Category:
Death

Your Daily Loser & Jury Duty for May 9th

Your Daily Loser - Where's the best place to teach someone to drive? A smooth, flat stretch of road without a lot of cars would be nice, right? And nevermind if that stretch of road has planes taking off and landing on it... they'll be sure to get out of the way. The son of the airport's manager decided to give his girlfriend a driving lesson. On the runway. His father has since been suspended. The Story.

Jury Duty - And you thought Post-It Notes were harmless... truth is, they are accessories to evil. Walter Healey of Troy, New York, used his Post-Its to record the social security numbers of the thousands of people he planned to abuse for his identity theft scheme. It's bad enough that Healey worked for the state's Tax Department. But I guess that was just good training for his future misconduct. The Story. // The Mugshot. (Healey's in the middle.)

Posted By: Nethie - Sat May 09, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Death, Your Daily Jury Duty, Your Daily Loser, Goofs and Screw-ups

Too Much Of A Good Thing


You may have heard the warnings that people become more depressed in the winter months because of a lack of sunlight. Now researchers are saying that too much sunlight can be just as bad. The study shows that a lack of sleep is the real culprit. It all comes down to maintaining your circadian rhythm. You can read more about the sunlight issue here, and you can find out what a circadian rhythm is here.

Posted By: Nethie - Sat May 09, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Death, Health, Nature, Science, Sleep and Dreams

Midwest Division’s Friday Feast

Turtle Huntin’; Batesville, Ind.: Turtle Huntin’ offers you “the ultimate outdoor adventure,” through guided turtle hunting instruction and hunts. You can read all about turtle hunting at their website, but for a “minor charge” you too can turtle hunt like the pros. Turtle Huntin' Link fixed 2333 May, 9, 2009.

Garbage Clocks; Evanston, Ill: An Evanston man has been featured by CBS Sunday Morning and Thrillist for his clocks made out of garage sale junk. His clocks are available for purchase on Etsy. Thrillist

131 Years of Prayer; La Crosse, Wisc: At the Adoration Chapel of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, Wisconsin; the Sisters have prayed at a consecrated host, the Holy Eucharist, for the past 131 years. Since 1878 the Sisters have prayed at the Holy Eucharist in shifts around the clock. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

11 Year Old Steals Car; St. Cloud, Minn.: An 11 year old was arrested in St. Cloud Minnesota for stealing a car in Waite Park, Minnesota and driving it to the next town. Charges are pending. WCCO

Shoplifter Wrote Address On Job App; Dayton, Ohio: A man shoplifting at a clothing store filled out a job application with his real address before he left and set off the alarms. Chicago Tribune via the Associated Press.

Another BB Gun Robbery, Deadly; Chicago Ill: Ernesto Garcia decided to use a BB gun to rob a gas station. The weapon looked like a real handgun. So, one can assume that the police thought it was real when he refused to put it down. Garcia was shot eight times by the Chicago Police Officer. Garcia was a suspect in 25 other robberies. Chicago Tribune

Posted By: chris_cantwell - Fri May 08, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Boredom, Cops, Crime, Death, Guns, Religion

Your Daily Loser & Jury Duty for May 7th

Your Daily Loser - Ishmael Makone of Johannesburg, South Africa, paid the ultimate price for his stupidity. Apparently noone bothered to warn Makone that it's a really bad idea to be underneath the structure you're trying to tear down, even though the article claims dozens of witnesses had been watching him for days and worrying about his safety.

Jury Duty - This has to be the happiest drunk guy to ever end up in jail. Chris Carter of St. Petersburg, Florida, doesn't seem to mind that he was cited for violating his parole, driving under the influence and holding an open container of alcohol. The Mugshot.

Posted By: Nethie - Thu May 07, 2009 - Comments (10)
Category: Death, Your Daily Jury Duty, Your Daily Loser, Alcohol, Goofs and Screw-ups

Midwest Crime Round Up

Out of Work Teachers Sell Meth; South Bend, Ind: Twin sisters and out of work school teachers, Maria and Michelle Stancati, have plead guilty to dealing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school. Indy Star

Ex-Public Defender Busted in Child Sex Internet Sting;
Marion County, Ind: Ryan W. Snyder, former Marion County Public Defender, was caught in an internet sex sting in February 2008. He has been sentenced to two years in prison. Indy Star

Three Arrested in BB Gun Home Invasion;
Wauwatosa, Wisc: Three high school students were arrested in a home invasion after demanding $1,200 at gunpoint. The suspect with the weapon brandished what looked like a handgun, but was really a BB gun. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Teen Declines Sex for Money, Utilities Shut Off;
Chicago, Ill: A West Side teen was solicited for sex for money by her landlord. When she turned him down, he shut off the gas and electric. He now faces charges for interfering with a public utility. Chicago Breaking News

Driver Painting Nails Kills Motorcyclist;
Lake Zurich, Ill: According the News Sun Sun Times News Group, Laura Hunt of Morris IL, “told police that she was painting her fingernails and did not notice the light was red.” According to one Officer her vehicle knocked the victim "a couple hundred feet." Sun Times News Group

Posted By: chris_cantwell - Wed May 06, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Addictions, Crime, Death, Drugs, Law, Weapons

Monkey Steals the Peach

"Monkey steals the peach" is apparently what ninjas call this move, but I think Chuck has covered cases in which amateurs have performed similar feats purely by accident.

