Man left his girlfriend to freeze to death

[Trevordidit]

Man left his girlfriend to freeze when she was struggling on a mountain hike.

He's been found guilty of manslaughter.

So many aspects of his account don't make sense - AIBU to wonder if he did it on purpose?

News article

It doesn’t freaking matter. You don’t leave someone on the mountain for several hours in winter overnight seeking help without ensuring they are sheltered! Even if she wasn’t fully incapacitated by then

Like any accident it was a chain of events. There were earlier points at which he could have made different decisions with possible different outcomes. Stubborn pride not asking for help?, revenge?, intentional neglect? Personal survival? who knows really. Its why professional guides in risky sports make people sign disclaimers.

She had exhaustion.
He left her with all of the equipment she needed to help keep herself warm.

He then went to seek help from one of the shelters on the mountain, which have experienced staff or supplies/a phone etc.

In hindsight he should have forced her to put her gloves on and wear the blanket etc. before he left but why did she not do that when she was capable?
You can’t say why didn’t he do it, when she didn’t do it herself.

Its likely that she told him to go and get help from the shelter and she started getting out the blankets (hence no gloves on) and then the hypothermia overtook her.

Sure. Still I’m interested in the evidence as just reading about this case on these threads.

The boyfriend was the more experienced climber (by far) having done winter climbs before. She had much less experience.

He knew she was poorly equipped and relying on his experience but still went on the doomed climb knowing this. This shows complete lack of care for the girlfriend's welfare.

He abandoned her and didn't call for help immediately when she was in need - of course she has autonomy and choices - but his experience meant she was relying on him.

This is clearly negligence to me.

"He told the court he could not explain why he had failed to wrap her in the emergency blanket she was carrying or place her in a bivouac bag"

He also left her on an exposed ridge and the blanket and bivouac bag were still in her rucksack when her body was found the next morning.

The temperature was so cold, the tea in the flask had frozen.

It is only his word for the truth of the events that happened. No one can corroborate his version. That’s why the evidence from the cameras that filmed their lights on the mountain were so important. They can help fill in a partial timeline. Again the calls made by both of them give an indication of what was going on. However there are still a lot of gaps and missing details, therefore suspicion falls on him and is he telling the truth… who knows?

I wonder if he is a man with a volatile nature and did not want to deal with an injured / unwell climbing partner and got mightily pissed off about it all. Did he do anything on purpose? Possibly. Did he make an effort to make things better? Well clearly not much of an effort.

Don't make stuff up.

The huts on the mountain are not open in winter and there is no staff there, experienced or otherwise, and no access to a phone in January.
A winter room will be open which is attached to the main hut with beds and a wood fire but no phone and no staff.

If he had the blanket and pod, I’d have expected him to use them on her on the basis that she definitely needed them immediately, and he may not have needed them at all.
I can’t imagine leaving someone who was sufficiently unwell they could not continue, without sheltering them in whatever they had.
I can’t imagine leaving someone who could not continue without phoning the emergency services at the point of leaving them.

The point of being experienced on these kinds of climbs is that you don’t need to be thinking clearly to know what to do. You instinctively do the correct things, up until the point you lose rationality. He made it down, he was not that badly off.

I hope the other climbers ostracise him, frankly. I wouldn’t want him in my team.

It's clearly negligence on his part. As the much more experienced climber all equipment should have been checked before the climb. The ascent should have been abandoned by him much earlier due to the deteriorating weather conditions.

No, he didn't say that - the court asked why he didn't help her put them on and he said he didn't know. You climb as a team if you're climbing in pairs - you literally have to bivvy each other so both have responsibility for the other. Hence I assume the manslaughter charge for him failing her in that respect.

I just don't understand why he went for help instead of just ringing the emergency services. He had a phone, it was working. There was no need to leave his girlfriend to die (the tea had frozen in their flask so it was obvious she wouldn't survive) while he completed the climb. But that's exactly what he did under the guise of 'going for help.' I think he was at best, a horrifically selfish bastard.

I can feel my blood pressure rising reading so many of these comments. He had form and he got better at his craft as the previous girlfriend survived but this one did not. Maybe there have been others.

Total strangers tried to help but it’s fine for your partner to leave you to die because of your shoe choice is an insane take.

I was erring o the side of tragic accident(though it seemed strange to be ill equiped and the phone being on silent etc),the thing that made me reconsider was reading that his Ex GF testified that he left her on a freezing mountain after an argument and she had to find her way down the mountain alone ,she survived.

Yes. I've read the book and seen the film several times. I've also been to hear Simon Yates (the one Joe left behind) talk and he didn't blame Joe at all for leaving him. He knew it was the right thing to do.

Yes you make good points.

That was a different time, before everyone had mobile phones. Joe literally didn't have a choice. This guy did.

When it comes to the phone call, I believe the alpine police officers story. What possible reason would the police officer have to lie (you can't even say maybe they were being lazy and didn't want to do a rescue, as they had already attempted one with the helicopter). Whereas the man has every reason to lie as he's killed his girlfriend.

You might want to read the book again as it was Simon Yates who cut the rope and left Joe behind.

Apologies. I mixed up the names but the principle remains the same.

its the other way around. Simon cut the rope on Joe after he fell down a crevasse and broke his leg and he miraculously crawled out. Joe and others in the mountaineering community did not blame Simon because it was all he could do in the circumstances up a mountain miles from anywhere with no ability to summon help. They had a similar level of ability and risk tolerance and planned the trip together and I think Joe said he would have done the exact same thing in Simon’s place. People who do extreme adventures like that accept there is a risk of death.

I don’t think it’s comparable to this situation where she would likely not have attempted the climb alone or with anyone else and did rely on him. He was the one who planned the trip and was much more experienced and at all times she could have been rescued and would have expected to be. It’s risk but it’s not the same level of acceptance of a death risk as climbing a remote S American peak days from any civilisation

I just can't understand that mentality. You would leave someone to possibly die rather than deal with their situation?

There is not a doubt in my mind that this was deliberate. I don't think he necessarily planned the trip with murder in mind, but I think he took advantage of the situation, quite possibly to "teach her a lesson".

Her parents said she had climbed many more difficult mountains. Yes but she also had completely inappropriate gear with her and inappropriate boots. She could have told them anything; I could tell my parents I'm an experienced climber because I go to the indoor bouldering place 3 times a week - that doesn't mean I am!

Weeks before the climb Kerstin G messaged Thomas P regarding the pre planned climb saying that it would be a challenge for her. "I completely lack experience when it comes to winter tours."

Therefore the responsibility of her death by gross negligence lies squarely with him because he was the lead with an inexperienced winter tour climber.

If staying means that you'd probably die too, it would be sensible to leave and try to get help. (I'm not saying that's what happened here and it's probably something most people would struggle to do, but it is the most rational way.)

I think it is Killing me Softly