A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to elude cops after a botched bank robbery, the Associated Press reportsthat 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into and hid out in the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was triggered by terror.
Can the fugitive be held responsible for the woman’s death?
A neurologist answers, over at Scientific American
[photo: nightmare #3 by Mark Pilkington]