by Dale Dreher
Financial Times, 1987
33. Gulp!
Grover Morrison, 28, a suspected cocaine dealer, swallowed his merchandise when police stopped his car in Lewisham, England. Morrison was released at the scene when nothing was found in his car or on his person. A few hours later the same police officer identified Morrison's body in the local morgue. According to the coroner, Morrison swallowed a 2 inch plastic ball of cocaine, which leaked in his stomach. At the time of death, the amount of cocaine in Morrison's blood was 20 times greater than the level considered fatal.
Independent, May 7, 1992
34. Island Sherlocks.
Robert Cohen, 54, was found in a pool of his own blood on the front step of his home on Long Island, New York. Police first thought that Cohen was attacked by his own Doberman that was guarding the body when officers arrived. Then they thought it was murder when they discovered that Cohen's throat had been cut not torn. There was no apparent motive, however, and Cohen's pockets contained about $3,000 from the liquor store he owned. Finally, when the local medical examiners found some of Cohen's hair and skin on the broken glass of the front door, the authorities had to conclude that Cohen's death was accidental. He likely tripped and fell into the window then collapsed a few feet away.
Newsday, October 8, 1987
35. Snatcher Catcher.
A suspected purse snatcher was killed fleeing the scene. He had reportedly stolen a purse from a woman waiting for a subway train at the 96th Street Station in Manhattan and attempted to escape with his booty down the subway tunnel. Before he could get very far, he was hit and killed by a southbound express train.
New York Times, July 26, 1995
36. Tough Border.
Four Mozambicans tried to enter South Africa secretly through the Kruger National Park when they were attacked by lions. One man survived the attack by climbing a tree. From examining the few remains left at the scene, Park Rangers could only conclude that “at least” two others had been killed.
Toronto Star, July 25, 1997
Drugs & Alcohol
37. Fatal Leak.
Patriot and avid beer drinker, Martin Mallon, 34, killed himself celebrating Canada Day. Mallon was enjoying himself at a beer garden adjacent to Canada’s parliament buildings on the picturesque bluffs overlooking the Ottawa River. Impatient with the long lines for the port-a-potties, Mallon was relieving himself on the edge of the bluffs when he lost his footing and fell 30 feet to the paved road below. Mallon never regained consciousness before expiring several days later.
Ottawa Citizen, July 4, 1987 & June 19, 1989
38. Pocketful of Trouble.
Twenty one year old Illinois university student, John Fenzel, bled to death when he cut himself with a beer glass. Fenzel had a glass in each of his front trouser pockets when he fell on his way home from a campus party. One of the glasses broke and severed a major artery in Fenzel’s leg.
Los Angeles Times, September 20, 1987
39. High Octane Cocktail.
One woman died and 10 others were poisoned when revelers mistook gas line anti freeze for vodka at a Christmas party. Sallie Redhead, 47, of Thompson, Manitoba, had already been drinking, when someone discovered and served the contents of plastic soda bottle filled with a clear liquid. Apparently, none of the partygoers knew that their host stored his leftover anti freeze in soda bottles.
Winnipeg Free Press, December 18, 1988
40. Disappearing Students.
The whereabouts of 3 students and 2 alumni of a private Ohio University were unknown for 5 days after they were seen leaving a popular bar. Five days later family and friends learned that the group had driven off the road and drowned in the frigid waters of the local river, just a few blocks from the bar. Killed also were 2 dogs locked in a roof top carrier.
Columbus Ledger Enquirer, March 7, 1997
41. A/C O.D.
Fifteen year old, Jennifer Jones overdosed on air conditioning. Her body was found stuck between her Florida home and the family's air conditioning unit. Local police said that kids sometimes try to get high from inhaling the refrigerant, Freon.
Miami Herald, June 8, 1994
42. Shocking Fraternity.
Rochne Hold, 25, a fratboy at a "leadership" conference in Jacksonville, Florida, died showing off to his friends on a drawbridge. It was 2am when the boys were returning to their hotel from a local bar. Hold was climbing a bridge tower when he touched one of the copper bars that conducts 480 volts of electricity. His friends tried to rescue him, but Hold lost his, uh, grip. The local coroner was not sure if Hold was killed by the electricity or the fall, which broke his neck.
