Spooky News Briefs

[Ben Lahnger]

I am constantly encountering bizarre little news stories. This thread is for mentioning all those little stories that don't really merit a whole thread or a lot of discussion, but are of interest for the level of weirdness they suggest. The same conduct rules apply here as the rest of the forum. Allow me to quote Empty_Purple_Stars for clarity:

Originally Posted by Empty_Purple_Stars

Feel free to post any ' Spooky News (briefs) ' that you think is(are) relevant..

Be sure and include a working link to the article. You MUST cite your source..

Spell check is your friend.

Say it with me:

" Spellcheck is my friend!! "

We do ask that nothing of a pornographic nature is posted or linked.

So to get the idea across, let me post one here:

Fundertaker

from the Sunday, January 15th 2005 online issue of the UK Sunday Mail (click above for link):

DUTCH entrepreneur Eddy Daams is offering "fun burials". For 75 euros, you can be interred 5ft down in a coffin in his garden. The casket has a panic button and is linked by webcam to a screen on which friends and family can watch the 'corpse' enjoy being dead.

That's it.

[Ben Lahnger]

Large Amounts Of Food Stolen In Bizarre Restaurant Robberies

from the website of WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando, Florida (click above link for full story)

January 10, 2006

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando police are investigating a couple of bizarre thefts involving food. Detectives said someone stole frozen chickens, ducks, and even a whole pig from two restaurants.

The case is rather unusual because of the large amount of food stolen. The most recent restaurant hit was along I-Drive near Kirkman. Police think the thieves may be stealing the stuff for someone else's restaurant business or store.

...

At Hong Kong Ton's on I-Drive, weeks later the criminals actually sawed through the galvanized steel, ripping out the insulation to get to the food. They made off with multiple trays of chicken and beef, 30 dozen eggs, boxes of shrimp and chicken thighs and 20 slabs of ribs. On top of that, they snatched 15 ducks, even a whole pig.

"It makes you kinda wonder, if somebody is stealing that large a quantity, I don't quite no anybody with a home freezer that large that can accommodate that much food that would keep it from spoiling," commented Sgt. Barbara Jones, Orlando Police Department.

That's why police think it's possible the thieves may be lifting the stuff to stock someone else's restaurant freezer or specialty grocery store.

HUNGRY?

[Ben Lahnger]

STOLEN POLICE CAR

from the website of WLUC TV 6 in Upper Peninsula Michigan (click link above)

PHOENIX _ The SWAT team in Phoenix wants some help in getting their car back. Someone swiped an unmarked police car from in front of Mel's Diner in central Phoenix. Authorities say an officer was in the restaurant for only about five minutes when the car was stolen. Detective Tony Morales says the trunk of the car contains many items commonly used by SWAT teams. He says police are worried that SWAT gear might get into the wrong hands.

Memorable only from the mention in one small paragraph of three TV references: SWAT, Mel's Diner and Tony Morales ... as Curly used to say, what a coinkidink!

[Ben Lahnger]

Bizarre Security Breach At Travis Airforce Base

Reported January 10, 2005 by CBS 13 in Sacramento (click link above)

Security forces at Travis Airforce Base were forced to open fire on a man after he breached security by driving his SUV right through the gates of the base.

33-year-old Patrick Michael Toombs of Vacaville reportedly pulled up to the David Grant Medical Center gate at the base early Monday morning. Then for whatever reason, decided to turn around, tearing up the grassy median in the process.

"The guy turned in front of it, and sped off, throwing up mud and debris from his vehicle", says Capt. Mike Shirley of the US Airforce.

According to investigators, Toombs then went across the street, pulled out a gun and started shooting. They won't say what he was shooting. He then reportedly drove up to the gate a second time and sped right past the guards into the base. He made it a quarter-mile in before he was met by security guards in patrol cars who boxed him in.

The security force used 9 mm guns to shoot out the suspects tires. They got Toombs to the ground and after a slight struggle they took him into custody. Tight lipped investigators won't say if he had a motive, but admit, what they saw was very unusual.

Wasn't there a character on a couple of episodes of X-Files named Toombs, who could slip into any location no matter how good the security was? Weird!

[Ben Lahnger]

Police: Man Faked Death To Avoid Paying Child Support

from the website of WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando, Florida (click above link for full story)

January 18, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Police arrested a man accused of faking his death more than 25 years ago to avoid paying child support.