The illustration is from the book Ninja Mind Control by Ashida Kim. (According to Boing Boing which posted about this a couple of years ago.)

image

Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 27, 2009 - Comments (13)
Category: Death, Genitals

Kook Dentist Martin Van Butchell

Martin Van Butchell was one of the most popular dentists in eighteenth-century Lodnon London. People were fascinated by his "outrageous personal appearance and outlandish, extreme and socially unacceptable personal and professional behaviors."

Besides pulling teeth, he also specialized in the treatment of ruptures and anal fistulas. But here's the best part: "When his first wife, Mary died, Martin arranged for her body to be embalmed and publicly displayed in his dental office for advertising purposes."

There's more about Van Butchell in Wikipedia.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 23, 2009 - Comments (11)
Category: Death, Medicine

Alice Redux

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The cover from this collection of re-imagined ALICE IN WONDERLAND stories certainly seemed to me to be a WU-worthy image.


Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 14, 2009 - Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Death, Literature, Books, Fantasy, Parody, Weapons

Paradoxical Undressing

Paradoxical undressing is a term for a phenomenon frequently seen in cases of lethal hypothermia. Shortly before death, the person will remove all their clothes, as if they were burning up, when in fact they are freezing. Because of this, people who have frozen to death are often found naked and are misidentified as victims of a violent crime.

Why does this happen? According to M.A. Rothschild and V. Schneider, writing in the International Journal of Legal Medicine:

The reason for this paradoxical behaviour seems to be the effect of a cold-induced paralysis of the nerves in the vessel walls, which leads to a vasodilatation, giving a feeling of warmth. Another theory proposes that the reflex vasoconstriction, which happens in the first stage of hypothermia leads to paralysis of the vasomotor center giving rise to the sensation that the body temperature is higher than it really is and in a paradox reaction the person undresses.

But wait! It gets even weirder. Once they've undressed, the dying person will frequently try to crawl into a small, enclosed space. For which reason, victims of hypothermia are often found naked, squeezed into cupboards or beneath beds. This is called Terminal Burrowing Behavior. Again from Rothschild and Schneider:

In 20% of our cases of death due to hypothermia the bodies were found in a position, which at first induced the suspicion of an attempt to hide the body. But after all our examinations together with the police investigations it was clear that no other person was involved. Obviously the strange positions in which the bodies had been found, were the result of a (pre-)terminal behaviour, which - for lack of comparable descriptions in the literature - we have called "terminal burrowing behaviour". The discovery positions always gave the impression of a protective burrow-like or cave-like situation, as the bodies were found under the bed, behind the wardrobe, in a shelf etc.. The clothes of the bodies were always strewn on the ground in front of the final position, sometimes forming a trail. In every case the paradoxical undressing had obviously happened before this self-protective "burrowing behaviour". This is sustained by the fact that the removed clothing was never found at the final position where the body was found, and some of the victims due to cooling had obviously been crawling around. In most cases the final position in which the bodies were found could only be reached by crawling on all fours or flat on the body, resulting in abrasions to the knees, elbows, etc. This crawling to the final position seems to have happened after undressing as there were abrasions to the skin but no damage to the corresponding parts of the removed clothing.

The body of a 91-year-old man was found beneath a bed in the corner of a shed.
The man had burrowed there.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 14, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Death, Health, Psychology

The Man Who Swallowed Clasp-Knives

An account of the life and death of John Cummings, a man who strove to earn a Darwin Award long before the concept of Darwin Awards existed. Reported in the Chicago Tribune, March 14, 1880:

In the narrative of memorable cases connected with Guy's Hospital there is a curious story of a sailor named John Cummings, who, in a spirit of vulgar brag, and mostly when half intoxicated, swallowed clasp-knives. In 1799 he had seen a French juggler perform the trick of assumedly swallowing knives of that kind at a public entertainment. The feat was so cleverly performed that the spectators -- or at least some of them -- were under the belief that the knives vanished down the throat of the juggler, instead of being put by sleight-of-hand in some part of his dress. The sailor, in his simplicity, was one of the credulous sort, and to astonish his messmates he began to swallow clasp-knives. He at first only swallowed four, which, fortunately for him were expelled, and no inconvenience ensued. He thought no more of knife-swallowing for six years. In March, 1805, when at Boston, he was one day tempted, while drinking with a party of sailors, to boast of his former exploits, and was ready to repeat his performance. A small knife was produced, which he instantly swallowed. In the course of that evening he swallowed five more. The next morning crowds of visitors came to see him, and in the course of the day he was induced to swallow eight knives more, making in all fourteen.

He paid dearly for his frolic; for he was seized with constant vomiting, and pain in the stomach. Taken to a hospital, he was by efficacious medical treatment relieved, as he imagined, of all the knives he had swallowed. But in this he would appear to have been mistaken. Portions of knives undissolved remained in his stomach. The amount of relief, whatever it was, did not cure the poor wretch of his folly. When at Spithead in December, 1805, and somewhat tipsy, he resumed his boastfulness of being able to swallow knives, and to amuse the ship's company swallowed nine clasp-knives, some of them of a large size. Again he became ill, and was in the hands of the ship's surgeon for several months, during which portions of knives were discharged. At length he was admitted as a patient at Guy's Hospital in 1807, and again he came to the hospital in 1808. There he remained, sinking under his sufferings, until March, 1809, when he died in a state of extreme emaciation.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 12, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Death, Medicine, Performance Art

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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