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15th Jul 2022

Dad accidentally killed himself when he tried to scare fiancee after they watched American Horror Story

Kieran Galpin

Dad accidentally killed himself when he tried to scare fiancee after they watched American Horror Story

The two had gone into town for some drinks

A father accidentally hanged himself after trying to scare his fiancée, who had just watched Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story.

Phillip Burns, 36, died on February 28 after trying to scare his girlfriend, Michelle Delahunty-Evans, who had turned around from the TV to see he’d hanged himself on the living room door.

Delahunty-Evans phoned the emergency services and attempted to administer CPR but sadly it was too late, reports the Mail Online.

'completely broken her heart'.

Attending a hearing about his death, Delahunty-Evans said that they’d gone to town for “quite a few drinks” before returning home, where they were “joking around, being silly.”

Police on the scene saw indentations on the door frame and toxicology reports showed evidence of heavy drinking and trace amounts of cocaine.

Coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw appeared before the hearing and said that Burns had no prior history of poor mental health nor self-harm. Philip’s mother Andrea McGrath had a statement read out at the hearing that spoke of her “completely broken her heart.”

“I find it hard to believe he has taken his own life,” she said. “I’m more inclined to think that because they were playing around, I suspect this is something he has done that has gone wrong.”

Shee added: “No one will know. Philip can’t talk to us from the grave. I think it’s more likely than not he was mucking around and something went wrong.”

Shaw believes that Burns attempted to scare his girlfriend when the ligature tightened and caused his death.

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