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Strange Crimes

Round here, clothes shops leave boxes of coathangers in the porch
labelled Please Help Yourself! Rather removes any sporting element.
 
When I moved into the flat I live at the moment, there were 3 wardrobes which I didn't need. I asked the landlord to take them away, which he promptly did - but left me all the coathangers. I now have about 60 or 70 of the bloody things!
 
Unexplained Body Found in Mortuary
11alive.com/news/news_article.asp?storyid=31860
Link is dead. No archived version found. See
later post for updates on this case.

Reported By: Kay Flowers
Web Editor: Elissa Bullard
Last Modified: 5/19/2003 9:54:34 AM

Police are trying to determine how an unexplained murder victim’s body got inside the Warbington Mortuary in Lawrenceville, Ga.

Warbington employees said they were shocked to find the corpse on Saturday night. Local police identified the victim as Kenneth Cain, 43, of Lawrenceville. They have yet to confirm his cause of death.

“It was suspicious because [the body] was in early stages of decomposure. We went ahead and secured the scene last [Saturday] night until we could perform an autopsy [Sunday] morning," Captain Greg Vaughn, of the Lawrenceville Police Department, told 11Alive’s Kay Flowers.

"After the autopsy was performed, the medical examiner told us that we would need to treat this as a homicide investigation,” the captain said.

Sylvia Chaffin, Kenneth Cain's fiancee, told 11Alive, "It's just a shock to me. I'm still wondering how he got in the funeral home."

"That was somebody's child. That would have been somebody's...husband," she said.

Chaffin said she last saw Cain on Wednesday when she dropped him off at his mother's house, which isn't far from the mortuary.

Cain told Chaffin that he would find a way home. When he failed to return, his family filed a missing persons report.

"He said 'Well, I will find a way home.' I said, 'Okay.' So, I told him I love him and he told me he loved me. I came home," Chaffin said.

Authorities combed the crime scene for clues on Sunday. They said they would also be investigating how long Cain's body had been inside of the mortuary.

So far, there are no suspects in the case, police said.

"He was a sweet person. He was a loving person, and for somebody to do that to him...they need...to be punished," Chaffin said.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This story is suspicious because of the word "Decomposure" instead of "Decomposition".
I'm not even sure that that is a real word.
 
The story, since it comes form a local TV news feed, appears to be real. The interesting use of english is more likely coloquial, or simply the official being wrong footed by having a microphone stuffed into his face.
 
Robber shoots man, orders sex acts

10/19/2003

A gunman broke into a Jones Street home Saturday morning, shot a person in the stomach and ordered others to perform sexual acts.

The gunman was later subdued and held for police.

Keith R. Smith, 26, of Peace Street, was arrested on numerous charges, including first-degree attempted robbery, first-degree burglary, first-degree assault, sodomy and sexual abuse.

The crime occurred shortly after 6 a.m. on Jones, off Clinton Street near Fillmore Avenue. Police said Smith, armed with .22-caliber rifle, burst into an upper apartment occupied by several men and women, police said.

While trying to rob the occupants, ranging in age from 20 to 25, Smith shot one of the men in the abdomen, police said.

While forcing the others to engage in sex, Smith also sexually assaulted a woman, police said.

The shooting victim, identified as Michael Casselberry, 21, of Cheektowaga, was listed in serious condition in Erie County Medical Center.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20031019/2027284.asp
 
Snake panic in SA bank

Snake panic in South Africa bank


South African police are looking for a man who released several poisonous snakes at a bank in a revenge attack after his car was repossessed.
A worker at the bank was bitten as he tried to catch one of them amid scenes of panic in a branch of the Absa Bank in Johannesburg.

The customer Abel Manamela went into hiding after carrying out his threat to act if his car was not returned.

The Absa bank has confirmed it is in dispute with Mr Manamela over the car.

Issuing a statement to the media from his hiding place, Mr Manamela said he walked into the bank and "I asked people to move away so that they would not get bitten, then I put my bag on the floor and opened it".

The five snakes then slithered into the reception area as panicking staff and customers ran away.

Mr Manamela fled in the ensuing chaos.

Attempted murder

Police spokesman Chris Wilken said they are investigating a charge of attempted murder.

Mr Manamela said he released 15 snakes at the bank during the incident.

"I had 10 puff adders, three mambas and another two cobras," he said,

But a statement from Absa bank said only five snakes were released and they were all captured by the Johannesburg emergency services.

The bank's spokesman Errol Smith said the angry customer had also written a letter warning them not to harm his snakes.

Mr Manamela said he bought a car in 1998. He believed he did not owe any money on the vehicle when it was taken from him.

He has warned that he will target Absa bank branches in South Africa if the dispute is not resolved.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3444855.stm
...................................................
 
Sometimes crimes are dumb but sometimes they are just odd or inexplicable or spectacular (or all of the above) ;)

So here is a thread for those kinds of things.

Man accused of stealing patrol car with crane

2-20-04

Posted 2:35 p.m.

MORGANTON (AP) — A Morganton man was arrested for allegedly stealing a patrol car from a police parking lot using the hydraulic crane on a logging truck, authorities said.

Burke County Sheriff's deputies said they witnessed a man identified as Jeffery Grady Rose, 33, pick up the car Thursday then put it in the back of the truck and drive away.

