Today’s Intentional Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
A case of suicide by automobile:
A twenty-four-year-old man died in an auto crash. A few hours before the incident he had revealed in a conversation with a young woman at a bar that he was intoxicated and despondent. He recounted his recent loss of job, a pending marital separation, and ongoing doctor’s care for a “serious illness.” Before leaving the bar, he stated that he was going to “roll his car” and that she should come to “watch him die.” She left the establishment in her auto shortly before he did, and then he passed her at a high rate of speed. Other witnesses saw him driving his car recklessly. He ran into an embankment and the auto rolled over several times, finally resting on the ejected victim. His fatal injuries were blunt impacts to head and trunk. The blood alcohol concentration was 230 mg/dL.
This case is unique because an account of the imminent suicidal intent and method had just been related to a female drinking companion by the suicide immediately before the fatal act. Without this woman’s testimony, the case might have been called an accidental death, especially in view of his high blood alcohol level.
Culled from: Car Crash Culture by Mikita Brottman
Crime Scene Du Jour!
No caption. The position of the young victim’s coattail suggests that his pocket was picked after he fell. The location is a saloon, as can be seen from the brass rail and the spittoon at his feet. The official-looking document by his right arm is an announcement of the first annual ball of the McKinley Lodge No. 43 of the Knights of Pythias in Brooklyn, to be held November 3, 1917, admission 25 cents, and the other papers are additional copies of the same flier. Since the man was black, he was not invited, but probably was hired to post them.
Culled from: Evidence by Luc Sante
Garretdom: Fiendish Woman Du Jour!
Here’s another in the series of newspaper articles entitled, “A Fiendish Woman.” This one is from the September 24, 1877 issue of the Alexandria Gazette.
A FIENDISH WOMAN.—Kate Shaw, and Ellen Bernard, who occupy a floor at 312 North Fourth street, Williamsburgh, quarreled on Thursday night, when the former was worsted and threatened revenge. Yesterday she enticed Tommy, Mrs. Bernard’s five year old son, to her room, and made him pick up a red-hot poker, and, by clenching his hands, forced him to hold it for several minutes. Pieces of the palms of both his hands were burned out, and other pieces that clung to his hands were terribly charred and blistered. Justice Elliott sent Mrs. Shaw to jail in default of bonds.—N. Y. News.
Isn’t it interesting how these fiendish women got back at one another by attacking the other’s children? Very fiendish, indeed!
Pistol – 1
Needle & Thread – 1
Hurling – 1
Boiling Water – 1
Red Hot Poker – 1
