January 1, 2010

Today's Celebratory Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

In 1985, to celebrate their first drowning-free season ever, the lifeguards of the New Orleans recreation department decided to throw themselves a party. When the party ended, a 31-year-old guest named Jerome Moody was found dead on the bottom of the recreation department’s pool.

Culled from: Neatorama
Generously submitted by: Bex

A morbidly mirthful new year, everyone!

January 2, 2010

Today’s Disfiguring Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A surgery meant to reverse a colostomy on a Dover, MA man went horribly wrong in 2006, resulting in fecal mater being discharged from his penis and urine passing through his colon, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court. During the procedure, the suit alleges doctors at Kent General Hospital improperly stapled the colon to the bladder instead of the rectal stump. This left the patient with diarrhea, as well as gas and liquid stool passing from his penis. The man was taken to Christiana Hospital 12 days later to have the procedure corrected, but not until after much suffering and embarrassment as well as “disfigurement and disability,” the suit claims. It also affected life at home with his wife, who also is suing the three doctors involved in the allegedly botched procedure, Surgical Associates P.A. and Bayhealth Medical Center Inc. Dr. Scott D. Goldstein, director of colon and rectal surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, said he had not seen the suit and is not familiar with the specific case. He said this type of surgical error has been documented before, “but it should be rare as hen’s teeth.”

Culled from: DelawareOnline.Com
Generously submitted by: Aimee

I certainly HOPE it’s as “rare as hen’s teeth”! (What a fantastic expression.)

January 3, 2010

Today's Unaware Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A Japanese motorcyclist failed to notice his right leg had been severed below the knee in a collision with a motorway central reservation, and he travelled a further 2km before spotting he'd left something behind at the scene. Company worker Kazuo Osada, 54, was on a jaunt with 10 other bikers yesterday when he failed to negotiate a bend. However, he was "unaware his right leg had been severed below the knee apparently because his attention was focused on the strong pain he felt from the crash", according to police. He clocked his loss when he subsequently arrived at a junction, and a fellow biker obligingly popped back to pick up the missing limb. Mainichi reports he was whisked to hospital, but whether surgeons were able to reattach the leg remains unclear.

Culled from: The Register
Generously submitted by: Alastair

I don't know... kinda sounds like an urban leg-end to me!

January 4, 2010

Today's Experienced Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A Chinese woman has opened a mausoleum-themed inn to let people experience the feeling of death. Jiao Meige set up the Mausoleum Inn in a house in Lishui town, Jiangsu province, reports the Jinling Evening Post. The building is shaped like a Chinese mausoleum, and the beds are in the shapes of coffins. "I rented this piece of land to put a farm there, but because there are many old graves in the field, no one wants to work here," she said. Jiao says the idea for the Mausoleum Inn came to her in a flash. "Since there are so many graves, why don't I give people a chance to experience death?" she asked. "There are no services at night, and the guest can go nowhere, since outside is just a vast graveyard." Jiao says no residents with heart problems will be accepted, and mental patients must be accompanied by healthy people.

Culled from: Ananova.Com
Generously submitted by: Amos Quito

January 5, 2010

Today's Ages-Old Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

The body of a man found in a fishing net off Cape Cod in November, 2007 turned out to be part of an ages-old but vanishing funeral rite: full-body burial at sea. The remains of the unidentified man had been properly disposed in March 2001, according to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, who refused to release the man’s identity. The body was pulled up in the net of an 80-foot Boston-based commercial vessel, the Guardian, at 7:15 a.m., 20 miles off Nauset Beach. The remains were handed over to the Coast Guard. The identity of the deceased man was made at the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Boston through markings on the body and X-ray comparisons, according to the district attorney’s office. The man was one of only two people buried in full body rites at sea within the past seven years in waters off New England, according to Ann Rodney of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Boston office. The EPA regulates ocean burials, requiring that full-body services be conducted at least 3 nautical miles from shore in waters at least 600 feet deep. The corpse was in good condition, according to Walsh, with skin and face still intact. The only thing missing was a foot, he said. "I cannot believe it was in the water for six years,” Walsh said. O’Keefe said the circumstances of the burial were such that it is “very understandable” that the body would be in good shape. He declined to disclose any more about the circumstances of the burial out of respect for the family’s privacy. The EPA recommends that bodies are buried according to Navy guidelines. Navy vessels transport a veteran’s body in a metal casket secured with bands, weighted with rocks or other ballast, and drilled with holes to make sure the casket sinks properly. The Navy recommends embalming a corpse before burials at sea.

