Ignorance or manslaughter?

This last week there's been several posts in the groups I belong to concerning a woman who's been arrested and charged with manslaughter, the charges may be amended to a murder charge at a later date depending on further developments.

The way the husband of the woman who's been arrested died was suffocation, at least that's what the news says.
He was bound around the legs and arms, had a ball or ball gag inserted into his mouth and taped into place with duck tape, which was wrapped around his head and eyes leaving only his nostrils clear to breath through. She left him alone bound like that for about 20 hours before he was discovered dead.

According to others this was not the first time that they had practiced this form of BDSM, this time though he died. From police reports the time she spent away from her husband she was in a motel with a man she'd met on the Internet. She paid for his ticket and flew him from California to spend time with him. In the past few months she'd apparently spent time with other men as well.

She broke a cardinal rule, she left someone who was helpless and totally dependent on her alone. He had no way to get loose, no one to know that something was going wrong, no one to release him so he could breath, alone with no sound but those of his own body in the darkness, his eyes taped shut.

One thing that cannot be stressed enough is safety, the majority of those who live an alternative lifestyle do so under the rules of SSC (Safe Sane Consensual) or RACK (Risk Aware Consensual Kink). The two may sound very similar but not quite the same.

Those who practice SSC make things as Safe as possible, they know the risks in what they do and do everything they can to make sure that their partner is not harmed. While it's arguably not sane to enjoy hurting or controlling someone, or enjoy being hurt or controlled, we do try to keep it as sane as possible. Whatever we do it's consensual, even rape or interrogation play, all parties involved do so with full knowledge and consent of what is happening. There are safe words involved, all you have to do is say it and everything stops.

Those who follow RACK know the risks involved in the type of play they're involved in and do everything they can to lower that risk to an acceptable level for all. They're aware of what they're doing and learn as much as they can about it. Again all parties involved consent to what happens. They know what they do is a kink or fetish, they enjoy it and have learned as much about the tools required to fulfill that kink that they possibly can.

Notice there's some similarity there, safety or lowering the possibility of injury. In no way is it safe to leave someone who's only means of breathing is two tiny holes in the tape, for a few minutes while you go to the bathroom or something is ok but not for minutes or hours at a time. And you certainly don't leave the property you're on and drive off.

A person tends to sweat, normally with the clothing we wear it's not noticed, it evaporates in the air around us unless it's very hot or humid. If you close skin off from the air as you do with tape or cling wrap that moisture from the sweat builds up underneath it and that barrier can slip a bit. It's possible that the tape around his head slipped and covered his only means to breath.

So why did she do it, did she not know the risks that she was taking with his life by leaving him alone, or is it as her sister in law stated that she would do anything to get back her single life again?

I guess only time will tell, or at least we may find out when the trial is over. Meanwhile no matter what your personal views on it are, please try to be safe.