The car was assigned to Deputy Chuck Fisher who had stopped by the Sheriff's Office on his last day to turn in his equipment. Fisher had taken two guns out of the trunk and brought them into the office when Rose hoisted the car.

Deputies said they began chasing the truck in vehicles and on foot, but Rose wouldn't stop.

Smith said the truck kept coming toward deputies so he shot the front right tire out with his gun.

Authorities said they don't have a motive.

Rose was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, felony larceny, possession of stolen goods and damage to personal property. He was jailed under a ,000 bond and scheduled for a first-appearance hearing Friday in Burke County District Court.

http://www.news-record.com/news/now/crane022004.htm

Emps
 
Thieves steal bridge in Ukraine

Thieves in western Ukraine have dismantled and stolen an 11m steel bridge over the river Svalyavka.

Police blame locals, saying it would have been impossible to take the bridge apart without a crane and a lorry - or to take it away unnoticed.

Metal theft is a problem in Ukraine, where people steal statues, wires and sewage hatches to sell as scrap.

Officials are now checking all scrap metal yards in the region to find the remains of the one-tonne bridge.

Meanwhile, the residents of several villages along the river have to find another way of reaching their local town, Svalyava.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3514061.stm

Published: 2004/02/23 16:48:52 GMT

© BBC MMIV
 
More cunning than strange

Man cons bank teller

By Norman Miller / News Staff Writer

Friday, February 27, 2004FRAMINGHAM -- Police are looking for a flimflam artist suspected of scamming a teller at a Concord Street bank out of 0.

According to police, the man went to the Framingham Cooperative Bank on Feb. 2 with several 0 bills.

The man asked the bank teller if he could change the 0s for s. When handed the bills, he said he changed his mind and asked for s instead.

During the change over, the man apparently kept some of the s and left with 0 more than he came in with, police said.

"It's a scam," said Lt. Lou Griffith. "It's one of the all-time scams."

The man is described as a black male with a large build. He was wearing a light colored suit with a tie and sunglasses, police said.

If anyone has any information, police ask them to call Detective Ted Piers at 508-620-4923, ext. 430.

http://www3.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=61555
 
Thieves swipe hives





By RICHARD T. ESTRADA
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: February 26, 2004, 08:30:56 AM PST

Someone's been stealing Merle Brandt's bees, and the beekeeper might have met the thief. They might be friends.

"I'm sure it's another beekeeper, someone like me, but dishonest," said Brandt, of the theft of 43 hives out of a Newman almond orchard a few weeks ago.

Most folks wouldn't go near a dense cloud of buzzing bees, Brandt said. His 43 hives held about 1.7 million bees, many with their stingers at the ready.

"A beekeeper, though, has the equipment and know-how to remove the hives," said Brandt, who is based in South Dakota but has 2,400 hives working California almond orchards. "That gets me real angry, thinking he's one of us."

This is the peak period for bees in the San Joaquin Valley. It's also prime time for thieves who steal thousands of hives annually, said law enforcement officials.

About a half-dozen beekeepers have been stung by thefts the first month of the almond season. The damage is significant for beekeepers and farmers who rely on bees to pollinate trees.

Orin Johnson of Hughson said 64 of his hives were stolen last year, and he estimated his loss at ,500. He was upset about losing the honey, pollination fees and hives -- with about 2.5 million bees.

"Beehives are usually placed away from homes and people, so there's no one watching them," said Johnson, who has 700 hives.

Almond growers pay to a hive, keeping hives six to eight weeks. Without bees moving pollen between trees, California wouldn't have its annual
Thieves swipe hives





By RICHARD T. ESTRADA
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: February 26, 2004, 08:30:56 AM PST

Someone's been stealing Merle Brandt's bees, and the beekeeper might have met the thief. They might be friends.

"I'm sure it's another beekeeper, someone like me, but dishonest," said Brandt, of the theft of 43 hives out of a Newman almond orchard a few weeks ago.

Most folks wouldn't go near a dense cloud of buzzing bees, Brandt said. His 43 hives held about 1.7 million bees, many with their stingers at the ready.

"A beekeeper, though, has the equipment and know-how to remove the hives," said Brandt, who is based in South Dakota but has 2,400 hives working California almond orchards. "That gets me real angry, thinking he's one of us."

This is the peak period for bees in the San Joaquin Valley. It's also prime time for thieves who steal thousands of hives annually, said law enforcement officials.

About a half-dozen beekeepers have been stung by thefts the first month of the almond season. The damage is significant for beekeepers and farmers who rely on bees to pollinate trees.

Orin Johnson of Hughson said 64 of his hives were stolen last year, and he estimated his loss at $7,500. He was upset about losing the honey, pollination fees and hives -- with about 2.5 million bees.

"Beehives are usually placed away from homes and people, so there's no one watching them," said Johnson, who has 700 hives.

Almond growers pay $50 to $70 a hive, keeping hives six to eight weeks. Without bees moving pollen between trees, California wouldn't have its annual $1 billion almond industry.

Later in the year, hives move to apple orchards, fields of kiwi fruit and other crops, but none generates the return of almonds.

A healthy acre of almonds produces about 2,000 pounds, worth about $2,000 to the grower. Take away the bees, and the crop dwindles to a few hundred pounds.

That disparity plays a role in hive thefts because there is far greater demand for pollinating bees than beekeepers can satisfy.