Culled from: CapeCodOnline.Com
Generously submitted by: Amos Quito

So, what do you think the "circumstances of the burial" were that the body would be in good shape after 6 years? Was he dipped in plastic before being tossed overboard?

January 6, 2010

Today's Provincial Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Xia (or Xin) Xinfeng, from Maolou in the central Chinese province of Henan, was sentenced to death for killing Mao Ansheng, her childhood sweetheart, with a kiss. They had sworn an oath that if either were unfaithful, they would have to die. Xia took action when she saw her man talking to a woman in a way that made her suspicious. They had arranged to meet the next day at a public bathhouse. She filled a plastic pellet with rat poison, hid it under her tongue, and while they were kissing, nudged it into his mouth. Failing to notice, Mao swallowed it and died shortly afterwards. Rat poison is one of the most common methods of murder and suicide in China. One variety, dushuqiang, was banned three years ago. A widow had used it to kill 10 guests, with whom she had been engaged in a feud, at her husband's funeral banquet.

Culled from: Fortean Times
Generously submitted by: Amos Quito

Would you really fail to notice if your lover pushed a pill in your mouth? With that sort of inattention to detail, no wonder she killed him!

January 7, 2010

Today's Clean Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A 9-month-old Quincy, Massachusetts girl drowned in October, 2007 after she climbed into a bucket filled with bleach. The Boston Herald reported that the baby’s mother Lee Ann Auperlee, 20, was watching three children inside her Sumner Street apartment when her daughter Mya crawled out of her sight and into a bucket on the kitchen floor. “I heard a boom,” said Angela Curran, who told the newspaper she was sleeping inside the apartment. “I came out and she was holding her baby. She said ‘What happened? What happened?’ We did CPR, mouth to mouth. She told me to call 911,” Curran told The Herald. The baby was rushed to Quincy Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Curran said Auperlee told her the baby was in the living room just before the drowning. “She said Mya was tapping at the TV then she just crawled away toward the kitchen,” Curran said. No charges have been filed by police.

Culled from: TheBostonChannel.Com
Generously submitted by: Katchaya

January 8, 2010

Today's Bullet-like Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

On 21 June 2007, 24-year-old Humberto Hernandez was killed by a 200-pound fire hydrant that came flying through the air to strike him in the head as he walked with his wife along an Oakland, California, sidewalk. The fire hydrant had been launched onto its deadly trajectory by a sport utility vehicle that crashed into it. The 2007 Ford Escape had blown a tire and swerved onto the sidewalk, striking the hydrant. Water pressure and the impact of the crash sent the fire plug flying like a "bullet," said Phil Abrams, an Alameda County deputy sheriff.

Culled from: Snopes.Com
Generously submitted by: Paradox

January 9, 2010

Today's Powerful Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A powerful firework exploded in the face of a woman trying to set it off, killing her as her fiancé and 8-year-old son watched. Danialle Barse, 27, was unfamiliar with the commercial-grade aerial firework she was using Monday night, July 2, 2007, said Mike Welch, a police detective in this Detroit suburb. "She basically killed herself in front her children and her fiancé," Welch said. Barse and another woman were trying to set off a 3-inch mortar bomb in the parking lot of the car wash where Barse worked when it went off as she had her head over it. One round hit the Lincoln Park woman, while the other 25 mortars continued to explode in sequence, keeping rescuers at bay. "The bombs were still going off as I ran up to try and drag her out of the way," witness Jason Dobrovalski told WDIV-TV. "But after I'd seen what had happened, I just ran back to try to save myself because it was too late." No one at the car wash had permission for a fireworks display, Welch said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was investigating where the commercial-grade fireworks came from.

Culled from: The Associated Press
Generously submitted by: Reno Dave

January 11, 2010

Today's Strangely Appropriate Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Dick Shawn (1924-1987) was a comedian who had a heart attack and died during a joke that seemed strangely appropriate: He was making fun of politicians by saying campaign cliches ending with "I will not lay down on the job!" Shawn then laid down on the floor face down. At first, the audience thought that it was all part of the show, until some time later a theater employee checked him for a pulse and began administering CPR. The paramedics then arrived, and the audience were told to go home - Dick Shawn was dead.