Miami Herald, February 7, 1990
43. Tiny Bubbles.
Sheila Roy, a 37 year old store clerk, drowned in a hot tub after combining a number of her prescription medications with alcohol. Roy's boyfriend made the grisly discovery the next morning. The coroner concluded that the deadly cocktail made Roy, "so extremely dysfunctional that she could easily slip down into the tub, lose consciousness and drown".
Akron Beacon Journal, May 11, 1993
44. Fear is a Good Thing.
University sophomore, Shannon Gill, 20, fell to her death at a fraternity party. Shannon was found with someone else’s ID and a blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit. Shannon’s date was locked out of his fraternity room so the two tried to gain access from the window ledge. According to her date, Shannon went out on the ledge after he dismissed the idea as too dangerous. Shannon fell 27 feet and died from her injuries. The vice president of student affairs commented, “These people are energetic, they have no fear and they think they can do most anything.”
Charlotte Observer, December 16, 1989
45. Johnny Can't Bleed.
Johnny Moore, 58, chose to watch TV and bleed to death rather than seek medical attention for a cut ankle. Moore's friend, a nurse's aide, put Moore's foot in a plastic basin when she noticed that the blood was messing up her carpet. The two had started drinking beer at 8:30pm. When a movie they were watching ended at 2:30am, Moore's friend tried unsuccessfully to wake him. Moore was dead. Doctors estimate that he lost 3 litres (60 %) of his blood.
Miami Herald, October 9, 1986
46. Stupidity Insurance.
A life insurance periodical reported on the case of a Tennessee man who got drunk and froze to death under a pile of snow in February 1981. The man’s insurance company refused to pay his family the $1000 death benefit provided by his insurance policy. The company argued that the man's death was not an accident and that he voluntarily exposed himself to the cold weather. The Tennessee courts, however, ordered the company to pay the benefits, with interest, concluding that if the man went, "to sleep or became intoxicated while the weather was safely mild... the cause of death was... the sudden and unexpected change in the weather," and not the man’s fault.
Best's Review, October 1986
47. Designated Roadkill.
Underage drinker, Phillip Birch, 19, was too drunk to drive his pickup from Little Rock to his home in Mayflower, Arkansas. His blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit in that state. Instead of driving, Birch rode in the truck's bed. While on the highway, the truck hit a bump, tossing Birch onto the highway where he was run over by an 18 wheel transport truck. A member of the local district attorney's office doubted that anyone would be prosecuted in Birch's death, "I wish we could blame somebody other than this poor deceased boy... but he just drank too much... he made some poor choices."
Commercial Appeal (Memphis), November 25, 1995
48. Huff, No Puff.
Police believe that 35 year old movie theatre janitor, Bill Rhodes, died from "huffing", or sniffing chemicals. Co workers found Rhodes with a bag over his head, which also contained a rag smelling of some sort of chemical. The case was unusual because of Rhodes' age. Huffing is more common among younger people looking for a cheap "high." Sniffing chemicals causes hallucinations, and brain damage, by disturbing the oxygen
balance in the brain.
Charlotte Observer, June 9, 1995
49. Just Say No to NO2.
Four young adults, 2 men and 2 women, aged 18 to 20, killed themselves trying to get high from nitrous oxide, or laughing gas. Their bodies were found in a small dental storage room with an empty tank of the anaesthetic. They had suffocated from a lack of oxygen.
Saint Paul Pioneer Press, August 9, 1988
50. Ernest & Junius.
Junius Huggins, 67, bled to death from an accidental cut by a wine bottle. Investigating police found 6,100 other bottles of home made wine on Huggins' property in a building spray painted with biblical verses. Pieces of an illegal distillery were also found but there was no evidence that Huggins was actually selling the stockpile of wine. According to the investigating officer, Huggins activities were suspicious, "But he's dead. There's not a whole lot of need for me to pursue it."