There are more than 550,000 acres of producing almond trees in California, and growers prefer 2.25 hives an acre. There are only about 500,000 hives in the state, so another half- million or so arrive from the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho and other states.

Even with the imports, almond growers say they struggle to adequately pollinate orchards.

Bees fly a mile or more from the hive, though cold and damp weather keeps them closer to home. That's why growers prefer to spread hives generously throughout their acreage.

"This is one of the more difficult years I've ever seen for getting hives," said Ron Fisher, president of Fisher Nut Co. of Modesto and a grower for 24 years.

"We hear every year we're going to be short, and somehow we always pull through. This year, we are very short," Fisher said.

"There are some blocks as big as 500 acres that don't have hives and we've heard of growers bidding against each other to get hives that aren't under contract," he said.

After Brandt had dozens of hives stolen from the same Newman farm in 2002, the grower hung steel cables across all roads leading into the orchard.

"It looks like the thief drove a forklift between trees this time. How do you stop that?" said a frustrated Brandt. "The farmer now has people staying up at night, looking for headlights."

While Brandt has alerted other beekeepers to his stolen hives, he can only hope they'll turn up.

Some beekeepers do get lucky.

When Merced County sheriff's deputies went into a Winton almond orchard last spring, they found 244 stolen hives.

Beekeepers are required to list their names and phone numbers on hives, and most burn brands into the side of the boxes, so many of the hives were returned to their owners.

Alfredo Suarez of Atwater, a part-time beekeeper, was arrested and convicted of possessing the stolen hives, containing about 10 million bees. Suarez, who was leasing the hives to unsuspecting growers, might have collected $12,000 last season had he not been caught.

"As demand rises, prices go up and thefts increase," said Clifton Piper, Merced County's deputy agricultural commissioner.

Hives house about 40,000 bees during almond pollination. They move pollen between flowers, while collecting pollen and nectar to bring back to the hive. That generates two revenue streams for beekeepers, who harvest and sell the honey.

"If you lose a hive for a season, you've lost about $100," according to Bruce Beekman of Beekman & Beekman in Hughson. "That doesn't include the work it takes to build the new colony."
billion almond industry.

Later in the year, hives move to apple orchards, fields of kiwi fruit and other crops, but none generates the return of almonds.

A healthy acre of almonds produces about 2,000 pounds, worth about ,000 to the grower. Take away the bees, and the crop dwindles to a few hundred pounds.

That disparity plays a role in hive thefts because there is far greater demand for pollinating bees than beekeepers can satisfy.

There are more than 550,000 acres of producing almond trees in California, and growers prefer 2.25 hives an acre. There are only about 500,000 hives in the state, so another half- million or so arrive from the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho and other states.

Even with the imports, almond growers say they struggle to adequately pollinate orchards.

Bees fly a mile or more from the hive, though cold and damp weather keeps them closer to home. That's why growers prefer to spread hives generously throughout their acreage.

"This is one of the more difficult years I've ever seen for getting hives," said Ron Fisher, president of Fisher Nut Co. of Modesto and a grower for 24 years.

"We hear every year we're going to be short, and somehow we always pull through. This year, we are very short," Fisher said.

"There are some blocks as big as 500 acres that don't have hives and we've heard of growers bidding against each other to get hives that aren't under contract," he said.

After Brandt had dozens of hives stolen from the same Newman farm in 2002, the grower hung steel cables across all roads leading into the orchard.

"It looks like the thief drove a forklift between trees this time. How do you stop that?" said a frustrated Brandt. "The farmer now has people staying up at night, looking for headlights."

While Brandt has alerted other beekeepers to his stolen hives, he can only hope they'll turn up.

Some beekeepers do get lucky.

When Merced County sheriff's deputies went into a Winton almond orchard last spring, they found 244 stolen hives.

Beekeepers are required to list their names and phone numbers on hives, and most burn brands into the side of the boxes, so many of the hives were returned to their owners.

Alfredo Suarez of Atwater, a part-time beekeeper, was arrested and convicted of possessing the stolen hives, containing about 10 million bees. Suarez, who was leasing the hives to unsuspecting growers, might have collected ,000 last season had he not been caught.

"As demand rises, prices go up and thefts increase," said Clifton Piper, Merced County's deputy agricultural commissioner.

Hives house about 40,000 bees during almond pollination. They move pollen between flowers, while collecting pollen and nectar to bring back to the hive. That generates two revenue streams for beekeepers, who harvest and sell the honey.

"If you lose a hive for a season, you've lost about 0," according to Bruce Beekman of Beekman & Beekman in Hughson. "That doesn't include the work it takes to build the new colony."

http://www.modbee.com/business/story/8194385p-9045224c.html
 
Hooker Steals Police Van

Feb 27, 2004 10:30 am US/Eastern

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Talk about turning tricks and tools of the trade. A prostitution suspect managed to flee in a stolen police van Thursday night, despite being handcuffed at the time, police said.

Philadelphia police fasten handcuffs behind suspects' backs, Detective Debra Kelly said, and it was not immediately clear how the woman managed to get her hands in front. It is possible that she got her hands low enough that she could step over them, Kelly said. The suspect then managed to steal the unmarked Dodge Caravan that police were going to use to take her to the station, police said.