Culled from: Neatorama
Generously submitted by: Bex

January 12, 2010

Today's Special Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

In some ways, North Carolina offers one of the best death row dining expereinces around. Not only can the condemned man choose his last meal from a variety of nearby restaurants, but the rest of the prison population is also served a special meal on the evening of the execution (typically fried chicken or meatloaf) and is also allowed to watch a "T&A" movie if they promise to refrain from an execution-related rioting. What a great opportunity for less popular convicts to earn their prison martyrdom! Inmates are also allowed to wear their own clothing during the execution tiself; John Rook was given a lethal injection in 1995 while clad in his favorite Harley Davidson T-shirt. Another pleasant touch is the fact that the inmate may choose his own method of execution, and whilte getting to pick between the gas chamber and a lethal injection may not seem exciting at all to a civilian, just think of how rare it is for an inmate to have a choice regarding anything at all! Despite all of its positive aspects, however, there is a downside to the North Carolina execution experience (besides the execution itself, of course); in order to make post-execution clean-up easier, the prisoner is obliged to wear an adult diaper which, if he refuses to don himself, will be forcibly put on him by the prison staff. So, potential North Carolina criminals beware - if you find the notion of being wrestled into a diaper by a group of burley prison guards somewhat unsavory, fill up your gas tank and head for the state line before committing that capital offense!

Culled from: Last Suppers

January 14, 2010

Today's Bloody Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

The Manilla Massacre occurred when a mob of native Filipinos, which at one point reached 10,000 - 15,000 in number, went on a bloody rampage in Manila from March 9 to 11, 1820. Apparently incited to riot by the Spanish, the Filipinos attacked and brutally murdered about 125 foreigners before the mob was dispersed.

Culled from: The Pessimist's Guide To History

January 15, 2010

Today's Fitful, Irreverent, Grossly Profane Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Phineas Gage is probably the most famous person to have survived severe damage to the brain. He is also the first patient from whom we learned something about the relation between personality and the function of the front parts of the brain. Phineas Gage was the foreman of a railway construction gang working for the contractors preparing the bed for the Rutland and Burlington Rail Road near Cavendish, Vermont. On September 13, 1848, an accidental explosion of a charge he had set blew his tamping iron through his head. The tamping iron was 3 feet 7 inches long and weighed 13 1/2 pounds. It was 1 1/4 inches in diameter at one end (not circumference as in the newspaper report) and tapered over a distance of about 1-foot to a diameter of 1/4 inch at the other. The tamping iron went in point first under his left cheek bone and completely out through the top of his head, landing about 25 to 30 yards behind him. Phineas was knocked over but may not have lost consciousness even though most of the front part of the left side of his brain was destroyed. Dr. John Martyn Harlow, the young physician of Cavendish, treated him with such success that he returned home to Lebanon, New Hampshire 10 weeks later.

Some months after the accident, probably in about the middle of 1849, Phineas felt strong enough to resume work. But because his personality had changed so much, the contractors who had employed him would not give him his place again. Before the accident he had been their most capable and efficient foreman, one with a well-balanced mind, and who was looked on as a shrewd smart business man. He was now fitful, irreverent, and grossly profane, showing little deference for his fellows. He was also impatient and obstinate, yet capricious and vacillating, unable to settle on any of the plans he devised for future action. His friends said he was "No longer Gage."

As far as we know Phineas never worked at the level of a foreman again. According to Dr. Harlow, Phineas appeared at Barnum's American Museum in New York City, worked in the livery stable of the Dartmouth Hotel (Hanover, NH), and drove coaches and cared for horses in Valparaiso, Chile. In about 1859, after his health began to fail he went to San Francisco to live with his mother. After he regained his health he was anxious to work and found it on a farm in Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco. In February 1860, he began to have epileptic seizures and, as we know from the Funeral Director's and cemetery interment records, he was buried on May 23, 1860.

Culled from: Deakin University

The bar, along with Phineas' skull, is still on display at the Warren Anatomical Museum at Harvard. And recently the only known photograph of Phineas was uncovered!

You can even get trinkets with this handsome image on them at the Phineas Gage Cafe Press Shop!

January 16, 2010

Today's Pregnant Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

In virtually all Western societies, execution of a pregnant woman would be delayed until after the woman gave birth, which no doubt gave rise to a desperate effort on the part of some condemned women to get pregnant. There were no five-minute pregnancy tests back then, so most condemned women claimed to be with child, as a kind of last-ditch appeal. In fact, one of the most notorious early murder cases in American history involved just such a case. The beautiful 32-year-old Bathsheeba Spooner of Brookfield, Massachusetts, was convicted of conspiring to murder her wealthy elderly husband in 1778 and sentenced to die in one of the first capital cases of the new United States. Midwives -- after much argument -- decided Bathsheeba was not pregnant. An autopsy later revealed a five-month-old fetus.

