Because of a case currently pending in Gaston County -- story here -- several people have asked me about the law as it concerns scaring a person to death. Let me start off with two caveats. First, this post is not a comment on the Gaston County case, about which I know nothing more than what I read in the newspaper, or on any pending case. It's just a little black-letter law on an interesting subject. Second, I will readily admit to having no special knowledge about the scientific or medical aspects of scaring someone to death. However, it seems like it is possible to scare someone to death, as reflected in a Scientific American article available here. With those caveats in mind, let's look at the law. One can imagine a scenario where grandson, the only heir to grandma's fortune, is desperate to get his hands on the money. Grandma won't turn it loose, and is threatening to change her will to leave all the money to her cat, Truffles, so grandson decides to kill her. Knowing that she has a weak heart, he puts on a hockey mask, hides behind a houseplant, and when the grandma walks by, he leaps out and makes menacing noises. She's terrified, has a heart attack, and dies. That's first-degree murder under the theory of premeditation and deliberation. North Carolina law also provides that a killing "committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or a sex offense, robbery, kidnapping, [...]
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