A man killed himself in a rental car (kind of gross)

[malmalthekiller]

This story was told to me by my sister, who manages a branch of a well-known rental car company. This story made the local news, so maybe somebody has heard it.

But a man rented a car from them, and then proceeded to murder his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, and hold her hostage in a Philadelphia parking lot. The cops had to shoot out the tire to keep him from driving away again, and he eventually let her go.

Then, he shot himself in the head in the car.

Obviously, the car was completely messed up beyond repair. My sister had to call where it had been towed to-asking how bad the damage was. The attendant told her it was completely soaked in blood, busted tire, with a hole in the ceiling, and there was no fixing it. It would've cost more to completely gut the car than the car originally cost.

Now, I don't know how other car rental companies work, but this particular company owns their cars, and therefore when one is ruined beyond repair, it's obviously the customers responsibility to pay for it. It's in the contract that you sign.

So, later that day the man's mother called. Guess what she wanted? She wanted to know if they couldn't just clean it out, so they didn't have to pay for the car.

Your son had kept a dead body in the car, and then blew his brains out, and you think it can just be shampooed out? Nobody would want to rent that car. I think you should be more concerned that your son is dead, than trying to save some money, but that's just me.

[RootedPhoenix]

O.o People are so.....weird.

[depechemodefan]

Well, the mother is distraught...but also, trying to get out of the responsibility. I feel sorry for the mother but I doubt that the rental company is breaking down her door to settle it now. So maybe she should be less worried about the car and more worried about the mess her son made (with other people's lives).

And couldn't the guy just been man enough to just tp the boyfriend's house then go after the ex and her new bf?

[Pedersen]

Well, minor nit, but the mother is not responsible for the debt. Her son's estate is responsible for the debt. Chances are that she's the executor, though, so she has to deal with it. Of course, if the car company really won't leave her alone, she could file for bankruptcy in that estate. After all, there's no way her son will make money to pay that debt off now.

[One-Fang]

The company should leave her alone if the son's assets don't cover it. Unless there's some funky laws there, he owns the debt, not her. If he dies with debts and his assets can't pay them all - tough for the owners of that debt. They're not getting paid.

Maybe the comany can donate the car body to her, she can clean it up, and whatever she can sell it for can be used in partial payment. Way to show her cleaning it up ain't gonna fix that!

[RedRoseSpiral]

Uh, did some of you miss the part where the guys mother called the company and not the other way around. And no offence but that's really fucking sick One-Fang.

[malmalthekiller]

Uh, did some of you miss the part where the guys mother called the company and not the other way around. And no offence but that's really fucking sick One-Fang.

Correct, RedRose. My sister, nor anyone from the company contacted her-she called them first. I just thought it was an odd reaction to have at first.

[crazylegs]

Grief does strange things to people, especially in suicide. There can be a very high degree of guilt from the family members left behind.

Pretty much any behaviour from the family (especially the parents) is to be expected.

[PepperElf]

Nobody would want to rent that car

Not unless they were kinda sick in the head.


but i agree... the mother shouldn't be responsible for the car herself... it should only come from the son's estate.

However, since she's the next-of-kin, she is the only one they can talk to in regards to getting the estate to pay for it.

I hope she can get a lawyer to handle the estate for her instead however... It might be easier for her that way.

[persephone]

I hope she can get a lawyer to handle the estate for her instead however... It might be easier for her that way.

And this, specifically, is why I am not the executor of my husband's estate and he is not the executor of mine. Nor am I nor any of my siblings executor on our parents' estates.

Death of a close family member, especially an unexpected death, can cause people to act in ways you wouldn't expect. It messes with your head.

My guess is the mother is very overwhelmed and probably wasn't fully thinking properly. She's probably just trying to figure out exactly what is in her son's estate and what kind of debts need to be taken care of.

Though I do have to say that I'm impressed she's trying. A lot of people would have just waited for the rental company to come after them. Sounds like she's trying to preempt that and make good on her son's debts.

My thoughts are with her. What her son did was horrible and she can't be having an easy time right now.

Her son though? Definitely a sucky customer. Can't think of a possibility for more suck from a rental car customer!

[Shangri-laschild]

When my best friend's dad died, we had to go try to figure out what all he owed and to who and how to sort everything out. We're still finding things and it's been almost 2 years. It was tough getting everything straight and he didn't have a strong connection with the guy and I had never met him, so not a huge huge amount of emotions going in to it. I agree that she wasn't really thinking with common sense. Definitely an odd response though. I feel bad for her having to clean up after her son. The whole situtation sucks for everyone

And as far as the suggestion that if she can't for it out of the estate she shouldn't owe....while it sucks for her, I believe that whoever is your heir (even if they aren't your kid or anything, whoever would get your estate and money) has to take care of your debts. It isn't an if the estate produces enough money type thing or not. It sucks for the person inheriting the debt, but from what I understand that's how it is. It's not the rental car company's fault.

[Pedersen]

Sorry, SLC, but everybody else disagrees on this point. See these links for further info:

• http://www.google.com/search?q=can+you+inherit+a+debt
• http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...it_a_debt.html
• http://answers.google.com/answers/th...id/273376.html

While it's possible to "inherit" a debt, your name has to be on the account, and the other person dies. In which case, you're not really inheriting, so much as fulfilling your agreed upon responsibilities. If you didn't sign up for that debt to start, though, no, you can't inherit it.

At least, not in any way that I was able to find after an (admittedly) short search.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

It's a sad situation all the way around not only for the victims' families but also anyone else close to any of the participants.

But let's keep this thread going civilly and without calling other members out on the boards. Just because someone's opinion may be different from your own is no reason to start an online argument.

And - if someone's post offends you - use the REPORT BUTTON. That's what it's there for.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

[Shangri-laschild]

Sorry, SLC, but everybody else disagrees on this point. See these links for further info:

• http://www.google.com/search?q=can+you+inherit+a+debt
• http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...it_a_debt.html
• http://answers.google.com/answers/th...id/273376.html

While it's possible to "inherit" a debt, your name has to be on the account, and the other person dies. In which case, you're not really inheriting, so much as fulfilling your agreed upon responsibilities. If you didn't sign up for that debt to start, though, no, you can't inherit it.

At least, not in any way that I was able to find after an (admittedly) short search.

Ah well then my friend and I had been understanding wrong, which would actually be nice news for us in some ways

[ditchdj]

I would smart off to her in a very hideous way and tell the dumb bitch to watch "Pulp Fiction" and then she can learn all about going on "Brain Detail".