Johnny Sterling Martin, 58, had a relative call Family Court in 1979 and report that he died during a bar fight in Alabama, authorities said. That call came a few months after he escaped from a work detail while serving a one-year jail term for failing to pay $4,120 in support for two children.

He was captured Tuesday and jailed, and now owes more than $30,000 in child support and faces an escape charge, authorities said.

"Johnny Martin is the ultimate deadbeat dad, faking his own death to avoid paying money to support his young children who were living in Lexington County," Sheriff James Metts said.

[cannibalnuns]

What a real sorry S.O.B.. That is just beyond fucked up, to not support your children and also having them think you are dead. Thats just fucked up, I hope he rots.

[Ben Lahnger]

Man gets 12 years for helping to fake brother's death

from the website of WQAD in Chicago, IL (click above link for full story)

A man in Chicago received a 12 year sentence to federal prison for his role in assisting his brother to fake his own death.

Officials stated that Joseph Kalady murdered a homeless man, then recruited his brother Michael to help pass the body off as his own. This all was an effort to avoid federal prosecution for selling fake ID papers.

This text has been paraphrased in my own words, as the original article is an Associated Press story with rights protected. You can see the complete original Associated Press story at the link above.

[Ben Lahnger]

MP planned fake death for months

from the website of BBC News (click above link for full story)

December 29, 2005

John Stonehouse, the Labour MP who faked his own death, spent months rehearsing his new identity, according to newly released official papers. He pretended to have drowned off Miami Beach in 1974, but was later found in Australia with a false passport.

He claimed to have had a breakdown, but a psychiatric report, released to the National Archives, reveals he had been using a dead man's identity for months.

Mr Stonehouse had fled to start a new life with his mistress.

The, MP for Walsall North, a former minister, left a pile of clothes on Miami Beach on 20 November 1974, to make it seem as if he had drowned while swimming.

This followed the collapse of a series of fraudulent businesses he had established.

But on Christmas Eve, he was picked up by police in Melbourne, where he had gone in an attempt to establish a new life with his former secretary, Sheila Buckley.

He was found to be carrying a false passport in the name of Joseph Markham - the dead husband of a constituent - and claimed to have suffered a "brainstorm".

However, the newly released psychiatric report reveals he had been using Markham's identity for months.

It says: "He spent short periods posing as Mr Markham, a private and 'honest' individual, which apparently led to reduced tension.

"He began to dislike the personality of Stonehouse and came to believe that his wife, colleagues and friends would be better off without him.

"He therefore devised his escape to get away from the identity of Stonehouse.

[Ben Lahnger]

Zim cop fakes death for fuel

from the website of News 24 in South Africa (click above link for full story)

January 11, 2006

Harare - A policeman has been charged with forging a death report so that he could get cheap fuel for resale on the black market, the state-run Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Hearses get special treatment at service stations in Zimbabwe - which is in the throes of acute fuel shortages - and are usually allowed to jump queues.

The policeman, Promise Mandizvidza, allegedly made a fake death report and gave it to his accomplice, an undertaker, so that the pair could get a burial order, the Herald said.

The news report said that they planned to take the burial order to a fuel station so that they could get fuel for resale.

[Ben Lahnger]

Man who faked death back in court

from the website of theage.com in Australia (click link above)

December 22, 2005

Sydney man Harry Gordon, who faked his own death as part of a life insurance scam, had two main objectives this year.

One was to secure his $3.5 million payout and the other was to "stay out of jail", Raymond Terrace Local Court heard.

But the 56-year-old former millionaire has failed on both fronts.

Gordon was again remanded in custody, having pleaded guilty last month to four charges relating to the swindle.

And AMP Insurance still has not paid out a cent, after the one-time businessman staged his death in a boating accident.

His estranged wife, Sheila, and 30-year-old daughter, Josaphine, also have been charged with conspiring to claim his multi-million dollar life insurance policy.

As father and daughter faced court, prosecutors laid a fresh charge against each of them, alleging the three Gordons conspired "together and amongst themselves to cheat and defraud AMP Insurance".

Gordon was arrested at Sydney airport in November on arrival from New Zealand, where he was apparently living with a new wife under the assumed name of Robert Motzel.

He had disappeared on June 3, 2000.

His abandoned runabout was discovered on the Karuah River near Port Stephens, north of Newcastle, champagne bottles littering the deck.

Following an inquest in April 2001, Coroner John Abernethy ruled that Gordon had drowned, thrown overboard when his boat ran into a navigation marker.

Doesn't anyone really die anymore?

