Articles Posted in Odd Cases

Can you imagine a man’s feet smelling so bad that he got kicked out of a university? It’s true, and Teunis Tenbrook has been fighting getting the boot (sorry) FOR 10 YEARS! Exactly how a case like this can take 10 years is a mystery to me, but whatever Mr. Tenbrook did, it worked. As reported by UPI:

A judge ruled to allow Teunis Tenbrook, who was banned from attending classes at Erasmus University in Rotterdam after administrators said his foot odor was distracting to professors and students, to resume his education at the school after a 10-year lapse, The Sun reported Tuesday.

The judge said professors and students would “just have to hold their noses and bear it” if the smell of Tenbrook’s feet bothers them in the future.

The sweet smell of victory!

Apparently, a severed foot is worth less than $100, at least in St. Lucie County, Florida. As reported tcpalm.com:

The St. Lucie County Fire District firefighter accused of absconding with a portion of a man’s leg from an Interstate 95 crash scene last year was arrested Monday on a misdemeanor theft charge, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman said.

FHP officials on Monday arrested Economou, of the 500 block of Aster Road, on a second-degree petit theft charge, which is punishable by up to 60 days in jail, in connection with the incident. The warrant lists the value of Lambert’s foot at less than $100.

Why did Ms.Economou – who was firefighter of the year in 2007 – take the foot?

[She] wanted the remains to help train her cadaver dog.

And …

Economou … “repeatedly stated” to co-workers, including supervisors, she got permission from a deputy chief to take the foot, but he denied it.

Ms. Economou has since resigned. The Juice hopes she’ll be able to put her firefighter skills to work elsewhere. This shouldn’t ruin her career. You can read more here.

This one is bizarre, even to the Juice. Shaun Michael Burke has been charged with seriously beating a woman with a rubber dildo (wrapped in duct tape) while he robbed her house. The police also suspect that her dog bit Mr. Burke – for the last time. He has also been charged with killing the dog by duct-taping it to a tree (causing asphyxiation). Mr. Burke is in deep shit if the blood in the dogs mouth turns out to be his. (The attacker was wearing a leather mask.) Click here to read the full story in the Daily Mercury.

Certainly nobody (save some of the cheaters) would argue that it’s wrong to cheat on your spouse. Likewise, just about everybody (save a few vengeful souls) would argue that Rajni Narayan, of Adelaides, Australia, went too far when she “… set fire to her husband’s genitals…” As reported by the Press Trust of India:

An Indian-born Australian woman who allegedly set fire to her husband’s genitals suspecting his fidelity has appeared in a local court with fresh charges of murder slapped against her.

Rajni Narayan, 44, who allegedly murdered her husband, in a bizarre manner by torching his genitals which set her Cleveland Avenue townhouse in Adelaides ablaze had later told her neighbourers “it’s just a penis I wanted to burn I didn’t mean this to happen” Narayan who suspected her husband of having an affair told the neighbours, “I am a jealous wife, his penis should belong to me, I just wanted to burn his penis so it belongs to me and no one else.”

Narayan was remanded to police custody until Friday and had to undergo a Psychological assessment as prosecutor said that her engineer husband Satish was asleep in their double-storey house when his wife set his genitals on fire after dousing them with methylated spirit on Dec 8 last, Adelaide Now reported.

The blaze reduced to rubble the couple’s USD 700,000 house and also damaged neighbouring houses. Satish Narayan, 47, succumbed to his burns in hospital last week, the paper said. After being produced before the local magistrate here the public prosecutor said the charges against the widow had been upgraded to murder. You can read more here.

Does it really matter if “Pig-pig” is a pig or hog? Turns out it does. As reported by The Tacoma News Tribune:

A pig named Pig-pig was at the center of a courtroom drama this spring in Tacoma Municipal Court. The weighty legal question: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?

Seriously, the question for the learned legal scholars: Is a pig a hog?

