We have two previous lists on bizarre deaths: 10 Truly Bizarre Deaths, and Top 10 Unfortunate Or Embarrassing Deaths. Lists of this nature are always popular as they often expose the darker side of human nature. This new list is no exception! If you can think of any other bizarre deaths (perhaps more recent ones) and they don’t appear on either of the previous lists, be sure to mention them in the comments for all to enjoy. These entries are in chronological order.
Method of Death: Murdered by monks with shells
Hypatia of Alexandria was a Greek scholar from Alexandria in Egypt, considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy. Believed to have been the reason for the strained relationship between the Imperial Prefect Orestes and the Bishop Cyril, Hypatia attracted the ire of a Christian population eager to see the two reconciled. One day in March 415, during the season of Lent, her chariot was waylaid on her route home by a Christian mob, possibly Nitrian monks led by a man identified only as Peter, who is thought to be Peter the Reader, Cyril’s assistant. The Christian monks stripped her naked and dragged her through the streets to the newly Christianised Caesareum church, where she was brutally killed. Some reports suggest she was flayed with sea shells and potshards and set ablaze while still alive.
Method of Death: Strap-on head infected him
Sigurd Eysteinsson (aka Sigurd I The Mighty, ruled 875-92) was the second Viking Earl of Orkney, who succeeded his brother Ragnald the Wise. He was a leader in the Viking conquest of what is now northern Scotland. He died as a result of one of the native rulers he killed, Maelbrigte, moramer of Moray. He beheaded Maelbrigte and strapped his head to his saddle. As he rode, Maelbrigte’s teeth grazed against his leg, causing a wound that became infected and killed him.
Method of Death: Eaten alive
György Dózsa, Székely man-at-arms and peasants’ revolt leader in Hungary, was condemned to sit on a red-hot iron throne with a red-hot iron crown on his head and a red-hot sceptre in his hand (mocking at his ambition to be king), by Hungarian landed nobility in Transylvania. While Dózsa was still alive, he was set upon and his partially roasted body was eaten by six of his fellow rebels, who had been starved for a week beforehand.
Method of Death: Suicide courtesy of MacGuyver skills
William Kogut was an inmate on death row at San Quentin, decided to commit suicide using only the rudimentary tools available to him in his prison cell. He began by tearing up several packs of playing cards, giving particular focus to obtaining pieces with red ink (at the time, the ink in red playing cards contained nitrocellulose, which is flammable and when wet can create an explosive mixture), and stuffed them into a pipe. He then plugged one end of the pipe firmly with a broom handle and poured water into the other end to soak the card pieces. He then placed the pipe on a kerosene heater next to his bed and placed the open end firmly against his head. The heater turned the water into steam and eventually enough pressure built up inside the pipe so that when it burst, the explosion shot out bits of playing cards with enough force to penetrate Kogut’s skull, killing him. In a suicide note, Kogut stated that he and he alone should punish himself for his crimes
Method of Death: Fell down a chimney
In 1939, well known Finnish actress Sirkka Sari (Jahnsson) was celebrating the premiere of her new film “A Rich Girl” at the hotel Aulanko. During the celebration (most likely in a drunken desire to have some mischievous fun) Sari climbed the stairs to the roof of the hotel. At the top of the stairs, she opened the door and saw a black rectangular area which she thought was asphalt. She mistook it for a scenery deck, and jumped right in it. Unfortunately for her it was actually a chimney. She fell to her death in the boiler at the bottom.
Method of Death: Eccentricity
The Collyer brothers, extreme cases of eccentric compulsive hoarders, were found dead in their home in New York in 1947. The younger brother, Langley, died by falling victim to a booby trap he had set up, causing a mountain of objects, books, and newspapers to fall on him crushing him to death. His blind brother, Homer, who had depended on Langley for care, died of starvation some days later. Their bodies were recovered after massive efforts in removing many tons of debris from their home.
Method of Death: Murdered with an umbrella
Georgi Ivanov Markov was a Bulgarian dissident writer. In order to silence him, the Bulgarian government decided to have him killed and asked the KGB to help. On September 7, 1978, Markov walked across Waterloo Bridge spanning the River Thames, and was waiting at a bus stop on the other side, when he was jabbed in the calf by a man holding an umbrella. The man apologized and walked away. Markov would later tell doctors that the man had spoken in a foreign accent. Markov recalled feeling a stinging pain from where he had been hit, he assumed by the umbrella tip. That evening he developed a high fever and was admitted to a hospital where he died three days later, on 11 September 1978, at the age of 49. The cause of death was poisoning from a ricin-filled pellet.
Method of Death: Killed by flying lawnmower
John Bowen, a 20-year-old of Nashua, New Hampshire was attending a halftime show at a football game at Shea Stadium on December 9, 1979. During an event which featured novelty and custom-made remote control flying machines, a 40-pound model plane shaped like a lawnmower accidentally dived into the stands with its sharp blades striking Bowen and another spectator and causing severe head injuries. While the other spectator survived, Bowen died in hospital four days later.
