Punch-Drunk Murderer

Abstract

Abstract The potential for athletes to experience dangerous behavioral changes following brain trauma is a topic of significant contemporary concern, particularly considering recent cases of brain-damaged athletes committing acts of criminal violence. Historical examples are far less known. This article examines the earliest known recorded case of sporting brain trauma being used to account for a crime. Raymond Henry Bousquet (aka Del Fontaine) murdered his girlfriend Hilda Meek on July 10, 1935, in London, England. At trial, he claimed he was legally insane at the time due to brain trauma from boxing. This case study examines documents gathered by law enforcement, prosecutors, and Bousquet's defense team, which reveal the contours of brain injury knowledge in England during the 1930s. It further examines the evidence from a feminist perspective, to question how the hypermasculine culture of boxing may have contributed to this crime.