The woman abandoned the stolen van and remained at large late Thursday.

The officers who arrested her after she allegedly solicited them were looking at mug shots in an attempt to identify her. Women arrested for prostitution often give many addresses, making it difficult to find them, Kelly said.

http://kyw.com/water/watercooler_story_058103117.html
 
Emperor said:
Thieves steal bridge in Ukraine

Thieves in western Ukraine have dismantled and stolen an 11m steel bridge over the river Svalyavka.

and they don't stop there:

Metal thieves steal museum train

DONETSK, Ukraine, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- Metal thieves have stolen an historic steam locomotive from an open-air museum in eastern Ukraine, a week after they stole a bridge.

The Donetsk police chief told the local Ukrayina TV channel the criminals had probably hired a crane from the state transport company and used forged documents that appeared to give them authority to move the old steam locomotive, the BBC reported Sunday.

Investigators located the locomotive in a metal scrap yard outside the city, but it had already been cut into pieces.

The locomotive was said to be the first ever built in Soviet Ukraine back in 1924, so experts could not put a price on its historic value. But the thieves could have made about ,700 from selling the 14.5 tons of scrap. It appears doubtful the steam locomotive could be put back together.

Metal theft is rampant in the Ukraine, where statues, wires and even sewage hatches have been stolen for scrap.

Just a week before the locomotive theft, local news reports said thieves had stolen an 11-meter (36-foot) steel bridge in western Ukraine, cutting a town off from the rest of the world.

http://interestalert.com/brand/site...teia&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World News
 
Stolen transgenic pigs become sausages

19:00 25 July 01


Meat from transgenic pigs destined for destruction was turned into sausage and eaten by at least nine people in Florida. It may be the first time people in the US have eaten genetically modified meat.

Florida prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident, which began when a University of Florida employee stole three dead experimental pigs. Unaware of the meat's origin, a butcher made sausages from it. Helen Griffin, who ate about five pounds (2.25 kg) of the sausages with a friend, thought they "tasted real good".

No ill effects were reported, but officials at the National Institutes of Health are nevertheless trying to work out if the meat was a health risk.

The pigs had been genetically modified to carry a copy of the rhodopsin gene, which is involved in eye function. Philip Collis, a biosafety officer at the university, says it is unlikely the rhodopsin gene could have made the meat dangerous.


Barbiturate injection

If there was any concern, says Collis, it's that the pigs had been injected with barbiturates before they were killed. The drug could have triggered an adverse reaction in those eating the meat.

However, the event seems to be an isolated one. "This is the only case of its kind we know of," says NIH spokesman Donald Ralbovsky.

Still, University of Florida officials are ensuring that in the future, GM animals are spray-painted after being killed, so it's clear they should not be eaten, says Collis.

Freak incidents aside, government agencies are beginning to look at the imminent introduction of GM animal products into the human food supply. A new committee at the National Academy of Sciences, formed at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, will meet later in 2001. The FDA is urging GM food researchers to cooperate with the agency.

Piglets worth £24,000 are stolen

The stolen pigs are too small for slaughter
Thieves made off with more than 460 piglets worth about £24,000 from a farm building at Elveden, in Suffolk.
The pigs weighing between eight kilograms and 90 kilograms, were taken at the weekend.

Police were hoping the theft was witnessed by someone travelling on the busy A11, which runs by the farm.

They said the offenders forced open the farm gates to allow access to the buildings and removed the pigs using a large twin-axle goods vehicle.

John Green, who manages the pigs for Elveden Farms Ltd, said the pigs were between six and 22 weeks old and too young for slaughtering.

It is thought they are being held in a barn or outbuilding.

Anyone with information about the pigs is asked to ring Suffolk Police.

:(
 
Thats some expensive bangers there ;)

Burglar Steals Python From Zoo in Croatia

Burglar Creeps Into Snake Tank at Night and Steals Python From Zoo in Croatian Capital

The Associated Press



ZAGREB, Croatia March 9 — A burglar crept into a snake tank at night and stole a python from a city zoo, police reported Tuesday.

The Royal or Ball python was stolen on Monday from a giant glass tank inside an area reserved for snakes at the zoo in the capital, Zagreb. Two other python snakes were left untouched.

The Royal python is a harmless nocturnal snake found on the edges of central and western Africa, typically reaching just over a meter (3 feet) in length at maturity. Like all pythons and boas, the Royal python devours a variety of prey in the wild, such as lizards, birds and small mammals. Domesticated pythons are usually fed mice.

Zookeepers believe the thief had prior knowledge of where the keys to the tanks were kept.

The reptile, which can be bought at specialized pet shops, is valued at about 0, a police statement said.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040309_561.html
 
I could think you'd steal from just about anyone else on the face of the planet:

Thieves Make Off with Mossad Chief's Phone

Thu Mar 11, 8:19 AM ET


TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel's Mossad spy agency may be the scourge of Arab militants and former Nazis, but it has failed to find thieves who stole the boss's mobile phone.

Meir Dagan, the retired general who heads Israel's shadowy foreign intelligence agency, lost the phone when his car was broken into in Tel Aviv last month, security sources said on Wednesday.

Court orders barred publication of the theft during the police hunt for the culprits. The sources said they did not want the thieves to realize the value of what they had stolen.

No arrests have been made.

