Bizarre, Criminal law

Suspected Burglar Hides In Lake From Police . . . Alligator Eats Suspected Burglar

3e9572f41e724a37896c231dd0689f88There is a bizarre tragedy in a criminal matter out of Florida where suspected burglar Matthew Riggins, 22, allegedly was fleeing a crime scene and hiding from police in Barefoot Bay, Florida. He chose unwisely. He hid in a lake where he was eaten by an alligator.

Rigging was attacked by an 11-foot long alligator. Police say that he called his girlfriend to tell her he would be in the area breaking into homes. Two men were later seen dressed in black and lurking around homes. Police used a dog to search for the men.

Some of Riggins remains were recovered from within the stomach of the alligator.

It is unclear if they caught the second man. If police have enough to charge a felony break-in, the man could have a charge linked to the death. Prosecutors often bring charges, even felony murder, for deaths that occur in the course of a crime. This can include a co-conspirator. However, here the death was caused by a wild animal away from the crime scene. It would seem an unlikely basis for a charge. However, a court could consider the death at sentencing as part of the overall costs of the crime.

Source: Yahoo

28 thoughts on “Suspected Burglar Hides In Lake From Police . . . Alligator Eats Suspected Burglar”

  2. Beldar – you have to kill the gator to examine the contents of its stomach. Once a wild animal kills a person, they are euthanized, regardless of provocation. Because they get a taste for it and add people to their list of easy prey items. Plus, they need to confirm COD.

  3. That’s a bad way to go.

    I see pics like this, and I think, why? This guy looks young, healthy, with his whole life in front of him. He could have joined the Peace Corps, the military, the Red Cross . . . anything. He could have had adventures or helped humanity, or both.

    Instead he became a thief and got eaten by an alligator. No concept of how hard it is to earn something for a thief to steal. And the girlfriend – what is wrong with her self respect that she’s dating a thief?

    I always wish these kids had some catharsis, some turning point so they would pick another path at that crossroads. The jails are full of them, and the morgues. Although death by gator was not usually one of the risk factors for a life of crime.

    Why do people in Florida or Louisiana even set foot in freshwater without checking it out first? Maybe they just get desensitized. I’ve seen people splash into the water in LA to bring up a baby gator for show and tell, while I’m sitting there gobsmacked. Oh, maybe that’s why.

    1. you have to do a necropsy on the alligator to get the rest of the body. Have to kill the alligator to do that.

  6. There are several depressed lawyers in Florida today… depressed because the alligator is no longer alive…

    They were ready to file suit on the alligator for excessive use of force in the apprehension of a suspect and failure to Mirandize Mr. Riggins.

    Funny how Darwinism sometimes works out for the best.

  8. This case was tried under natural law: The strong survive, the weak get eaten.

  11. They are the Florida Gators for a reason. 🙂 You would really have to twist the law in knots to get felony murder into this or even into the sentencing?

  13. Donald, I like your anti-PC humor. You know PETA actually believes there should be no animal mascots.

  14. The alligator was upset and ate this man because it feels it is discriminated against by the university of Florida. It wants that university to change the name of its sports teams.

  15. Washington has an interesting felony murder statute. The statute does not apply if one of the participants in the crime dies. So if this event happened in our state, there would be no murder prosecution of the other burglar.

    Alligators are not native to Washington so we had to adjust our felony murder law accordingly.

  16. I think the nature of the death is too attenuated from the crime to fall under the felony murder rule. And I agree that the alligator shouldn’t have been killed. It was merely exercising it’s rights under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” Law.

  17. This was a perfect ending to the story. Justice could not have been served any better: Execution by alligator for attempted burglary. Anything less would have been a crock full of baloney. The only sad part is the alligator was killed, too. Executioners shouldn’t have to die for doing their noble jobs.

Comments are closed.