Culled from: An Underground Education

Bathsheeba Spooner! That's almost as good of a name as Phineas Gage.

January 17, 2010

Today's Slamming Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Police say a teenage girl accidentally ran over and killed her 17-year-old brother as the two played around in a parking lot. Police spokesman Ed Wessing said Nicole M. Brock, 16, was dropping off her brother, Dwight, at a mall when they started playing around, with the brother jumping in front of the car and the sister slamming on the brakes. But at one point, the girl failed to hit the brakes in time and ran over her brother. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.

Culled from: The Denver Post
Generously submitted by: Aimee

Now there's a Darwin Award winner for ya!

January 18, 2010

Today's Slamming Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

An Australian woman accused of setting her husband's genitals on fire because she thought he was having an affair has been charged with murder. Prosecutors said 44-year-old Rajini Narayan confessed to neighbors that she set her husband on fire on Dec. 8, 2008, after she saw him hug another woman. She was initially charged with endangering life and arson but the charges were upgraded to murder after her 47-year-old husband, Satish Narayan, died from his injuries. Prosecutor Lucy Boord said Narayan told neighbors she was a "jealous wife" but she hadn't meant to kill him when she doused the sleeping man's genitals with an alcohol-based solvent and then set him on fire. Boord quoted Narayan allegedly saying: "I just wanted to burn his penis so it belongs to me and no one else. ... I didn't mean this to happen." The husband jumped out of bed and knocked over the bottle of alcohol, causing the fire to spread and resulting in 1 million Australian dollars ($711,000) of damage to their town house and an adjacent property. Narayan was remanded in custody for psychological assessment and will reappear in court Friday. She has been charged with murder, arson and three counts of endangering life, as the couple's three children were at home during the incident.

Culled from: MSNBC
Generously submitted by: Liz D-M

She just wanted to burn his penis, what's the big deal?

January 19, 2010

Today's Pink Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Mercury chloride (calomel) is a strong disinfectant and was commonly used both in hospital s and homes for this purpose during Victorian times. The effect of mercury on the gums was at one time thought to be beneficial for babies and young children cutting their first teeth. The sleepless nights for both child and parents which accompanied this phase of their development led many to seek relief with so-called teething powders. The powders, which were first introduced in 1812, relied on the calomel they contained to cause excessive salivation. For babies, mercury poisoning would manifest itself as pink disease, so named because of the pink coloration of the fingers, toes, cheeks, nose and buttocks. Some babies that were especially sensitive to mercury died, although for most babies the occasional powder was unlikely to be fatal. Pink disease had a mortality rate of 10% and accounted for 1 in 25 hospital admissions in the 1940s. It was thanks to two American doctors, D. Warkany and J. Hubbard, that the cause was traced to teething powders, and in particular to Steedman's Teething Powders which contained 26% mercury chloride. The reason is took so long to make the link between mercury and pink disease was that only 1 child in 500 who was given the teething powder developed the pink condition.

Culled from: The Elements Of Murder

Here's an ad for Steedman's Powders from the late 1800's. I'd love to have an old container of this stuff on my curio shelf!

January 20, 2010

Today's Petty Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

The ultimate torment, slow death by burning at the stake, was practiced in England and Scotland for several centuries, not only for heresy or witchcraft, but for the 'petty treason' of murdering a husband. Sometimes a degree of mercy was allowed: the victim was strangled as the flames took hold. In Lincoln in 1722, Eleanor Elsom was convicted of killing her husband, and sentenced to be burned. Her clothes and limbs were smeared with pitch, and she was dragged on a hurdle to the place of execution. She was made to stand on a barrel of pitch surrounded by faggots, and chained to the stake. A noose was placed about her neck, the rope running through a pulley at the top of the stake and into the executioner's hands. The fire was lit, and the rope was pulled; but whether Eleanor was dead before the flames finally consumed her body half an hour later, nobody knew.

Culled from: The History Of Torture

January 21, 2010

Today's Slamming Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

On August 24, 1987, during the final moments of a pro wrestling match, Shirley "Big Daddy" Crabtree delivered his signature "Belly-Splash" move (basically jumping up and down, slamming his belly onto his opponent) on Mal "King Kong" Kirk, who suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 50. Crabtree was cleared after it was revealed that Kirk had a serious heart condition prior to the match. However, Crabtree blamed himself for Kirk’s death and retired from pro wrestling. Before the match, Kirk had prophetically told his friends: "If I have to go, I hope it is in the ring."

