Morbid Fact Du Jour for March 17, 2015

Today’s Mad Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

In 2005, Mt. Everest expedition leader Russell Brice had turned back an older Japanese client when his climber was moving too slowly and running out of oxygen. What Brice couldn’t know then was what would happen two years later, during the spring of 2007, when the same climber again attempted to climb the Northeast Ridge, this time with a different team. At the Second Step, according to witnesses, he began to show signs of cerebral edema but insisted that he be allowed to continue up, despite the protests of his Sherpa and the expedition leader. At the summit, he reportedly went mad, throwing his gloves over the edge and clubbing himself in the head with his ice ax. His Sherpa managed to force him down a few hundred feet before he collapsed in the snow, where he could not be revived.

Culled from: Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest’s Most Controversial Season

Prisoner Du Jour!

Prisoners: Murder, Mayhem, and Petit Larcenyis a collection of seventy portraits of turn-of-the-century prisoners in the town of Marysville, California and the fascinating newspaper and prison accounts from their day describing the crimes of which they were accused. The photos themselves are more fascinating than most of the crimes.  There’s something magical about glass plate negatives that you just can’t reproduce with modern photography.  And I think people just had more character back in the day – or at least it seems that way.  Here’s the first example…

JAMES DONALD

PETTY LARCENIST IN CITY PRISON
James Donald is under arrest and will be charged with petty larceny if evidence can be found to prove that the pile of second-hand grain sacks in his possession was unlawfully obtained. He is believed to have stolen them from the Buckeye Mills, but the positive proof is lacking. [June 26, 1906]

GETS FORTY DAYS FOR PETTY LARCENY
In the Police Court this morning, James Donald pleaded guilty of petty larceny, admitting that he stole twenty-four grain sacks from the Buckeye Mills, and Judge Raish sentenced him to serve forty days in the County Jail. [June 27, 1906]