Charlotte Observer, April 17, 1990
Deathstyles of the Rich and Famous
51. Killer Carpet.
Millionaire, Virginia Mayes, 76, drowned in shag carpeting. The wealthy and reclusive widow apparently fainted getting out of bed in the middle of the night and collapsed face down in her carpeting. Mayes' fall was not heard by her two servants also asleep in the mansion. The medical examiner ruled the death, "postural asphyxia... an asphyxia related to a position of the victim's body."
Miami Herald, June 12, 1983
52. Cigar Warning.
Comedian, Ernie Kovacs, 42, died in a late night car accident in 1962. Kovacs had several drinks at a party held at director Billy Wilder’s house when he decided to drive himself home. Authorities believe that Kovacs lost control of the car while trying to light a cigar. Kovacs died from mortal head and chest injuries, his body was found hanging out the open passenger door, an unlit cigar near his right hand.
Dead before their time, 1996
53. Miserly Misery.
Two eccentric elderly sisters died in their Florida home after refusing to buy heating oil. When social workers complained that their delivered meals remained on the sisters’ porch untouched for two days, Police forced their way into the women's ramshackle two story house. Charlotte Robenstein, 83, her older sister, Marion Seelig, and their cat all died of some combination of exposure, pneumonia and malnutrition. The bodies were found amid dusty piles and boxes of cash and valuables estimated to be worth between 20 and 50 thousand dollars.
Miami Herald, December 3, 1982
54. Dumbster.
The crushed body of Douglas Beatty, 36, a drifter, was found in a Pennsylvania landfill site. It seems he went to sleep in a dumpster one spring evening and was accidentally processed like common refuse. Beatty’s family had been trying to locate him for 9 years to tell him that he had inherited several thousand dollars.
Philadelphia Daily News, May 30, 1990
55. Hunk Flunk.
In 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum was at the apex of his short career as the star of Cover Up, a TV show about international espionage and intrigue. The 26-year-old Hexum played a Green Beret turned spy that traveled the world as a male model. Hexum killed himself with a .44 magnum loaded with blanks. Reportedly, he held the gun to his head and joked, “Let’s see if I got one for me.” The blast sent a piece of skull into Hexum’s brain. Doctors declared Hexum brain-dead six days later and his family donated the young star’s organs for transplant.
Dead before their time, 1996
56. Maestro Miscue.
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632- 1687) was the “Music Master to the Royal Family” in Louis XIV’s France. He died as the result of an injury he sustained while conducting an orchestra. He accidentally stabbed himself in the toe with the end his conductor’s staff. Lully did not show the wound to doctors until gangrene had set in and then refused to let the doctors amputate his toe. When the gangrene had spread through his leg, he again refused a life-saving amputation and died a few weeks later.
They went that-a-way..., 1988
57. B-Movie Death.
Actress, Maria Montez, 31, moved from the Dominican Republic to the United States to become a star. After two dozen forgettable “B” pictures, Maria is better known for her unusual weight reduction regime and its tragic results. To keep her weight below 125 pounds, Maria took 3-hour baths daily in steaming hot water and reducing salts. On September 7, 1951, the young actress drowned after suffering a heart attack caused by the heat of the bath.
They went that-a-way..., 1988
58. Fatal Hide-and-Seek.
Primula (Primmie) Niven (1918-1946) had only been in Hollywood a month when she was killed by the town’s hi-jinks. Primmie and her movie star husband, David Niven, had just moved from their native England and were enjoying the hospitality at a party hosted by Tyrone Power. The guests were playing a game called, “sardines”, where one person hides, the lights are turned out, and the others must find and join the hidden person until only one seeker is left. Primmie mistook the door to the basement for a closet and fell down the stairs. She died the next day from the resulting head injuries.
They went that-a-way..., 1988
59. Cleric-al Error.
Controversial Episcopal Bishop, James Pike (1913-1969), died trying to retrace the steps of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bishop and his wife were determined to pray in the wilderness between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea where they believed Jesus was tempted by the devil. They did not follow a road and did not bring water despite the ruggedness of the terrain and the high temperature (100 F). Their car got stuck in late afternoon and Pike soon collapsed from exhaustion. Pike’s much younger wife pushed on and found a work camp early the next morning. Army search teams looked for the Bishop for six days before finding his body in a kneeling position at the bottom of a 70 foot cliff. Authorities believed he had fallen trying to climb the cliff some 3 or 4 days earlier.