Culled from: Neatorama
Generously submitted by: Bex

January 23, 2010

Today's Extraordinary And Bizarre Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A 41-year-old Melvindale man, whose body was discovered Monday, September 10, 2007, went to extraordinary and bizarre lengths to kill himself by constructing a 7-foot-tall guillotine in a wooded area near Fairlane Green shopping center. "It was the most deliberate suicide I've seen in my 28 years (as a police officer)," said Dale Covert, deputy chief of Allen Park Police. "It was one of those things where when you saw it, you couldn't help asking yourself, 'What the heck?'" Groundskeepers from the shopping center, at Outer and Fairlane drives, discovered the device and the body in a thickly wooded area shortly after 11 a.m. Monday. About a third of the 243 acre former Ford Motor Company landfill is being developed for retail shopping while the remainder is undeveloped green space crisscrossed with trails. Police, who believe the man had been dead two days, declined to release his name. Covert said the man had lived within walking distance of the spot where he died. Investigators believe the man made numerous trips to carry the wooden and metal parts of his contraption into the woods where he assembled it. Covert said the man didn't leave a note. "He spent some time doing this," Covert said. "This wasn't a spur of the moment plan." The machine utilized a "swing arm-type blade," according to police, instead of the more famous falling blade of guillotines used by executioners in France from that nation's revolution in 1792, until the death penalty was outlawed there in 1981. The device had a lever that allowed the man to trigger it himself, Covert said. Allen Park police and firefighters disassembled the machine after photographing it at the scene. Some of the metal parts, including the blade, were kept as evidence while the wooden parts were to be disposed of because they were soaked in blood and considered a biohazard, Covert said. Although the device didn't completely decapitate the victim, Covert said he believes the man died instantly from his injuries. "It's the most bizarre thing I've ever seen in my life," Covert said. "It probably didn't quite work the way he planned, but it succeeded in taking his life, probably instantly. I don't believe he suffered."

Culled from: Detnews.Com
Generously submitted by: Jacqui

January 24, 2010

Today's Fiery Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A woman out for jog while listening to her iPod had her legs severed by a freight train because she may not have heard it coming. Cheryl Ann Risse, 32, was recovering at a hospital Friday, July 6, 2007. Authorities did not know how she ended up in the path of the train Thursday morning, but rescue workers speculated she did not hear the locomotive coming because she was listening to her iPod. Risse often jogged across the tracks on her way to a nearby park. The train engineer didn't know he had struck Risse until he returned along the same tracks minutes later. A passing sheriff's deputy noticed her waving her arms. "My feet are on fire," she told Tony Long, a battalion chief for Pompano Beach Fire-Rescue, who responded to the scene. "Do you think you can put the fire out? They're really hurting." The woman was expected to survive.

Culled from: WFTV.Com
Generously submitted by: Dark Paradox

Of course, anyone who jogs on railroad tracks with headphones on is an automatic Darwin Award Winner. And that's a fire that no amount of water will extinguish! But on the bright side - she doesn't need to get up early to go jogging anymore. That must be a relief!

Oh, and speaking of people falling in front of public transit, video of a man falling under a Chicago Transit Authority bus was released the other day. (The family is suing the CTA for negligence in running him over.) Take a look and tell me - is the CTA to blame here, or the man himself?

Video Shows Man Struck, Killed by CTA Bus

January 30, 2010

Today's Grand Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

After his first grisly crime, Harvey Louis Carignan (the "Want-Ad Killer") beat a death sentence and continued to manipulate, rape, and bludgeon women to death using want ads to lure his young female victims. His weapon of choice was a claw hammer which he used to rape and bludgeon his victims earning him the nickname of "Harv the Hammer." He described himself as: "An instrument of God, one who was acting under His personal instructions. Murder, rape and mutilation are all part of a Grand Plan. God is a figure with a large hood and you can't see his face." Under so-called orders from God, he killed at least 5 and maybe as many as 18 women. A catalogue of some of his crimes:

On July 31, 1949 while stationed at Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, Carignan raped and killed 57-year-old Laura Showatler. She died from several blows to the head. (He was convicted of this crime and sentenced to death, but due to a legal technicality his sentence was overturned and he was paroled on April 2, 1960.)

On October 15, 1972, ninteen-year-old Leslie Laura Brock of Bellingham, Washington was found dead. She died from several blows to the head. Witnesses claimed that they saw her get into Carignan's silver truck.

