Icicle Murder

[big boss]

So I have a bet going with my friend that no one has ever murdered someone with an icicle before. I've spent a while searching on google and haven't found any reported such cases. I was wondering if any of you have ever heard of such an incident/think it is even possible. I can see it being possible if you stab someone in the throat or just have a big enough icicle that won't break when you hit someone I guess.. I'm not specifically looking for an icicle falling off a roof and hurting/killing someone but those stories can be interesting.

[Sheikh al-Majaneen]

Wasn't that in a movie?

[eSOANEM]

I'm not sure an icicle would be able to cause sufficient harm to kill someone without itself breaking first.

[Chen]

Wasn't that in a movie?

Die Hard 2. People are killed fairly often by falling icicles but probably because its just a heavy mass of ice falling from a decent height. I don't know about actually stabbing someone with one. I suppose it should be possible depending on where you hit. Never heard of it actually happening in real life.

[bluebambue]

A falling icicle can kill, according to Mythbusters.
I think you could wield one with enough force, as well.

[Zarq]

(it's fake)

[Deva]

Has never heard of it happening. Imagines it to be possible. Has suggestions for the murderers out there.

Spoiler:

Sharpen/shape it to a point for stabbing. Thinks the eyes would yield easily. Guesses that puncturing the vein in your wrist might be effective, if it can manage that.

Could also use it as a blunt instrument by using the other end. Trap the victim against something solid and hammer away at the head. Use the pieces if it shatters. Amounts to the same as using your hands.

Force open the victim’s mouth. Ram the icicle down their throat. Follow up with more as necessary. Creates a choking hazard, if the direct strikes somehow fail.

Attach icicles to the victim’s skin to chill them. Requires several to be effective, as well as an incapacitated victim and time.

[Chen]

Eyes may be soft enough but the skull underneath is still somewhat strong. I'd think the neck/throat would probably be the most vulnerable part of the body to a sharp icicle.

[GenericPseudonym]

In general, I would think an icicle would be too fragile to really stab through much without breaking the point, but using it as a blunt instrument could be perfectly valid. That said, getting an icicle large enough to beat someone to death with seems like it would be difficult, and unless the killer had some sort of ice obsession they would probably use something more convenient.

[TaintedDeity]

You could just make a mould yourself for an optimally shaped ice murder weapon.

[Ptolom]

The advantage, of course, is that it melts and leaves behind no weapon for the police to find. They'll be searching for a big spikey weapon and think nothing of the puddle of water in the sink.

[GenericPseudonym]

They could identify the mold, though. You'd be better off using something wooden and then burning it, I think.

[Chainer]

Or you could use a frozen leg of lamb.

[Midnight]

use an icicle without a mold, then.

if you do use a mold, use a wooden one and burn the mold in the safety of your own home.

or something.

[thorgold]

-Stabbing-
An icicle of any sharpness would be more than sufficient to gouge out the eyes. With sufficient force and a large enough icicle (for strength), one could possibly fracture the skull and destroy the brain (sharpness would not matter once it enters the eye socket, and the icicle would turn into a stake at that point). However, icicles that can be wielded as weapons lack the characteristics necessary to pierce skin - handheld icicles are too weak, with dull points lacking the piercing power and sharp points breaking too quickly. Attempting to stab someone with an icicle would amount to stabbing someone with a new, unsharpened (aka flat end) pencil. With sufficient mass and force, an icicle *could* pierce skin, but the forces required would be impractical for handheld use.

-Blunt trauma-
Icicles are extremely brittle when used as blunt weapons. When swung like a club, the end that makes contact with a target will almost always snap away from the "handle." However, thick icicles can withstand the force of being swung hard - so, icicles pose a powerful one-strike weapon. An icicle wielded with two hands (two to three feet long and of sufficient width) could easily break bones or kill with a blow to the head. Handheld icicles (one to two feet) would have a similar effect to using a glass bottle as a weapon, capable of incapacitating or heavily bruising. Even when broken, chunks of the icicle can be used like rocks.

Synopsis:
As a stabbing weapon, icicles are only practical on easily subdued or already restrained victims. Icicles of practical size are incapable of stabbing through most skin and clothes. The eyes are the only easily stabbed points, and striking those in active combat would be a notable feat. As a blunt weapon, icicles are more useful, capable of killing or severely impairing with a first swing and retaining use as blunt weapons after shattering.

All in all, an icicle would be a weapon of eccentricity or improvisation.

In my knowledge, I have heard of two people killed by falling icicles (no murder). Both were killed as they were removing icicles from buildings and unwittingly causing a chain reaction of falling ice - the only difference is that one was a college student fooling around, another was a homeowner trying to prevent a roof collapse after a heavy snow/sleet.

[Plasmic-Turtle]

They could identify the mold, though. You'd be better off using something wooden and then burning it, I think.

Ooooh, nice idea.

The problem is that the weapon really isn't the only issue as far as things to get rid of go... there's still a body that has clearly been the victim of murder, your dislike of the person that might give you motive and make you a suspect, your whereabouts to be otherwise explained, and the forensic evidence that might be left behind in the icicle puddle or elsewhere: a footprint in the snow, etc.
Bugger, now I'm going to spend the whole afternoon trying to work out how I'd kill someone.

[Randomizer]

Does it count if you put a piece of rebar or something in your icicle? Or dissolve some kind of chemical substance in the water before you freeze it to stiffen it? Or does it have to be pure H2O (or at least as pure as standard tap water)?

What would happen if you managed to extract all the dissolved air and froze the water in a vacuum so that the ice wouldn't expand? Would the added density make the ice stronger?

Would freezing the ice to extremely cold temperatures have any affect on its durability over keeping it at the just below freezing point? I know ice cream is a lot harder when it's frozen to -40 than when it's frozen to 32 F.

Bugger, now I'm going to spend the whole afternoon trying to work out how I'd kill someone.

Someone should sig that.

[Menacing Spike]

They could identify the mold, though. You'd be better off using something wooden and then burning it, I think.

Or make an ice mold, and then melt it also!

[You, sir, name?]

A falling icicle can kill, according to Mythbusters.
I think you could wield one with enough force, as well.

Anyone living in a reasonably cold climate will doubt that. Icicles of this size is not at all uncommon

Spoiler:

add a five story drop and you've got more than ample ingredients to crush a person.

-Blunt trauma-
Icicles are extremely brittle when used as blunt weapons. When swung like a club, the end that makes contact with a target will almost always snap away from the "handle." However, thick icicles can withstand the force of being swung hard - so, icicles pose a powerful one-strike weapon. An icicle wielded with two hands (two to three feet long and of sufficient width) could easily break bones or kill with a blow to the head. Handheld icicles (one to two feet) would have a similar effect to using a glass bottle as a weapon, capable of incapacitating or heavily bruising. Even when broken, chunks of the icicle can be used like rocks.

The foot of the icicle end should work fairly well for skull-smash-innery. Blocks of ice are quite sturdy.

[Carnildo]

What would happen if you managed to extract all the dissolved air and froze the water in a vacuum so that the ice wouldn't expand? Would the added density make the ice stronger?

It's not trapped air that causes water to expand when it freezes, it's a change in molecular structure.

[You, sir, name?]

What would happen if you managed to extract all the dissolved air and froze the water in a vacuum so that the ice wouldn't expand? Would the added density make the ice stronger?

It's not trapped air that causes water to expand when it freezes, it's a change in molecular structure.

Air still introduces defects in the ice crystal lattice. Presumably this is why still water freezes into a clear solid while rapid water freezes into an opaque, white solid.