This is a pair of Icelandic “Necropants.” Made from human skin, sorcerers and witches would wear these trousers all day and night under their clothes as a sort of underwear in order to bring them wealth. Politely being asked by your sorcerer friend to be used in a pair of Necropants after your death was a great honor in 17th century Iceland. This is the only surviving pair of authentic Necropants, and is on display at the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft in Holmavik, Iceland.

Police photo of the staged burglary during the Durham family murders.   Note that if the footstool had actually been thrown with force the drinking glass would have been knocked over.  Bryce Durham, 51; his wife, Virginia, 44; and their son, Bobby Joe, 18 were found deceased with rope marks around their necks and crowded side-by-side, clothed, leaning across and into a filled bathtub, their heads in the water. The son-in-law told authorities that his wife's mother had called from the house and said three black men were beating Bryce and Bobby Joe Durham. Then the phone went dead. Within weeks of the crime, authorities arrested four men — all white — who were later released for lack of evidence. The son-in-law later told investigators that he and his wife were listening to music when he answered the phone, and that Virginia Durham spoke in such low tones he could not be sure what she said.  They, along with their neighbour as their driver, we the ones to find the bodies.  

Mary Ann Webster was born in London, England in December of 1874.  She married Thomas Bevan in 1903 and had four children with him.  Soon after marrying, Mary Ann began exhibiting the symptoms of acromegaly.  When this happens, your bones increase in size, including those of your hands, feet and face.  After her husband’s sudden death in 1914, she entered a “Homeliest Woman” contest and won.  Depending on the winnings to support her family, she entered into sideshow work.

In the early 2000s, her image was used on a birthday card in the UK created by Hallmark Cards as the punchline, a contestant on “Blind Date”.  Hallmark eventually agreed that it was inappropriate and agreed to stop distribution of the card after the issue was raised by a Dutch doctor who protested it was disrespectful to a woman who had become deformed as the result of a disease. 

No matter how goth you think you are, you aren't Charlotte "I repaired my mourning shoes with the hair of my dead siblings" Bronte

Greek playwright Aeschylus could not shake the feeling that he was going to die. A prophecy warned him of falling objects, so he was spending most of his time outside. Unfortunately, a large bird (most likely a lammergeier) mistook his smooth bald head for a rock and dropped a turtle on it. Aeschylus died instantly, and it's unclear if the vulture ever got his dinner. 

In 1957, Northeast Airlines Flight 823 crashed onto Rikers Island shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport, killing 20 and injuring 78 out of a total of 95 passengers and 6 crew. Shortly after the crash, department personnel and inmates alike ran to the crash in order to help survivors.  As a result of their actions, of the 57 inmates who assisted with the rescue effort, 30 were released and 16 received a reduction of six months by the N.Y.C. Parole Board. 

A drawing by artist Salvador Dalí, done as an apology because he was unable to attend a talk about art for the prisoners at Rikers Island, hung in the inmate dining room in J.A.T.C. (HDM) from 1965 to 1981, when it was moved to the prison lobby in E.M.T.C. (C76) for safekeeping.  The drawing was stolen in March 2003 and replaced with a fake; three Correction Officers and an Assistant Deputy Warden were arrested and charged, and though the three later pleaded guilty and one was acquitted, the drawing has not been recovered.

Rodney Pople’s Glover Prize winning painting depicting Australian mass murderer Martin Bryant holding a shotgun in the foreground.  Pople received the $35,000 prize amongst a flurry of controversy in 2012. 

Meter readers in Federal Way, Washington noticed a manhole cover out of place.  After replacing the cover only to find it ajar later in the day, they called the city officials to check it out.  When workers descended the 14 feet to find evidence of a bed and personal effects that seemed to belong in a treehouse (toys, candy, sleeping bags), they noticed two concerned boys watching from down the street. 

When questioned on the spot, the boys stated quite frankly that they had been sleeping there.  After given warnings about such health hazards as methane gas and vermin, the boys fled the scene.  Authorities are currently asking the public for help in locating the mysterious children estimated to be about 12 or 13. 

Star Randel-Hanson received the above tarot cards in a reading by Jayne Braiden at her shop in Brighton.  He soon broke down in tears and confessed to murdering his flatmate, Derick Marney. Jayne, after asking permission, was able to call the police to her shop.  Thinking it was a hoax, they took over an hour to arrive.  In the meantime, Randel-Hanson divulged details of an unwanted advance from Marney, a stabbing 10 days ago, and the location of the bloody body. 

When police attended the scene they found Mr. Marney, slumped against a radiator in the kitchen, with four blood-stained white towels around his lower half. There was a 7.8 inch bloodied knife on the floor and an open loaf of sliced Warburtons bread on the counter.

Today is the anniversary of the death of the library paste man RIP

Celebrations on January 24, 1989 in Starke, Florida once Ted Bundy was pronounced dead at 7:16 a.m by way of 2,000 volts. In a final interview, he told a Christian broadcaster that though he did not want to die, "I deserve the most extreme punishment society has." 

A Hearse carrying his body stopped in traffic by happy pro-death protestors. 

“Want to talk about torturing to death? I hope you all don’t think I'm strange or anything.”  Sharon Lopatka posted this ad as NanConcentric on alt.sex and in August 1996, began an online relationship with user Slowhands, real name Bobby Glass.   Two months and 870 pages of erotic emails later, Sharon set out to meet Bobby in Lenoir, N.C.  She left behind a note for her husband that read, “If my body is never retrieved, don’t worry. Know that I’m at peace.” A week later, her husband contacted police who were able to track Glass down after pouring through their correspondence.  Her body was found in a shallow grave 25 paces from his trailer, easily found because of the neighborhood dogs that took to the spot.  Glass claimed it was an accident during rope play.  “I don’t know how much I pulled the rope,” he told investigators, “I never wanted to kill her, but she ended up dead.”  Glass eventually plead guilty voluntary manslaughter in 2000 and was sentenced to four years and five months with an additional 26 months applied because of sexual images of children found on his computer.  Two weeks before being released from prison, Glass passed away in prison from a heart attack. 

Today, Wikipedia describes Lopatka’s death as “the earliest widely publicized example of a consensual homicide mediated through the use of the Internet.” 

City Council officials in McAlester, Oklahoma, prepared to renew their demand for the return of Old Sparky, an electric chair used by the state to execute 82 inmates. "If everyone blows this thing off," said a city museum owner, "it'll be in some politician's den."

Two-faced doll by Kley and Hahn, circa 1915

Myra Hindley kneels directly over the grave of John Kilbride, while snuggling her dog puppet. Photographed by Ian Brady.

The headstone of Jayne Mansfield in Fairview Cemetery, Pennsylvania.

Jayne Mansfield, a rising starlet in the 60′s, was traveling at night in Mississippi with three of her children and two other passengers when a dense fog from an anti-mosquito spray drifted over the highway.  Her car collided with a semi in front of them and sadly, all three adults were killed instantly.  Miraculously, the children survived, one of which being Mariska Hargitay, aka Oliva Benson on Law & Order SVU.

The crash began the implementation of safe guards on large trucks to ensure smaller cars do not slide under during collisions, now commonly known as “mansfield bars”.