On May 1, 1973, Kathy Sue Miller, age fifteen, answered Carignan's want ad for employees at a service station that he was leasing. When the girl showed up in response to the ad, he sexually assaulted and killed her. Her body was found months later by two boys hiking on the Indian reservation north of Everett, Washington. She was naked, bundled in a sheet of plastic, and had been beaten with a hammer which left nickel-size holes in her skull.

By May of 1974, Carignan started dating and living with Eileen Hunley, whom he picked up hitchhiking, after moving to Minnesota. In August Eileen broke off her relationship with him. She disappeared on August 10, 1974. Her rotting corpse was found five weeks later in Shelbourne County. Her skull was imploded by the force of savage hammer blows and she had been raped with a tree branch.

On September 14, 1974, Carignan picked up Gwen Burton from a Sears parking lot. He ripped her clothing, choked her into semi-consciousness and sexually assaulted her with a hammer. He dumped her body in a near by field but she survived and was able to craw to the road side for help. Four days later, he picked up Versoi and Diane Flynn. He forced them to perform oral sex and would beat them if they didn’t follow his commands. The two girls were able to escape when Carignan stopped for fuel. Two days later, Kathy Shultz did not show up at her classes. Her body was found the next day by hunters in a cornfield forty miles form Minneapolis. As in the other cases, Kathy's skull had been destroyed by crushing hammer blows.

In February of 1975, Carignan was tried on the attempted murder and aggravated sodomy in Gwen Burton's case. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity claiming that God told him to kill those women. The jury was not convinced by the insanity plea and found him guilty. He was sentenced to a maximum of forty years in prison. Since no criminal in Minnesota may be sentenced to a term exceeding forty years, the other trials and sentences, 30 years for the assault on Jewry Billings; 40 years for Eileen Hunley's murder; and 40 years for killing Kathy Schultz, were mere formalities. Out of the one hundred fifty years, the convicted killer will have to serve no more than forty, with the usual time off for "good behavior."

Culled from: Mystery Crime Scene
Based on the true crime book The Want-Ad Killer by Ann Rule.

Hmmmm... no more than 40 years can be served in Minnesota? In which case, he would be released in 2015 or earlier (for "good behavior"). Hopefully he'll die behind bars before that happens... Elderly and infirm or not, I wouldn't want this guy loosed upon the world again!

Which brings me to an exciting announcement! In my partnership with Jen of Juror2.Com, we have the latest installation of the Morbid Fact Du Jour Serial Killer Quotes T-Shirts: The Want Ad Killer Shirt!

"I'm not dangerous now...
... but I won't say that I
wouldn't be tomorrow."

- Harvey Carignan
(The Want-Ad Killer)

Get yours now and impress your friends with your Serial Killer panache!

More Serial Killer Quote shirts are also available at the Morbid Fact Du Jour Etsy Store.

January 31, 2010

Today's Excrutiating Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Where sheer physical brutality was concerned, there was little in Victorian society that rivaled the professional medical act of surgery. Lacking any form of anesthesia beyond opium or alcohol - both of which could only be applied in moderation, given their side effects - surgical procedures were functionality indistinguishable from the most grievous forms of torture. Surgeons prided themselves on their speed above all else, since extended procedures were unbearable for both doctor and patient. Procedures that would now take hours to complete were executed in three minutes or less, to minimize the agony. One surgeon boasted that he could "amputate a shoulder in the time it took to take a pinch of snuff."

In 1811, the British author Fanny Burney underwent a mastectomy in Paris. She described the experience in a letter to her sister a year later. After drinking a wine cordial as her sole form of painkiller, she settled into the ominous closet that had been assembled by the team of seven doctors in her home, lined with compresses and bandages and gruesome surgical tools. She lay down on the makeshift bed, and the doctors covered her face with a light handkerchief. "When the dreadful steel was plunged into the breast, cutting through veins, arteries, flesh, nerves, I needed no injunction not to restrain my cries. I began a scream that lasted unintermittingly during the whole time of the incision, and I almost marvel that it rings not in my ears still! So excruciating was the agony... I then felt the knife tackling against the breastbone, scraping it! This performed, while I remained in utterly speechless torture." Before passing out in near shock after the procedure, she caught a glimpse of her primary doctor - "pale nearly as myself, his face streaked with blood and its expression depicting grief, apprehension, and almost horror."

Culled from: The Ghost Map