To be extra safe, Mossad ordered the phone company to remotely erase the memory on Dagan's handset.

"There were quite a few numbers of agents and secret service heads stored there. We did not want embarrassing exposure for them too," one source said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...e=6&u=/nm/20040311/od_nm/odd_israel_mossad_dc
 
March 14, 2004

IN BRIEF / NORTH CAROLINA

Woman, 96, Charged With Selling Crack



From Times Wire Reports


A 96-year-old woman said she does not know how the crack cocaine that deputies found on her got into her wheelchair.

Julia Roberts of Kings Mountain was charged with possession of crack with intent to sell and deliver, and with possessing a crack pipe, sheriff's officials said. She was freed pending a hearing.

Source requires registration.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...ar14,1,3344859.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Emps
 
10m Coke can lids stolen in PNG

March 17, 2004


PAPUA New Guinea police have charged two men over the theft of 10 million aluminium can lids worth almost 0,000.

Lae city police chief Simon Kauba today said a transport company's operations manager had been charged with stealing the 48 pallets of lids from Coca-Cola Amatil.

Police charged an employee at a recycling firm for receiving the stolen property, which has not been recovered.

"One man was charged with stealing. The other was charged with conspiracy and receiving stolen properties," Kauba told AAP.

Kauba said police acted after Coca-Cola's private investigator revealed last month that the lids had been stolen from a storage depot in the northern city of Lae.

The heist was still under police investigation, Kauba said.

Coca-Cola Amatil PNG general manager Charles Rossi said the 10 million aluminium discs were worth 692,000 kina (0,000).

Rossi said the company believed the lids had been exported to Australia.

"We expect it had been sent down to Brisbane, but we don't have all the details," Rossi told said.

"All we know is it (the product) is not there anymore."

Rossi said no staff at Coca-Cola Amatil were involved in the theft.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8993738%5E1702,00.html
 
Whatever the opposite of taking the piss is

Posted on Tue, Mar. 16, 2004



Unholy water leads to arrest

Cops: Homeless man urinated in font

By SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM

[email protected]



Absolution is a key tenet of Catholicism - wrongdoing can be excused by the church.

And it's too bad for Joseph Canty - a homeless man who is accused of turning a holy water font at the city's largest cathedral into his personal toilet - that Philadelphia police do not forgive law breakers - they arrest them.

On Thursday, a janitor at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul, on Race Street near 17th, noticed that someone had urinated in the holy water font near the front of the church, police said.

The next day, Monsignor John A. Close, pastor of the cathedral, reported Canty was the man to blame and told police investigators he is a frequent bedevilment to the parish.

Close told police that on March 10 Canty "attempted to knock him down," investigators said.

Canty, 27, threatened the priest that if he alerted authorities about the shove, he would "do bodily harm" to him.

Canty "never comes to the catholic church to pray," Close said in a police report. "Only to harass patrons and vandalize property."

On Friday, police charged Canty with vandalism, simple assault, ethnic intimidation and related crimes.

Last week was not Canty's first brush with Close, cops said.

During the last year, in between loitering in the small park across from the cathedral, Canty would taunt parishioners on their way to services and church activities, police said.

Last night, Close told the Daily News that he did not want to discuss Canty.

"I have to attend meetings," said Close before shutting the door of the rectory.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8196453.htm
 
Bizarre bike theft

By Bianca Wordley
March 19, 2004 - 12:50PM



It was simply a case of notifying the next of kin, but when police arrived at the dead man's house they found it packed with bicycles.

Police knew the man had died while attempting to steal a bicycle, but they didn't expect to find his home packed to the rafters with them.

In the man's three bedroom weatherboard home in the Victorian regional city of Geelong were 1,000 bicycles and boxloads of bike parts.

Police superintendent Steve Barber said it was understood the man, who was aged in his 60s, died "in the progress of stealing a bike in Swanston Street in Melbourne last week".

"On attending the house police found it virtually packed to the brim with bicycles," Supt Barber said today.

"Some of the rooms were stacked three-high with bikes.

"It was pretty unusual."

Supt Barber said it was unclear how many of the bikes were stolen, as the man also "had a habit of buying bicycles as well".

"It appears the man was well known to a number of bicycle premises in Geelong," he said.

"He had also come to be known to police in regards to stealing bicycles."

Supt Barber said police were working around the clock to try to clear the house of all the bikes which ranged in style and value.

He said it took police four hours and two trucks yesterday just to move 100 bikes from the scene.

It's understood most of the stolen bikes were taken from Melbourne, however, it would take police some time to unravel the mystery.

Senior Sergeant Adrian Benny, who is working on the case, today said he had never seen anything like it.

"In every room including his bedroom, bathroom and kitchen there are bikes, bike helmets, parts, chains, seats and tyres ... it's something else," Sen Sgt Benny said.

"There are also bikes down the side of the house and there are two sheds full.

"It's a logistical nightmare."

He said it was "ironic" the man who was known to neighbours as an "enthusiastic bike collector" died while trying to steal a bike.

"He must have had a bike fetish," he said.

Police have not released details on the man's cause of death.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/19/1079199406613.html
 
Ronin robbery

Someone has been watching too mnay films:

Gang robs restaurant with sword

Four men armed with a samurai sword and knives, have robbed a fast food restaurant in Leamington Spa.

