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Has there been a case where a conjoined twin murdered their other half and survived? What was the out come?

One of the twins have control of the body and the other one is intelligent but can only communicate by blinking or lip smacking.

Lets say they go to Mexico and only half came back. What could the twin expect from legal repercussions or exemptions?

Muze
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  • You would die of corruption. A grievous crime upon your own body enforces its sentence; and no law of man can change the laws of biology. – Joshua Jul 31 '23 at 20:02

1 Answers1

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Murder is Murder

Adding all the elements of murder are proven beyond reasonable doubt then the person gets convicted. The fact that they were a sibling would be considered in sentencing as it always is.

Dale M
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  • Let's say I have a conjoined twin with a condition that threatens my life. Am I allowed to kill/separate from the twin in order to preserve my life? Is it considered self defense or not? – Some Guy With a Tomato Dec 17 '19 at 17:49
  • Hi. Do you have any source or precedent to back this answer up? Doctors often have to make life-and-death calls, and I doubt the death of one of a pair of conjoined twins would be treated as murder in most circumstances. – Stef Aug 02 '23 at 09:01
  • @stef the OP described the killing as murder, so that’s what it is – Dale M Aug 02 '23 at 12:29
  • @DaleM When my neighbour emptied their ashtray into my garden and my basil died, I also described it as murder. But somehow I doubt that my neighbour would get convicted for murder. My point is: I completely disagree with the logical link in your sentence "the OP described it as murder so that's what it is". We have judges and juries and lawyers and laws and precedents, and just someone using the word murder is certainly not enough for any action to be judged a murder. – Stef Aug 02 '23 at 12:40
  • But the reason I posted my first comment is because I would be genuinely interested in evidence supporting your answer. I strongly doubt that the death of a conjoined twin to save the other twin would ever be treated as murder unless under extremely specific circumstances; but I would be interested in any legal source where this actually came up. – Stef Aug 02 '23 at 12:41
  • Killing a conjoined twin to save the other bears strong similarities with choosing between saving the fetus or newborn versus saving the mother, in the context of a difficult pregnancy or childbirth. But it is a lot less politically charged (just because conjoined twin are very rare), which makes any legal decision that much more interesting. – Stef Aug 02 '23 at 12:44
  • @Stef that’s a different question from the one that was posted. If you want to know the answer to that question, questions are free. – Dale M Aug 02 '23 at 21:35