only on the muscles that constrict passage relaxing, but also on muscles forcing waste out. If Ms. Bland had become unconscious, there would not have been any muscles expelling waste.

That is what I have learned over the years. I cannot guarantee the accuracy.

[NutmegYankee]

5. Let me start by saying I'm highly skeptical that she committed suicide -

1. Lust like rope, the bag is very strong when tightly twisted. You can demonstrate this by tightly twisting toilet paper. It's amazing how much weight can be lifted with it.

2. While people often assume a long strangulation, many suicidal hangings cause death quickly due to pressure on the arteries supplying the brain. A drop in blood flow can cause a person to pass out in seconds after which gravity finishes the job. Women with their thinner necks are more prone to this easier end. This is why hanging is a widely chosen means of suicide around the world.

3. This only happens in some deaths, not all. If the decedent had used the toilet recently, nothing would be stored for release. Also, the "number 2" post-death only happens with loose stools. If your constipated before death, your still constipated after death.

[Downwinder]

6. More:

How were the 30 scabbed over cuts on her wrist not noticed when she showered, deloused, and spread her cheeks all under observation?

[Paula Sims]

7. Thank you all -- your answers help me understand

There still are many questions out there, but at least those I had foremost in my mind were answered.

Paula