Police say the armed robbery at the McDonalds drive-through in Queensway, on Friday, may be linked to similar offences elsewhere in Warwickshire.

The incident happened just as the deputy manager arrived at 0500 GMT.

Four men in their 20s forced him into the restaurant, ripped out phone lines and removed the security video before escaping with cash from the safe.

One of the men was carrying a long silver-bladed Samurai-type sword and the others were carrying knives.

Warwickshire detectives are looking at links between this incident and similar offences in Nuneaton and Coventry earlier this year.

Anyone who saw a red Rover car in the Queensway or Heathcote area on Friday is asked to contact West Midlands police.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/3571727.stm

Published: 2004/03/26 12:45:13 GMT

© BBC MMIV
 
Neighbour catches urine splasher in the act

Betty Ann Adam
The StarPhoenix

Friday, March 26, 2004


A Saskatoon couple mystified by the recurring stench of urine behind their garage used video surveillance equipment to catch their neighbour in the act of splashing a jug full of the putrid substance on the garage door.

Robert Kukura, 60, pleaded guilty to mischief in Saskatoon provincial court and was sentenced Thursday to one year's probation. He was ordered to pay
Neighbour catches urine splasher in the act

Betty Ann Adam
The StarPhoenix

Friday, March 26, 2004


A Saskatoon couple mystified by the recurring stench of urine behind their garage used video surveillance equipment to catch their neighbour in the act of splashing a jug full of the putrid substance on the garage door.

Robert Kukura, 60, pleaded guilty to mischief in Saskatoon provincial court and was sentenced Thursday to one year's probation. He was ordered to pay $1,732 restitution to Wes and Heather Skakun for replacement of the garage door and the gravel pad behind it.

"I could understand if I had done something to bring this on myself, but I didn't do anything to initiate this," Wes Skakun told Judge Patrick Bell.

"An outhouse on the farm smells better than this," Skakun said in an interview.

Kukura's house, at 222 Michener Cres., is across the alley and one lot over from the Skakuns' in the west-end neighbourhood of Pacific Heights.

The Skakuns first noticed that snowmobile gasoline had been poured on the plants behind their fence sometime after Kukura was ordered to stop operating an auto body shop out of his home garage in 2002. They think he blames them for the city shutting down his business, but say they never complained about the operation in the 15 years he ran it.

Defence lawyer Darrel Soroka said Kukura was upset with his neighbours for starting up their noisy car at 3 a.m. and waking up his wife, who was ill.

The problem escalated in the spring of 2003, when the Skakuns noticed the foul odour around the wooden garage door, which faces the alley.

They estimate it happened six to 10 times in all. They noticed the smell was worse the day after Wes's weekly evening out at a sporting event.

The smell permeated the gravel pad behind the garage door, the door, plywood on a trailer they stored beside the garage and on a piece of carpet Skakun kept just inside the garage door.

The Skakuns sometimes found fetid puddles standing on the gravel. They think Kukura collected the urine in a four-litre oil jug and kept it in his sun-heated garage for many days between applications.

"He was saving it, letting it steep in the sun, then dumping it," Skakun said.

In early July, Skakun notified the police and began to gather his own evidence.

He bought a video camera and installed it to capture activity behind the garage and connected it to a VCR he kept turned on 24 hours a day for two weeks.

There wasn't enough light to identify the perpetrator on two incidents captured on video, but the audio portion caught a nearby gate opening, the sound of approaching footsteps and splashing, followed by footsteps going away, a gate being used and, moments later, Kukura's backyard light coming on, Skakun said in an interview.

Skakun then rented a higher quality video camera and installed four powerful outdoor lights, which he rigged to turn on with his remote control garage door opener.

The effort paid off when Skakun staked out the yard on a night he expected a visit. When he heard the dreaded splashing, he used the remote control to flood the alley with light, clearly capturing Kukura in the act and running to his home.
,732 restitution to Wes and Heather Skakun for replacement of the garage door and the gravel pad behind it.

"I could understand if I had done something to bring this on myself, but I didn't do anything to initiate this," Wes Skakun told Judge Patrick Bell.

"An outhouse on the farm smells better than this," Skakun said in an interview.

Kukura's house, at 222 Michener Cres., is across the alley and one lot over from the Skakuns' in the west-end neighbourhood of Pacific Heights.

The Skakuns first noticed that snowmobile gasoline had been poured on the plants behind their fence sometime after Kukura was ordered to stop operating an auto body shop out of his home garage in 2002. They think he blames them for the city shutting down his business, but say they never complained about the operation in the 15 years he ran it.

Defence lawyer Darrel Soroka said Kukura was upset with his neighbours for starting up their noisy car at 3 a.m. and waking up his wife, who was ill.

The problem escalated in the spring of 2003, when the Skakuns noticed the foul odour around the wooden garage door, which faces the alley.

They estimate it happened six to 10 times in all. They noticed the smell was worse the day after Wes's weekly evening out at a sporting event.

The smell permeated the gravel pad behind the garage door, the door, plywood on a trailer they stored beside the garage and on a piece of carpet Skakun kept just inside the garage door.

The Skakuns sometimes found fetid puddles standing on the gravel. They think Kukura collected the urine in a four-litre oil jug and kept it in his sun-heated garage for many days between applications.

"He was saving it, letting it steep in the sun, then dumping it," Skakun said.