[Ben Lahnger]

Delay Fakes Death to Avoid Prosecution

from the website of Unconfirmed Sources (click above link for full story)

Sugarland, TX (APE) - Police arrested and later released disgraced Texas representative Tom Delay yesterday, accusing him of trying to fake his own death to avoid prosecution.

Figured I'd end this series of stories about people faking death with something fake. Heh!

[Ben Lahnger]

Chilly welcome for Indian 'ghost'

from the website of BBC News (click above link for full story)

January 20, 2006

An Indian man is being refused entry to his house - because his family say he is a spirit come back to haunt them.

Raju Raghuvanshi was greeted with cries of "ghost" and neighbours locking doors when he returned from a short spell in jail to his village in Madhya Pradesh.

He had fallen ill in prison and was taken to hospital. Relatives heard he had died and performed his last rites.

Now, unable to convince them he is alive and well, he is staying nearby and has asked the police for help.

Mr Raghuvanshi told the BBC his cousins had denied him entry to his house in the village of Katra, in Mandla district about 300km (200 miles) from state capital Bhopal, despite his protests.

They even dismissed his pleas that he could not be a spirit because his feet were properly attached to his body and not turned backwards, a characteristic which locals ascribe to ghosts.

The 45-year-old said his cousins insisted they had performed his last rites as required and so he should not come back to haunt them.

Mr Raghuvanshi, who is unmarried with no living parents or brothers, has had to move to the nearby village of Bamni while he struggles to convince his cousins to let him come home.

"I have now to prove that I am alive," he said. "But I will have them punished."

Oh no! Beware the wrath of the UNUNDEAD!

[Ben Lahnger]

Cambodia's Tonlé Sap River's strange behavior sparks annual festival

by Adfero from the website of Go Travel Insurance UK (click above link for full story)

Cambodian officials have drafted plans to develop the country's sea border for tourism, economic and industrial growth.

General Sao Vanni, deputy chief of the Cambodian Royal Police, urged the maritime border guard to closely coordinate with their counterparts from Vietnam and Thailand to continue resolving disputes at sea through peaceful means.

Cambodia shares its 435-kilometre coastline with Vietnam and Thailand, and a peaceful settled sea border would help the country tap into the large backpaker market that has developed in the area.

Cambodia's Tonlé Sap River is at the centre of one of the country's biggest annual festivals, and it is this type of attraction that officials hope will attract holiday makers.

The river mysteriously switches direction every November, and this strange occurrence is celebrated with spectacular boat races at the town of Phnom Penh.

During November's full moon, some 4,000 paddlers line their beautifully decorated boats up on the Mekong River to start the race.

The river is the honoured through various traditional ceremonies before the Festival of the Reversing Current or Bon Om Tuk begins.

Next up, scientists discover water that flows uphill. Stay tuned!

[Ben Lahnger]

“Alien” Embryo Removed From 35-Year-Old Man’s Back

from the website of MosNews.com (click above link for full story and picture)

January 16, 2006

A 35-year-old tractor operator, Igor Namyatov, has undergone surgery to be relieved of what had initially been diagnosed as a tumor, but turned out to be the embryo of his unborn twin brother, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported Monday.

Doctors said the embryo belonged to Namyatov’s unborn brother who had spent 35 years in the body of the patient.

Namyatov’s fellow villagers doubted the explanation given by the doctors. Some even surmised the object removed from Namyatov’s body was an extraterrestrial organism. “It is a pity they have removed it. They should have waited to see what would become of it later on. That would have been a great scientific find,” one of the villagers said.

The “little brother” first made himself known when Igor was 15. At that time the boy complained about pains in his back, but doctors played down his complaints saying it was only a harmless fatty tumor.

Twenty years later the pains came back. The doctors decided to operate at once. They were genuinely surprised to see that the tumor was in fact an embryo with little legs and hands.

My brother is sometimes a pain in the ass, but he's nowhere near as bad as this!

[Ben Lahnger]

Gnome Hijinx

Here are a series of stories about wondering gnomes:

Santa's Helper: Stranger replaces lost gnome

from the website of The Winston-Salem Journal (click above link for story)

December 24, 2005

FIREMEN BLAST WALNEY GNOME PRANKSTERS

from the website of The Northwest Evening Mail, UK (click above link for story)

January 4, 2006

(and my personal favorite)

Policeman 'goosed' over gnome prank

from the website of The New Zealand Herald (click above link for full story)

December 27, 2005

"I've learned a few things out of this. For starters, believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see. Trust no one, and don't look very far for suspects." - quote from police prosecutor Sergeant Wayne Johnston

All of which goes to show: There's gnome place like home!

or should I say

gnome news is good news?

