<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/strangeattractor/sets/72157613204963059/" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1238" style="vertical-align: top; border: 0; margin: 8px;" title="3245267236_5fc2156b35" src="http://strangeattractor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/3245267236_5fc2156b35.jpg" alt="3245267236_5fc2156b35" width="400" height="266" /></a>

<em>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. </em>

<em>Can the fugitive be held responsible for the woman's death?</em>

A neurologist answers, over at <a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=scared-to-death-heart-attack" target="_blank">Scientific American</a>

[photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/strangeattractor/sets/72157613204963059/" target="_blank">nightmare #3</a> by Mark Pilkington]