In early July, Skakun notified the police and began to gather his own evidence.

He bought a video camera and installed it to capture activity behind the garage and connected it to a VCR he kept turned on 24 hours a day for two weeks.

There wasn't enough light to identify the perpetrator on two incidents captured on video, but the audio portion caught a nearby gate opening, the sound of approaching footsteps and splashing, followed by footsteps going away, a gate being used and, moments later, Kukura's backyard light coming on, Skakun said in an interview.

Skakun then rented a higher quality video camera and installed four powerful outdoor lights, which he rigged to turn on with his remote control garage door opener.

The effort paid off when Skakun staked out the yard on a night he expected a visit. When he heard the dreaded splashing, he used the remote control to flood the alley with light, clearly capturing Kukura in the act and running to his home.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/story.asp?id=FEC7AA0A-346F-4805-AD98-85615BB360AC
 
Last Updated: Sunday, April 11, 2004 11:01:00 PM


Thieves extract cache of novelty teeth

By BRYAN CORBIN
Daily Journal News Editor
[email protected]

Putting a bite into crime, thieves stole a White River Township man’s pickup truck and cargo trailer Thursday, apparently not realizing that it contained at least 25,000 sets of Billy Bob Teeth.

A distant cousin of plastic Halloween vampire fangs, the Billy Bob novelty items make the wearer appear to sport crooked, decayed, tobacco-stained teeth.

Greg O’Dell, a distributor of Billy Bob Teeth in Greenwood, reported that he had a delivery of between 25,000 and 30,000 sets of teeth stored overnight in his cargo trailer, hitched to his white-and-tan Ford F350 pickup. Between 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. Thursday, someone made off with the truck and trailer near Sugar Grove Elementary School, and the cargo along with it.

“I’ve got a feeling someone is going to be disappointed when they get into the back of that cargo trailer and think they’ve got computers or construction tools and find out they’ve got Billy Bob Teeth,” said Chief Deputy Doug Cox of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

O’Dell had been a partner in the Greenwood-based Billy Bob Teeth online sales company but recently stepped down to become a distributor of the novelties and start his own company, he said.

“I’m just a guy who sold crooked teeth for almost eight years,” O’Dell said. “I wanted to sell other items and was in the process of moving inventory to our new office, and basically I got ripped off.”

At per set of rotten-looking teeth, the delivery was worth upwards of 0,000 retail to O’Dell, he said.

To the thieves, however, the loot is essentially worthless. Manufactured in Taiwan, the loose sets of teeth were unpackaged. Without the putty adhesive to make them custom-fit into wearers’ mouths, they have little resale potential.

“For them to re-sell them on the market, they don’t have what it takes to make them work right,” O’Dell said.

According to the inventory O’Dell provided the sheriff’s office, the stolen cargo trailer contained assorted Billy Bob Teeth products, including infant pacifiers. Among the novelty teeth styles stolen were the Real McCoy, the Austin Powers, the Slapshot and the Deliverance Cavity, the report said. Another 200 dozen sunglasses also were stolen.

O’Dell said someone must have broken into the locked pickup truck, hot-wired it and driven off.

“Whatever they did, they tore the heck out of the ditch trying to get away,” he said.

Thursday’s teeth heist followed complaints of other thefts in the neighborhoods along County Line and Morgantown roads in White River Township. In some cases, cargo trailers have been broken into and tools or all-terrain vehicles have been stolen; in others, the entire cargo trailer was taken, the sheriff’s office reported.

No one has been arrested yet. One of the recent thefts involved two men in an early 1990s dark red Chevrolet pickup with loud exhaust pipes, the sheriff’s office reported.

Anyone seeing suspicious activity in the area is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 736-5155.

Cox said a detective has been assigned to O’Dell’s theft case and extra patrols were ordered. He emphasized that deputies will work just as hard to solve the stolen novelty-teeth case as they would any other.

“I don’t think it’s funny. He’s a victim, just like if it was computer equipment that was stolen,” Cox said.

And indeed, the theft thousands of dollars of merchandise is a setback for O’Dell, just as he is getting his new business, Party Power Inc., off the ground.

While insurance may cover the loss of his vehicle and trailer, it will not cover the theft of his products.

O’Dell urges anyone with information about his stolen teeth to contact him at 513-4703 or call the sheriff’s office.

He hopes the pilfered Billy Bob Teeth will turn up discarded in a Dumpster somewhere. If they don’t, O’Dell isn’t sure how he will recoup his losses.

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” he said. “You can’t keep a good crooked-tooth salesman down.”

http://www.thejournalnet.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=113&ArticleID=42893
 
The actual crime isn't that odd but the frequency and motivation is:

Tyre slasher jailed for 16 months

Fri 16 April, 2004 14:54

LONDON (Reuters) - A cyclist who slashed almost 2,000 tyres after a driver drenched him when driving through a puddle has been jailed for 16 months.

Ashley Carpenter, 37, used a sharpened screwdriver to puncture the tyres of 548 parked cars, lorries and vans over a 10-day period in revenge for the "inconsiderate manner" of motorists.

Carpenter told police he began his campaign after one car nearly knocked him down and another drove through a puddle and drenched him.

