Did this guy die happy, knowing that his invention worked?

No one dies happy realizing he is dying from doing something stupid.

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Darwin award. He was probably one of those paranoid people. Logic would tell you that someone might come to your house with intentions that are not bad (a neighbor, a relative). What if he had a medical emergency and was unconscious, or a “help me, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” episode, and a neighbor came to help, or local authorities came to help. Stupid.

“Investigators at the scene discovered that Cyr’s front door was rigged with a device “designed to fire a handgun should anyone attempt to enter the door,” according to the police statement. Police reportedly found other “unknown devices” in Cyr’s home that prompted them to call the Maine State Police bomb squad.”

That is pretty much the meat of the article.

And always a fun read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors_killed_by_their_own_inventions

Whether he died happy or not, is immaterial.
What matters is, he died, and that his death brought amusement to millions.

I hope that he passed so fast that he didn’t have time to think ”Oh shit”

I would think he wasn’t very happy about it.

When I used to sell firearms, an ex-military guy told me that he had connected a powerful electric line, to his metal door handle. If anyone touched it, they’d be likely killed. I don’t think he’d be happy to forget his own trap, and fry himself.

I’m opting for a Darwin winner.

Doubt it. I didn’t check the article but if he blew his head off he didn’t realize anything. If his head was untouched and his heart had stopped, he would have been very surprised for a few seconds before blacking out.

@MrGrimm888 I’m always surprised by people who think a hot wire, any old hot wire, will shock. The circuit must be complete for that to happen. Like if he was standing on a metal floor in his bare feet or in a puddle of water that was on the ground when he touched the knob with his hand.

^Not true. I worked with an electrician once. He was working with a live wire, when someone bumped him. His thumb just touched the wire, and poof, his thumb blew off. He was standing on the wooden frame, of a new construction house. When I was working in that trade, they gave us “tweeters.” Little devices, that alarmed, when they were near a livery wire. We put them on every wire, before we touched them. Several of the other employees had missing digits, or even hands…
Once I learned that, I started looking for another job.

He must have been touching both wires to his thumb. For a circuit to be completed, there must be a path for the electricity to follow. Otherwise it would have killed him, because the electricity would have grounded through his feet or his other hand, the electricity flowing through his heart. Electricity, like water, always follows the path of least resistance.

^I understand what you are saying, but if just touch a live wire, it’ll shock you. Do you understand the concept of “horse fences?” You don’t have to be touching anything else. They’ll shock you. I’ve been shocked by them before.