California police discover skull of man thought to have killed himself by guillotine

Officers think a man died by suicide using his homemade contraption but his body went undiscovered for two years

A California man killed himself with a makeshift guillotine in an unusual and macabre case that resulted in the arrest of an alleged squatter who police say tampered with human remains.

Police believe Robert Enger built the contraption, which was 20ft in length and dropped a large metal spike down rather than a blade, at his Santa Rosa home as early as 2019, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported. Neighbors told the newspaper that Enger was friendly and an unbelievable craftsman", who also struggled with mental health problems for many years.

In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org