Death of David Coughlin

David Coughlin, a traffic policy analyst in his twenties from Boston, Massachusetts, died in August 1999 in Rattlesnake Canyon, part of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico. Coughlin and his best friend since college, Raffi Kodikian, an aspiring journalist, had set off on a road trip from Boston to California in July 1999, where Coughlin planned to attend graduate school. On August 4, the pair arrived at Rattlesnake Canyon and made camp, then set off hiking with only three pints of water and one pint of Gatorade, one pint of which was used to boil hot dogs on their first night. Neither man knew how to properly read the topographical map they carried, and they became lost and dehydrated over the following days, resorting to licking rocks, eating cactus fruit, and drinking their own urine.

According to Kodikian, Coughlin began vomiting on the third night. On August 8, Kodikian wrote in his journal that he had killed and buried his best friend, describing how Coughlin had asked him to put a knife through his chest and that he did so twice. Park ranger Lance Mattson, who had been searching for the pair, found Kodikian severely dehydrated. When asked about Coughlin, Kodikian pointed to a pile of rocks and said, "I killed him."

Kodikian's attorney, Gary Mitchell, characterized the killing as an act of kindness and said it was part of a mutual death pact, with Kodikian intending to kill himself as well but being too weak to do so. Eddy County Sheriff Michael A. Click said Kodikian was "moderately to severely dehydrated" but not close to dying when found. Investigators noted that Kodikian had buried Coughlin's body under rocks, some weighing more than 70 pounds, a task that seemed remarkable for someone in severe dehydration. An autopsy found that while Coughlin was dehydrated, this did not appear to be fatal. One theory explored by investigators involved a claimed liaison between Coughlin and Kodikian's ex-girlfriend; a captain sent to Boston to investigate this found nothing to support it, reporting that no one he spoke with had ever heard a cross word between the two friends.

Kodikian pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. During sentencing, it emerged that Coughlin's vomiting was likely a reaction to unripe cactus fruit rather than an indicator of severe dehydration. Facing a possible maximum of 20 years, Kodikian was sentenced by District Judge Jay Forbes to 15 years with all but two years suspended, followed by five years of probation. He was released in November 2001 after serving 16 months. Coughlin's family released a statement saying that although questions remained, they did not believe Kodikian had acted with malicious intent.