(July 16, 2008)—An old episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” bears an odd similarity to a real-life investigation in New Mexico, where police say they’ve solved the mystery of the shooting death of a Texas man whose body was found in March.
At first, investigators suspected homicide after 55-year-old Thomas Hickman of North Richland Hills, Texas, was found dead March 15 in eastern New Mexico, his mouth covered with duct tape.
But the evidence soon directed them elsewhere.
The clue that linked the case to the TV series was the revolver tied to six or seven white balloons found entangled in a cactus, some 30 feet from the body.
New Mexico state police Lt. Rick Anglada said medical investigators have now ruled the death a suicide after additional evidence led detectives to conclude the scene was staged to look like a homicide.
Police think Hickman attached the helium-filled balloons to the stripped-down handgun, and then used it to shoot himself.
He evidently expected the balloons to carry the handgun away, but that didn’t happen.
Hickman was last seen at a business meeting in Abilene on March 13.
He was supposed to have checked into a Lubbock hotel for a meeting the following day but never showed up.
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