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Is a Murderer Always a Murderer?

The Extraordinary Case of Raffi Kodikian and David Coughlin

By Eliza Brackenridge JonesPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Raffi Kodikian in Court - Photo Copyright © 1999 Eric Gay/PA/Europe Newsweek

Why do people kill? Is every murder a result of aggression? Or are some an act of mercy? Just under half of all murders are a result of an argument, a revenge attack, or a loss of temper. Then there are the premeditated cases where people plan for months how to commit the "perfect" crime and then others who act sporadically and simply can’t help but do the inhuman acts that they do. However, is there another category of killer?

Prior to August 8, 1999, Raffi Kodikian would have certainly never thought he would or even could take another human life.

Raffi and his best friend David Coughlin were stranded in the Chihuahuan desert, North America, for four days with only each other and the circling buzzards to keep them company whilst their water supply ran dry. The pair had set off on what was expected to be an exciting road trip across America, in late July 1999, travelling from Boston to California, intending to spend time together before Coughlin started graduate school in Santa Barbara. However, the pair never made it to The Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management: Their journey ended in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

On August 4, 1999, the pair decided to make an unscheduled stop in New Mexico to visit the Carlsbad Caverns National Park, as recommended by David’s Uncle, because the duo were a whole day ahead of schedule. They called at the visitor’s centre and filled out their information and their intended length of stay—one night. Raffi and David were then read the list of guidelines for backcountry camping. The two essentials they needed were water and a topographical map. “There is no water in the backcountry. So you must carry what you need. A minimum of one gallon per person per day is recommended.” The gift shop only had pints of water on display meaning 16 would be the equivalent required; the pair took three.

After the friends had taken a circuitous route to find a camping spot, they pitched up then talked for a while looking across the desert before turning in for the night. In the morning, after clearing up their belongings, Raffi and David set off on what they thought would be a simple walk back to their car in the cool 24°C heat. They approached a cairn, which they recalled from the day before and from there continued on what they thought was the short path back to civilisation. With the pair remembering there was a full bottle of Gatorade left in the car and the knowledge that it wasn’t far, they got out the remainder of their water and drank the bottles dry.

Raffi and David then spent the next three days wandering aimlessly in heat soaring up to 40°C. They searched for any site of recollection from their untroubled walk into the desert; whilst attempting to make sense of the topographical map but with neither of them using one before or being experienced geographers, it was a lost cause. They survived off a short rainfall and water from cacti for the next three days with some degree of hope until the night of the seventh. David spent the whole night retching in a state of complete agony, feeling like the end was imminent. They had both given up, their hope had gone, along with their water. Together they wrote their goodbyes and even how they wished to be cremated. The pair took the decision upon themselves to end their prolonged suffering and end their lives in unity, yet both failed to execute the fatal slice to their wrists. That morning of August 8, Raffi made a final entry to the journal—“I killed & buried my best friend today. Dave had been in pain all night. At around 5–6, he turned to me & begged that I put my knife through his chest. I did, & a second time when he wouldn’t die, He still breathed & spoke, so I told him I was going to cover his face. He said OK. He struggled, but died. I buried him w/love. God & his family & mine, please forgive me.”—Raffi Kodikian.

A few hours later Raffi Kodikian, the campsite and the burial site of David Coughlin was discovered by park ranger Lance Mattson.

Raffi Kodikian is a murderer, Raffi Kodikian stabbed a man to death but does Raffi Kodikian deserve the prison sentence for murder?

The case of David Coughlin is obviously a unique one. Raffi admitted to the murder, there was no dispute there, but that didn’t make things much easier. The consequence of a murder is time in prison, but how long do you give a man who killed for humane reasons and makes the jury, defence and even the prosecution question their morals? The case runs more like a survival story than a murder case file. Yet remarkably it is both. David begged Raffi to end his life so Raffi did, not wanting his friend to suffer any longer, but does this break the conventions of a murderer to create a new category?

A mercy killer.

innocence
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About the Creator

Eliza Brackenridge Jones

20 year old aspiring Journalist

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