Autoerotic Asphysxiation

I'll Show Myself Out (with my pants down)

A 42 year-old Asian man was found hanging by the neck, suspended by a rope attached to the raised shovel of a John Deere Model JD410, diesel powered, backhoe tractor... The decedent was suspended in a semi-sitting position by a cloth safety harness strap wrapped around his neck and clipped to a rope that was hooked to the raised shovel of the backhoe tractor. A towel was between the loose fitting strap and the victim's neck. A long piece of plastic pipe was connected on one end by conduit tape to the hydraulic control lever of the shovel in the operator's compartment of the tractor. A broom stick was taped to the other end of the pipe and was partially under the decedent's buttocks. The hydraulic shovel could be easily raised or lowered by slight pressure applied to the broomstick.

Autoerotic Asphyxiation, or "scarfing," is the process of cutting off one's air supply to increase the intensity of orgasm during self-pleasure. The theory is that your brain, missing some of that vital life-giving oxygen, goes completely bugfuck when faced with also having to climax at the same time. It might work, it might not.

However, the term has quickly grown to mean the process of doing this act wrong, that is, cutting off one's air to the point that the victim never gets around to that all-important "bring the air supply back" step. And therein, shall we say, lies the rub.

Unlike other accidential suicides, Autoerotic Asphyxiation leaves the victim in a completely untenable situation: not only are they dead, but they are often naked or mostly naked, surrounded by whatever other "tools" have been part of the fun (pornography, ball gags, restraints), and in some sort of an awkward position, having desperately fought to release themselves from their deadly setup. This is especially hard on parents, friends, relatives, and whatever group of folks happens upon the body; there really isn't any doubt WHY you're dead, and a note is never left... well, not usually. One youth in Canada left the following note next to himself, obviously planning for the worst:

"When you find my body hanging ... with a tight noose around my neck, do not look for a murderer. I have executed myself. I say execute rather than suicide because I didn't really intend to hang unto death."

In all, hundreds of these deaths occur each year, a tribute to how alluring the idea of getting one extra kick out of the Ol' Jerk-n-Spurt truly is. And like many such accidental deaths, there's really no warning signs to look out for, just the sorry tale afterwards... and the pleadings of the family to put something, anything, on the death certificate but what really happened.

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