[sensuous0mar]

That child support story really irks me! I have a lot of people that are close to me who have real dead beat parents...alcoholics, abusive dads, abusive moms, people with anger managament issues, but to just avoid your children altogether, to keep them from getting what they rightfully deserve from you to LIVE is really fucking sad. People like my boy toy's dad and this person who faked his death to avoid paying child support really make me hate the world!

And that, my friends, is that!

[sensuous0mar]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

Police: Man Faked Death To Avoid Paying Child Support

from the website of WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando, Florida (click above link for full story)

January 18, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Police arrested a man accused of faking his death more than 25 years ago to avoid paying child support.

Johnny Sterling Martin, 58, had a relative call Family Court in 1979 and report that he died during a bar fight in Alabama, authorities said. That call came a few months after he escaped from a work detail while serving a one-year jail term for failing to pay $4,120 in support for two children.

He was captured Tuesday and jailed, and now owes more than $30,000 in child support and faces an escape charge, authorities said.

"Johnny Martin is the ultimate deadbeat dad, faking his own death to avoid paying money to support his young children who were living in Lexington County," Sheriff James Metts said.

I think people needed to see that again. I don't think we got outraged enough! Sure, some children make me hate life, but no child deserves this! What a cunt lick!

[Ben Lahnger]

The documentary you are speaking of ran on The Learning Channel. In doing some research on this story, I found it is not an isolated incident. The following headline is a link to a coherent listing of several such stories, along with corroborating links.
-----------------------------

Stone baby

from www.sciforums.com ... portion of article below:

History

by Dr. Andrew Folley

The patient is a 37-year-old Zairian female who lives in a village of Malongo at the headwaters of the Congo River. She presented with a relatively asymptomatic large abdominal mass. Examination revealed a distended abdomen with a very irregularly contoured mass present consistent with a large fibroid uterus 28-32 weeks size. The patient was having fairly regular periods. She has had eight previous pregnancies with five living children. Recommendation made for exploratory laparotomy through a midline incision with a working diagnosis of uterine leiomyomata.

WARNING: Gross and icky pictures, not work safe.

http://www.obgyn.net/ENGLISH/PUBS/AR...Stone_Baby.htm

Exploration through the midline incision revealed no free fluid present in the abdomen. The uterus and ovaries felt fairly normal to palpation. A large calcified spherical mass was delivered through the incision, enveloped with omental adhesions. At this point diagnosis was thought to be possibly some type of splenic or mesenteric tumor. The diagnosis was finally made when a shoulder was delivered along with this mass. Finally, after the adhesions were removed, a four pound calcified fetus was removed. This appeared to be approximately a 32-week intra-abdominal pregnancy which had died and calcified.

In further questioning the patient, she stated that she had been pregnant about three years ago and everything seemed to be going fine, but "the baby never came out."

.. (continued) ...

Cancer surgery reveals 49-year-old 'fossil' fetus

Published: January 6, 2000
Source: Taiwan News

A 76-year-old woman was found to have carried a 20-gram (0.7 ounce) and 12-centimeter-long lithopaedion for 49 years.

Doctors at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei have recently discovered a "fossilized" fetus in the Abdomen of a 76-year-old woman, suffering from cervical cancer while operating to remove her womb.

According to a an examination report, the fetus was conceived 49 years ago, making it only the fourth such recorded phenomenon, said Yu Chien-jen, chief of the hospital's gynecology department.

-----------------------------

In each instance of this that I've uncovered, the pregnancies were well advanced before they terminated. It also says something about a lack of education in each instance; how could a woman not think there might be medical complications from it when "the baby never came out?" Stunning!

[JuliaGaltic]

That makes me sad...

[Ben Lahnger]

Julia - Yes, me too.

Warning: Don't Eat the Yellow Snow

from the website of Fox News (click above link for full story)

December 28th, 2005

NEW YORK — Cops in Clive, Iowa, arrested a Nebraska man who clearly thought a lump of coal would not suffice as a gift for the naughty neighbors on his Christmas list.

"We've got a Grinch that has been lobbing urine," said Clive Police Chief Robert Cox. “Since this fall, we've had eight to 10 incidents reported where people have found containers full of urine thrown into their backyards."

