Wrongful Death Averted: A Bizarre Story

In Canada this week, a 60-year-old electrician from the City of Oshawa, located just northeast of Toronto is facing numerous charges after allegedly trying to electrocute his wife of more than 25 years in the shower.

The woman was taking a shower one recent Sunday morning when she complained to her husband about experiencing electric shocks whenever she worked the taps. Her husband explained it away as static electricity. However, the woman later discovered a piece of the drywall missing, in the wall between the master bedroom and the ensuite bathroom. She also discovered wires leading to the plumbing.

Upon confronting her husband, the man turned violent and attacked his wife, choking her until she was almost unconscious, according to police reports. The man later fled and led police on a wild chase at speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour along area highways, before he was finally arrested.

Meanwhile another man, also 60, may not have had any direct link to the most recent construction crane accident in New York City that claimed two lives, but the arrest June 6th of the City's chief crane inspector only adds to the suspicion that something was terribly wrong that day in New York, and that the deaths of two construction workers were wrongful deaths, and could have been prevented.

There are several unanswered questions surrounding the latest construction crane accident that happened May 30 in New York. Was the rotating plate that failed, sending the crane cab and it's operator plunging 23 stories to the ground below, improperly repaired when a serious crack was discovered and the plate was taken out of service? Were those responsible for inspecting the weld pressured, in some fashion, to pass it?

Should the compromised plate have been put back into service at all?

Many questions. The fact remains, however, that the current building boom in New York is putting tremendous pressure on the industries and organizations supporting that industry. It has been reported that the City's corps of inspectors are inadequate in number to handle the current demand, and are being run off their feet. Construction cranes are a hot commodity, and there aren't enough to go around. When a crane breaks, or is cited for various reasons and taken out of service, the pressure to get that crane back up and running is palpable.