The saga began back in 2006 when a Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department inspector told Judson Morris III he was not permitted to keep a hog at his house within the City of Tacoma. Chapter 5.32 of the Tacoma Municipal Code forbids it.

Morris fought the charge, and his public defender successfully argued that the swine at Morris’ house was not a hog, and therefore not subject to the city ordinance.

It was, he said, a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. The city rules don’t say anything about pigs, the attorney argued.

The judge dismissed the case, but the city appealed to Pierce County Superior Court. A judge there reversed the dismissal and ordered the case sent back to Tacoma Municipal Court.

A jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 14. Seriously.

Somehow I doubt they’ll be able to look to the legislative history to resolve this one …

If you fancy a little weed with your milk delivery, you could have had it, for a little while. As reported by The Belfast Telegraph:

An OAP milkman supplied cannabis to pensioners to ward off their aches and pains, a court heard today.

Robert Holding, 72, delivered the drug – which he kept in an egg box – while doing his daily milk round. Burnley Crown Court heard that he had 17 customers and built up his trade through “word of mouth”.

Judge Beverley Lunt said Holding said in his police statement that the cannabis “was for elderly people who had aches and pains”. Philip Holden, for the defence, said Holding’s customers “were of a certain age” and he built up his clientele through “word of mouth”.

Mr Holden said it was a “somewhat bizarre case”.

Holding, of Fair View Road, Burnley, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to supplying cannabis resin, a Class C drug, between April 1 and July 18 this year. He also admitted possessing cannabis resin on July 17. The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report. Holding was released on bail and will be sentenced at Burnley Crown Court on February 6.

Judge Lunt warned him: “You must understand these are serious offences and in my judgment the likely outcome is an immediate custodial sentence.”

“Serious offences?” A little weed for some old folks who are in pain, or maybe just looking for a buzz? I might have agreed, but we just got this new milkman, and life is now different shades of mellow …

Seriously, what do you expect when you burglarize a haunted house? That the spirits are just going to let you waltz out the door with their otherworldly possessions? I don’t think so. As reported by the AP, out of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

A news report says a burglar who broke into a house claims he was held captive by a “supernatural figure” for three days without food and water. Police official Abdul Marlik Hakim Johar told The Star newspaper the house’s owners found the 36-year-old man fatigued and dehydrated when they returned from vacation Thursday. He says they called an ambulance to take him to a hospital. The man told police that every time he tried to escape, a “supernatural figure” shoved him to the ground. Abdul Marlik could not immediately be reached and other police officials declined to comment.

So here’s what Joseph Decker, of Hughestown, Pennsylvania, had on the back window of his truck:

IF YOU’RE IN AMERICA & CAN’T SPEAK ENGLISH GET THE FUCK OUT!

I think that’s idiotic, and I don’t think Joe (Decker, not “the Plumber”) would have a problem with my opinion. As reported by WNEP:

Come crunch time, I guess we all occasionally make the wrong decision. This would appear to be just such an occasion. As reported by The Naples Daily News:

When caught red handed with a pair of stolen $16 earrings, Naples police say a Golden Gate teen turned to drastic measures to get rid of the evidence — he drank them.

How do you drink earrings?

Police say Colburn was caught shoplifting the glamorous $16 jewelry by JCPenney loss prevention officer Leonardo D. Gonzalez just after 1 p.m. on Saturday. Gonzalez watched as Colburn selected a pair of earrings from the jewelry department, took them out of the box and placed them into a bottle of vitamin water, police said.

Colburn then left the store without paying for the earrings, reports said.

Gonzalez confronted Colburn about the earrings, and began escorting him back to the JCPenney loss prevention office. It was then, police said, that Colburn gulped down the rest of the vitamin water, earrings and all.

It’s not looking good for Mr. Colburn, but it’s still word against word, right? Nope.

When police arrived, Colburn was arrested and transported to NCH Downtown Naples Hospital for an X-ray. On the X-ray image, the earrings were observed inside Colburn, police said.

Damn that contraption! To read more (a fair amount), click here.