Boyfriend arrested in deadly cannon explosion
EAST COUNTY — A 38-year-old woman was killed and her boyfriend was arrested Tuesday after authorities said the man ignited a homemade cannon that sent shrapnel into their Potrero trailer around midnight.
Authorities were called to the remote property on Potrero Valley Road, north of the Twin Lakes Resort mobile home park, about 12:05 a.m., sheriff’s Sgt. David Martinez said.
When they arrived, they found the woman inside the trailer dead from massive injuries, Martinez said. Her name has not been released.
This is just so full of fail. A homemade cannon? I wonder what he used for the barrel, aluminum cans?
Martinez said Fox had loaded the cannon with powder taken from fireworks.
That’s pretty unstable stuff. It’s designed to go BOOM, not to propel a projectile. Gunpowder burns, fireworks explode. It might seem like they are the same, but they aren’t.
He said alcohol may have played a role in the incident.
Shocking, someone page Captain Renault.
John Arnold, a friend and neighbor of Fox, said, “He liked experimenting with guns and it looks like this experiment went bad.”
So let’s recap. A woman is dead, a child has lost her mother, and a guy is likely to go to prison for some length of time depending on what the search of his trailer turns up.
An all around losing proposition.
Moron.

I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but my homemade cannon hasn’t blown a hole in my wife/house in over 12 years.
Probably not enough beer…
I’d guess that the use of sound engineering and construction practices, proper materials for the barrel, and proper propellent might have something to do with it. Having stood in close proximity to your field piece when it was fired, I have first hand proof of your knowledge and ability.
Errr… I should edit to add, “…12 years of operation”.
Sounds like someone didn’t understand the Mythbusters’ statement at the beginning of each episode: “Don’t try this at home.”
I’d guess there are a lot of things he didn’t understand.