Studies show that Facebook is cited as the cause for approximately one-third of all divorces. I had a case a few years ago related to this correlation.
A husband had noticed that his wife was becoming more distant. She was also watching more true crime television shows, especially shows involving when women “snap” and kill. He did not think much of it.
Unbeknownst to the husband, his wife had reconnected with a past boyfriend on Facebook. The wife and former boyfriend rekindled their old romance online and eventually fell back in love with each other. Rather than simply file for divorce, the wife and past boyfriend concocted a scheme to murder the husband so they could live happily ever after.
They came up with a plan for the boyfriend to dress up as a burglar, in dark clothes and face covering. The boyfriend was to “break-in” to the marital home while the wife was conveniently away and the husband was at work. The boyfriend had to wait until the husband came home from work, then kill the husband, with the whole affair coming off as a real “whodunit” burglary/homicide.
Well, as they say, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray. In order to steel his nerves for the killing, the boyfriend (who was not a very big fellow), decided to get some liquid courage. At some point during this staged burglary, he drank whiskey while sitting on the couch waiting for the husband to come home. The boyfriend was all dressed up for the murder with a shotgun or rifle in his lap as I recall.
The only problem was that the boyfriend passed out on the couch from drinking too much liquor. The husband (who was a fairly big fellow) came home from work, found the would-be assailant and effectively diminished the inebriated threat.
At some point, the struggle wound up outside and the husband’s truck was shot. The husband called 911 and the boyfriend was arrested for various felonies. The entire sordid affair came to light and as my memory serves me, both the wife and boyfriend went off to prison.
This reminds me of another case I had where there were some fellows sitting in a bar drinking midday. This was the type of bar that when you walked in, everyone would turn and look to see who was entering. Imagine a small bar with a pool table and a few slot machines.
Well, another fellow had the idea to rob the bar with a shotgun. He walked in with the gun and confronted the barkeep for money. The patrons of the bar quickly disarmed the assailant and beat him down with his own gun, breaking the gun. Law enforcement arrived shortly thereafter, arrested the assailant, and he was later sentenced to prison.