The court heard he had caused an estimated 250,000 pounds worth of damage on vehicles in Bournemouth and Christchurch.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=494343&section=news
 
Man and dog play "go fetch"' with axe

Wed Apr 14, 4:57 PM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police have detained a man and confiscated an axe he was throwing for his dog to retrieve, authorities say.


"Every time the dog obediently fetched the axe and returned it to its master," police in the western city of Aachen said in a statement on Wednesday.

"He must have been out of his mind," said an Aachen police spokesman. "It clearly wasn't a small dog."

Passers-by spotted the barefoot 36-year-old enjoying his dangerous game of "go fetch" in a park and alerted police.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...u=/nm/20040414/od_uk_nm/oukoe_odd_germany_axe

I suspect the bare footed business might be a sign (granted I'm not wearing shoes at the moment but.......).

Emps
 
Kill mom but don't hurt TV, teen tells hitman

Friday, April 16, 2004 Posted: 0013 GMT (0813 HKT)


MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) -- A Florida teen charged with hiring an undercover policeman to shoot and kill his mother instructed the purported hitman not to damage the family television during the attack, police said Thursday.

Police in the southwestern Florida city of Fort Myers arrested the boy, 17-year-old Carlos Chereza, Tuesday on a charge of soliciting to commit first-degree murder.

Tipped by an informant that Chereza had offered to pay to have his mother killed, an undercover detective posed as someone willing to do the job, Fort Myers police said.

Chereza offered the detective ,000 that he expected to inherit from his mother's bank account, and gave him the keys to the family apartment, a map of the apartment and a picture of his mother, the police report said. He asked that the shooting be made to look like a burglary, it said.

"Carlos stated that he didn't want anything to happen to the television," the detective wrote in the arrest report.

Police arrested the teen immediately after the meeting with the detective, and the mother was unharmed. Police spokeswoman Kara Winton said the motive was related to domestic problems within the family, but declined to elaborate.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/South/04/15/hitman.tv.reut/index.html
 
The following appears as a newspaper clipping on the sleeve notes to Jim White’s album No Such Place.

Man Found Dead On Delivery Van
MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI- ...the lifeless body of O. E. Parker, 43, was discovered Monday morning atop a postal delivery van by startled dayshift employees.
Police confirm that Parker was found clutching in his hand a white plastic bag containing; a black wig, a hat, a .22 caliber revolver, a stocking mask, a picture of Jesus, an alarm clock, a roll of white bandage tape, a brown paper bag and a stamped envelope containing $1,394.67 in cash and coins.
When asked as to the curious circumstances surrounding Parker's death, Deputy Clyde Calafee replied, “We got it all figured out but the letter. It was addressed to a party in Pensacola, Texas but when we attempted to contact law enforcement officials there we were told there’s no such place.”

As befits someone signed up to David Byrne’s record label, Jim White is a pretty Fortean character - I read in an article about him that (IIRC) he claims to have been haunted by a doll. Of course the newspaper clipping could be a complete fiction but part of me really wants it to be true - apart, of course, from the fact that I wouldn’t want to wish Mr Parker any harm.

Sounds like the beginning, or indeed the end, of a Coen brothers movie to me.
 
Tamale Chef Kills Friend, Cooks Him
Thu Apr 22, 9:55 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!



MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican cook killed his drinking buddy, cut up his body and boiled him in herbs, according to police who fear he may have been turning him into tamales.



Prosecutors said on Wednesday they had arrested Carlos Machuca, a tamale-maker, at his home in the western city of Morelia on Tuesday, after receiving an anonymous phone tip.


Officers found a man's mutilated corpse in the living room and body parts simmering in aluminum saucepans on the patio, state prosecutors told Reuters.


"We saw the flesh and the tamales, and our first impression was that he was making tamales with the flesh of the deceased, although it has yet to be confirmed," Lorena Cortes, a spokeswoman for Michoacan state prosecutors, said.


But she also told Reuters by telephone that Machuca, 56, may just have been trying to dispose of the body. Police say he stabbed the man through the heart in a fight after they had drunk together.


Tamales are made of packets of maize dough with a savory or sweet filling, typically wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves. They often contain pork or chicken.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=2&u=/nm/20040422/od/_nm/cook_dc
 
http://www.sky.com/skynews/articles/0,,30000-13067906,00.html

BEHEADERS ESCAPE JAIL

Two teenage boys who cut off the head of a corpse and played with it in a graveyard have escaped jail.

Sonny Devlin, 17, and a 15-year-old, whose name is protected by law, were both given probation at the High Court in Edinburgh.


They were accused of cutting off the head and playing with it in a graveyard tomb at Edinburgh's Greyfriar's Cemetery and were subsequently found guilty at a trial in March.

In a historic case, they were convicted of the ancient crime of violation of a sepulchre.

The trial was the first of its kind to come to court in Scotland for more than a century.



Greyfriar's Cemetery where the attack took place




Devlin, from Edinburgh, was sentenced to three years' probation with the condition that he carries out 200 hours of community service.

His 15-year-old accomplice was given two years' probation.

The judge told Devlin that the fact he had been drinking at the time was no excuse.

Lord Wheatley said: "You committed a gruesome and revolting offence three days after being convicted of a charge of assault.

"You will understand that vandalism and violation of a graveyard is something which causes universal disgust and revulsion."




Last Updated: 14:44 UK, Friday April 23, 2004
 
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