Thankfully for the residents of Clive, Reno Tobler was arrested Thursday after police said they caught him red- — or, rather, yellow- — handed, happily hurling his unique brand of holiday tidings.

[Surgeon Méchant De Sang]

I would have put on a pair of latex gloves, and then proceed to throw the urine can right back at him. Hopefully my aim would be good enough to hit him right between the eyes!

I wouldn't say that everyone who has money is cheap, but it's been my experience that most of them who do have money to spare are very cheap bastards, and will do anything to get out of having to pay anybody anything.

[Ben Lahnger]

Driving at 150 mph not dangerous, says judge

from the website of London Daily Telegraph (click above link for full story)

January 27, 2006

Driving a high-performance car at 150 mph on a country road does not constitute dangerous driving, a judge ruled yesterday.

Nicholas Whittle, 21, was behind the wheel of his father's Porsche Boxster, and travelling at more than twice the legal maximum speed limit on the only long stretch of straight road on the Isle of Wight.

But because he braked when necessary, the road had no significant hazards, was clear of traffic and away from houses, his driving was not a danger, said Recorder Caroline Lister. She directed a jury at Winchester Crown Court to return a not guilty verdict to a charge of dangerous driving.

Tune in tomorrow for the ruling that it's okay to mix chlorine and ammonia as long as all nearby people are upwind!

[Ben Lahnger]

Okay, I'm back ... and the first thing I thought all the Gothic-Netters ought to know is how to fight off all those telemarketers ... once you are dead!

Do not call me; I'm dead

from the website of MSN / BankRate.com (click above link for full story)

By Dana Dratch

January 25th, 2006

You've just checked your mail or answered the phone and there's someone trying to sell something to a loved one who died six months ago. It's not the first time, and you wish that somehow you could make it stop. Now, you might be able to.

The Direct Marketing Association, or DMA, is sponsoring a "Deceased Do Not Contact" list aimed at giving family members a chance to remove the names of deceased loved ones from mass-marketing efforts.

How it works: You contact the DMA list site and insert the name, address, phone number and e-mail address of the deceased. The association charges $1 to maintain the service and prevent fraudulent reporting.

Established in October 2005, use of the 3,000-name list became mandatory for the association's organizations on Jan. 13, 2006. All of the association's 5,000 member organizations are also required to purge the names from their mass-marketing system.

The new list "sounds like a useful resource to simplify the process for families," says Sally Hurme, an attorney with the consumer protection division of AARP. It allows family members to notify companies and organizations that their relative is gone without having to do it "one person at a time," she says.

When it comes to getting a telemarketing call or letter for a deceased loved one, there is no typical response, says Bret Beall, an administrative manager for the Association for Death Education and Counseling, an international membership group of organizations dealing with death, dying and bereavement.

"Reactions run the gamut, some people will be saddened," says Beall.

"Some people might like to be reminded of that loved one. But, since there are other ways to accomplish that, this list still has great value."

Sounds like a good idea ... not to be confused with the "I'm A Deadbeat; Do Not Call" list!

[WolfMoon]

I like that, one of my friends has a message on her voicemail that says:

"If you're a bill collector, I assure you I'm good for it. If you're selling something, I already have two."


Why do I always think of scary underwear when I see the name of this thread?

[Ben Lahnger]

Chinese Teenager Dies As A Result Of Sneaking A Smoke And A Guitar Performance

from the website of The Hindu News Update Service (click above link for full story)

February 22nd, 2006

Chinese teenager falls to his death from hostel window

Singapore, Feb. 22, (AP): A Chinese teenager studying in Singapore fell to his death from a third-floor window after leaping on his bed in a wild dance "imitating a rock guitarist," a news report said today.

Li Xiao Meng, a 16-year-old business student from China, was bouncing around with his guitar in Singapore's Novena Hall International Students Hostel on November 17 last year when he "unintentionally (fell) out of the window," state coroner Tan Boon Heng told the Straits Times newspaper.

"He was hyped up with exhilaration, jumping up and down on the bed placed against an open window while imitating a rock guitarist," Tan said, ruling the accident as death by misadventure.

The newspaper reported that Li often met with his friends in one of their rooms, where they smoked, sang and played their guitars.

Tan urged authorities to improve safety at the dormitory, saying the room's window latch had been tampered with. The boys apparently kept the window open because they liked to smoke, even though it was banned by the hostel.

------------------------

So, guys, when your girlfriend/wife tells you to stop playing the air guitar, she's just looking out for your health!