The police department in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., owes the cast of CSI: Las Vegas a solid.
Investigators say an episode of the crime-scene investigation show helped them crack the case of an elaborate suicide plot involving a gun and a weather balloon, which were used to stage the death as a murder.
Alan Jay Abrahamson, 71, was found dead from a gunshot wound in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., in a field near his country club home on Jan 25. No murder weapon was found at the scene and there was no sign of a struggle, police said.
“The only items nearby were a paperclip, a cellphone with earbuds attached and “a small pair of silver metal scissors,” according to the police report.
Investigators also noticed a strange line of blood across Abrahamson’s shoulder that they could not explain.
Homicide detectives were initially puzzled by the death of Abrahamson, who was last seen on security cameras at the country club that morning. The case was treated as a murder, and investigators canvased the area for clues. Meanwhile, Abrahamson’s friends pooled their money to offer a reward for the culprit.
However, no one came forward with information, and no suspects were identified.
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The break in the case came on Feb. 1, when a detective suggested that it might have been a suicide disguised as a murder, with the weather balloon being used to dispose of the suicide weapon.
“Although the theory seemed far-fetched, it was plausible,” the police report said.
“Upon researching this we discovered a television episode of CSI: Las Vegas… In the episode, one of the plot lines was of an individual who staged a homicide by tying a gun to helium-filled balloons, and the [balloons] carried [the] gun from the scene.”
Investigators also identified a real case from 2008 in New Mexico, in which the same method was used and the balloon was found a short distance away, entangled on a cactus.
The Florida investigators dug up Abrahamson’s internet history and found a long list of suicide-related web searches dating back to 2009. They also found email receipts for weather balloons, along with an extensive conversation between the seller and Abrahamson about the lift capacity of the balloons.
Abrahamson’s bank records revealed that he had unnecessarily depleted his retirement savings account in late 2017 and purchased life insurance a short time later.
“It was a suicide made to look like a homicide,” investigators concluded on March 3.
That shift in perspective helped investigators piece together a new theory of the case.
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According to police, Abrahamson drove out to the field where he would kill himself the night before and inflated the weather balloons using tanks of helium. He walked back to the site the next morning and killed himself with the gun.
Police say the gun and the helium tanks were likely carried away by the weather balloons, and have not yet been recovered. They concluded that the strange blood line across Abrahamson’s shoulder was from string used to secure the balloon, and that the scissors were used to snip the string just before the fatal shot was fired.
“Alan was an avid golfer, enjoyed travelling and had a zest for life,” said his obituary, which was published in the Palm Beach Post on Jan. 28.
“He was known for his extraordinary smile, contagious laugh and twinkle in his eyes.”
He is survived by a wife, two sisters, three stepchildren and several grandchildren.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, Depression Hurts and Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 all offer ways for getting help if you, or someone you know, is suffering from mental health issues.