They went that-a-way..., 1988
60. No! Minister.
Conservative Member of the British Parliament, Stephen Milligan, 45, enjoyed masturbating while suffocating himself with a plastic bag. The politician was found dead on his kitchen floor in lady's underwear, with a plastic bag over his head and tied around his neck. The coroner and police found no evidence of suicide or foul play.
Agence France Presse, March 22, 1994
61. The Dying Wallendas.
Karl Wallenda (1905-1978) vowed to continue the family’s high wire tradition after two members were killed and one paralyzed during a performance in Detroit in 1961. In 1972, another member of the troupe was electrocuted to death in West Virginia. On March 22, 1978, Wallenda fell to his own death during a walk between two hotel towers in Puerto Rico. Wallenda’s descendants continue to perform death defying high wire circus acts in fulfillment of Karl’s motto, “The dead are gone and the show must go on.”
They went that-a-way..., 1988
62. Gone in 60 Seconds.
Film producer and director, Toby Halicki, 48, was killed during the making of the sequel to his 1974 car chase movie, Gone in Sixty Seconds. Halicki was directing the film's climax, which called for the toppling of a water tower. But the tower fell too early and Halicki was hit by a utility pole that was pulled down by the falling tower. Halicki was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital in Tonawanda, New York.
Reuters, August 21, 1989
63. Eraserhead II: The Donut Shop.
Actor, Jack Nance, 53, was best known for his role as the star of the 1978 classic cult film, Eraserhead. Nance also appeared in other David Lynch productions including the television series, Twin Peaks. Nance died within one day of instigating a fight with two young men at a Pasadena donut shop. Nance was punched a number of times in the head during the altercation but apparently did not seek any medical attention. David Lynch commented that his friend was in bad physical shape but when, "people irritated Jack... he'd be verbally abusive... Jack always said he wouldn't be too hard to kill."
Los Angeles Times, January 4, 1997
64. Playwrong.
Tennessee Williams (1912 1983), the brilliant and passionate American playwright became quite dependent on prescription drugs in his later years. He apparently died after playing with a pill bottle cap in his mouth. He inadvertently swallowed the cap and choked to death in his Manhattan apartment.
Miami Herald, March 10, 1983
Love & Paraphilia
65. Always Wear a Helmet.
Seventeen year old, Joseph McNulty Jr., an aspiring race car driver, ended his racing career before it really got started. The high school senior suffered fatal head injuries when he leaned out of a school bus to talk to a girl. McNulty's head hit a telephone pole as the bus was pulling away from Bay Shore High School on Long Island, New York.
Newsday, May 3, 1996
66. Love Potion.
Gail Buscher, 43, of Lakeworth, Florida, died after using an unregulated aphrodisiac she and her boyfriend bought at an adult bookstore. The solution is not regulated because it is not sold as a drug but as an "incense" or "room odorizer." These commonly available products contain isobutyl nitrite. This poison creates a high by dilating blood vessels and increasing the heart rate. A spokesperson for the Florida Poison Control Centre explained, "It's very dangerous. People don't realize that the high feeling they're getting is because they're depriving themselves of oxygen." The mother of three expired after spending three days in a coma.
Associated Press, April 17, 1985
67. Play It Again, Jimmy.
Jimmy "The Beard" Ferrozo, 40, an assistant manager at a Miami strip club, was crushed to death between a naked dancer and the club's ceiling. Ferrozo was having a few drinks with a 23 year old dancer after closing when one thing lead to another and the two found themselves on top of the club's piano. The piano was on a hydraulic lift system used in the opening of another dancer's routine. The life of Ferrozo’s companion was saved by the few inches of space provided by Ferrozo's body. According to police, the young dancer, "was so intoxicated... she just remembers waking up and being pinned on the piano."
