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Remember the Bud Light “Real Men of Genius” commercials? As I recall, most of them were genuinely funny, and while there is nothing funny about murder, this report about a New York man caused me think about the theme of that ad campaign. That, or the proverbial Darwin Awards. Maybe both.

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Anyway, the man was arrested for murder after he tried to drop off his dad’s dead body at a sheriff’s office. Among the obvious problems: the dead man’s body contained two gunshot wounds.

Livingston County (NY) Sheriff Thomas Dougherty told the media that 30-year-old Richard Fluegel Jr. dropped off the body of Richard Fluegel Sr. at the sheriff’s office at the Livingston County Government Center on Monday.

Definitely too weird for “Forensic Files.”

“Livingston County is a safe place,” Sheriff Dougherty told the media, adding: 

This kind of stuff doesn’t happen. We don’t have people just show up and say they have a dead body with them and they’d like to turn in. It’s not common.

Dougherty seemed incapable of understanding what had happened as he repeated, in different words:

That’s very abnormal, as you can imagine. I have never heard of that in my career here. I don’t think a lot of law enforcement agencies have people doing that. It’s a very unique situation where someone calls and says ‘Yeah, I’m here and I want to turn in a body.’

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Much less that the body was of the father of the man who tried to “turn it in.”

Dougherty said the victim had driven his car from his home at 2 p.m. on Sunday, and never returned, which alarmed his family. He further explained:

Ultimately, his family files a missing person report and on early Monday morning — so now you are into the 9th [hour] hour — it entered into our realm at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office because, using technology, they were able to locate the vehicle in the village of Dansville.

Dougherty said a search warrant was issued in Livingston County, and Fluegel Sr. lived in an adjacent county. He added:

Why did he come down here? Meaning dad come down here and meet son, and then what interaction occurred? How did we end up in this place with a really unfortunate, tragic story? It’s one of those things that doesn’t make a ton of sense to the family — doesn’t make a lot of sense to us, and so that’s our job is to determine what happened.

Fluegel Jr., who doesn’t have a criminal record, was charged with murder, criminal use of a firearm, and evidence tampering. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was remanded to the Livingston County Jail.

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A preliminary hearing was set for Monday.

A Couple of Thoughts

While it’s way too early to speculate, as is often the case with untold numbers of murders across the country, I can’t help wondering about what would cause a son to kill his own dad. A family history that finally boiled over? An out-of-control temper? Alcohol or drug abuse gone terribly bad? 

Whatever the reason, stories like this one, while they’re all too common, sometimes cause me to think about those of who are blessed by the love of family members, and how much we love them.

I’m sure I’ll say again, but Merry Christmas, everyone.