Hammer Ban Coming?

[pa350z]

While I truly feel sorry for this fellow and his family, do we now start a dialogue on hammers?

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/east...l#incart_river

Williams Township man killed himself with hammer, authorities find

The Express-Times
on January 17, 2013 at 3:27 PM, updated January 17, 2013 at 4:34 PM

A 20-week investigation determined a Williams Township man killed himself with a hammer in August, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli announced this afternoon.

Toxicology reports found Michael C. Muretta, 47, was off his medication for schizophrenia and depression when he struck himself with a hammer five or six times in the head, Morganelli said at a news conference. Police found Muretta, who had not been seen for three days, bleeding and unconscious in his basement shortly after noon Aug. 29 after receiving a call from his estranged wife, Teresa Muretta. He died a few hours later at St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill.

Morganelli speculated that Muretta may have been hearing voices at the time of his death, as medical records showed he had in the past. Morganelli said as a young lawyer, he would go to mental hospitals to speak with defendants with mental illnesses. He would often see patients banging their heads against the wall, and doctors told him they were trying to silence the voices in their heads. Morganelli said he had no way of knowing what was going through Muretta's mind in his final moments, but it's possible he was trying to do the same.

"It is possible Mr. Muretta may have been hearing voices. His death may have been an unintended consequence of taking the hammer and striking himself," he said.

Michael Muretta had at least one violent psychotic episode in the past. As a 21-year-old, Muretta stabbed a sleeping Harmony Township man, who survived, news records show. A New Jersey Superior Court judge found Michael Muretta was unable to understand his actions at the time of the attack and found him not guilty by reason of insanity, records show.

Morganelli said investigators determined Muretta and the family dog were the only ones in the house at the time of Muretta's death. Blood spatter covered the walls in four rooms in the basement, but its pattern indicated no one was in the basement with Muretta when he was repeatedly struck in the head, Morganelli said. The front and back doors to the house were locked, he said, and evidence suggests no one went through the one open window in the house. While there was some blood upstairs, investigators believe the dog transferred it by moving back and forth between the basement and the living room, Morganelli said.

The coroner's report observed Muretta's injuries all occurred in the same, small area of his skull. Muretta's family noted the same in an interview earlier this week, saying his casket had to be arranged backwards to hide the wounds to the right side of his head. Morganelli said if Muretta was being attacked, it's likely the bruises would be to different parts of the head as Muretta struggled or tried to avoid the blows.

"There was absolutely no evidence as we have found in our investigation that supported that there was anyone else other than Mr. Muretta responsible for his death," Morganelli said.

In an interview Tuesday, Teresa Muretta and Andrew Muretta, their 19-year-old son, acknowledged Michael Muretta had been behaving oddly in the weeks before his death. He believed someone was following him, and he did not want to leave the house to go to work for the Warren County landfill's solar energy project, they said.

"He wasn't acting right. He wasn't himself," said Andrew Muretta, who said he did not know of his father's mental illness until after his death.

In the same interview Tuesday, Andrew and Teresa Muretta both said they believed Michael Muretta was murdered. The violent nature of the death, his close relationship with his son and stepson and his strong Catholic faith led them to believe Michael Muretta would not take his own life, they said.

"It could not have been suicide. He had too much to live for," Teresa Muretta said Tuesday.

However, the evidence presented by authorities was enough to convince Andrew Muretta. Like Morganelli, he believes his father inadvertently killed himself while battling his inner demons.

"It's hard to believe someone could get enough will to do that, but my father was struggling from depression and was hearing voices inside his head and tried to clear the voices by striking himself with a hammer. Not knowingly, he took his life," Andrew Muretta said in a statement. "My dad was a great guy. No matter what happened, he will always be loved by the family and the friends he had. God is with him now."

Teresa Muretta declined to comment, saying she was too distraught.

[Gun]

While I truly feel sorry for this fellow and his family, do we now start a dialogue on hammers?

No. Nothing came of axes after the Lizzie Borden incident.

[Keith A]

I saw a parody recently that was something like this.

Two guys were looking over a dead guy that was beaten to death by a baseball bat. One guy says "man, I really hope they catch that maniac"

Two guys are looking over the body of a dead man with a knife in his chest. One guy says "man, I really hope they catch that maniac"

Two guys are looking over the body of a dead guy that has been run over by a car. One guy says "man , I really hope they catch that maniac".

Two guys are looking over the dead body of a man that is riddled with bullets. The two guys look at each other and say "man, they should really ban guns!"

[10PointHunter]

Damn, first time I've heard of suicide with a hammer. Talk about determination holy hell

[pa350z]

Damn, first time I've heard of suicide with a hammer. Talk about determination holy hell

It is tragic. For me, its the fist time too. But, it does go to show that a hammer is just as deadly as a firearm and can be used in this manner of death too.

[pacodelahoya]

[QUOTE=pa350z;2254123]While I truly feel sorry for this fellow and his family, do we now start a dialogue on hammers?

The answer to the question is....maybe.
Does the hammer have a contoured grip, making it easier to swing?

Does it have a protective coating on the upper part of the handle to protect it from misses?

Is it capable of hitting more than one nail per swing?

I think as long as it isn't an assault hammer it should be fine.

[Trucks&Gunz]

No their just gonna ban the tactical assault hammers...afterall they want to preserve our fine tradition of home building

[jeep]

That wasnt a normal Hammer it was a assault hammer 6 times to the head yea it was a evil assault hammer

Think of children ban hammers now

[jeepin]

If it saves just one then its worth it

[kimbercarry]

Damn, first time I've heard of suicide with a hammer. Talk about determination holy hell

A fellow about 50+ years ago here drilled "3" 1/2 in holes in his chest trying to hit his heart. Finally hit it on the 3rd try.