Method of Death: Dove into a hotpool near boiling point
David Allen Kirwan a 24-year-old attempted to rescue a friend’s dog after it fell into Celestine Pool, a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park on July 20, 1981. Despite numerous shouts from bystanders, Kirwan dove headfirst into the pool but was unable to save the dog. After managing to swin back to shore, he was helped out of pool, where his injuries became apparent – the exposure to the 200oF (93oC) water of the hot spring resulted in third-degree burns to 100% of his body and had also blinded him. After being led to the sidewalk, Kirwan reportedly stated: “That was stupid. How bad am I? That was a stupid thing I did.” When one of Kirwan’s shoes was removed, all of the skin came off with it. He died the next day at a Salt Lake City hospital. Although there have been at least 19 deaths due to scalding at the Yellowstone, this was the only known case where someone died after deliberately jumping into one of the park’s hot springs.
Method of Death: Decapitated by an elevator
Dr. Hitoshi Nikaidoh (pictured above, left), a surgical doctor, was decapitated as he stepped on to an elevator at Christus St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, Texas on August 16, 2003. According to a witness inside the elevator, the elevator doors closed as Nikaidoh entered, trapping his head inside the elevator with the remainder of his body still outside. His body was later found at the bottom of the elevator shaft while the upper portion of his head, severed just above the lower jaw, was found in the elevator. A subsequent investigation revealed that improper electrical wiring installed by a maintenance company several days earlier had effectively bypassed all of the safeguards.
This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.
#60 – weedefinition – Dishonest? Dishonest? Maybe you should ask for your money back.
Great list! Number 6 made me feel a bit queasy though!
@callie19 (52):
OMG Callie, just you reminding me of that story tempts me to actually paraphrase it here. But I wouldn’t want anyone puking their guts out at work!
In number 6 it states
At the top of the stairs, she opened the door and saw a black rectangular area which she thought was asphalt. She mistook it for a scenery deck, and jumped right in it.
how does anyone know what she thought it was or what she mistook it for if she died?
@joliver (12):
#2 is not so unusual. for many people, animals ARE family. there is a ‘heroic’ like theme to saving a drowning dog…although why someone allowed a dog to get into ta boiling spring is beyond me, i can se why the yopung man wanted to save it.
i have dedicated my life to saving animals-i’m a veterinary nursing technician-and i have met other techs who are missing fingers, have nerve damage, and even been paralyzed by our patients. to us, it’s not stupid. it’s the career risk & employment hazards we knowingly accept.
i myself almost lost a finger years ago to severe osteomyelitis from an infected wild cat bite…and back in 2004, had my left foot broken by an angry Thoroughbred stallion.
one of my good friends in Denver had a large chunk of her calf removed by a playful jaguar cub, my other friend lost an ear to an angry Capuchin monkey, and another friend contracted a nasty virus from swimming with wild cetaceans. (a barnacle scratch got infected in the ocean)
i always say i want to die being gored or mauled by an animal…it would be fitting…
rtr
Hey, this is one I heard of a while ago, could be urban legend but I don’t have time for research, anyway here goes. Two Death Metal fans somewhere in Scandinavia were perpetually trying to outdo each other in which one of them was the sickest. One eventually one the “contest” when he killed and ate the other, yummy!
How about the death of Samuel, a Bulgarian ruler in 1014, after the loss of his army to Basil II:
“Having crushed the Bulgarians, Basil was said to have captured 15,000 prisoners and blinded 99 of every 100 men, leaving 150 one-eyed men to lead them back to their ruler. Samuel was physically struck down by the dreadful apparition of his blinded army, and he died two days later after suffering a stroke.”
I actually knew #1 personally – Toshi was one of the nicest persons you would ever meet. He had so much going for him. Someone upstairs I guess needed him more. Actually, the lady that was in the elevator when it happened had to go through psychiatric counseling for a while. Was such a fluke accident – I guess when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go.
I love these freaky lists!
#2 for some reason seems to be the most disturbing for me… I keep imagining this guy climbing out of the water with his skin melting off him like some sort of hot wax… Yeah, I know that probably not what it looked like but that is the metal picture stuck in my head! It´s going to give me nightmares…
The worst possible slow death -
Fab. list JF – just got home from working a double shift, read the list will read the comments a wee bit later.
Wow, those are all very interesting. I was defnitely most shocked with #1. #2 is just… I don’t even know. The umbrella one was very clever. As well as the deck of cards. The actress falling into a chimney is just terrible. I’d hate to be the person(s) who made that flying lawn mover… Man… the things that happen….
now im scared to even ride an elevator
a good source for “death by stupidity” is the Darwin Awards books, which posthumously commemorate people who reduce the gene pool and prove natural selection.
paperclip macguyver guns on the list, g- the top of dr.hitoshi’s head is on my mantle place yo
David Carradine’s death by *****ual misadventure is nothing new. Another actor was found hanging from his shower head years ago, a fellow victim of trying to get himself off via strangulation. The guy who runs findadeath.com once dropped in to the apartment where it happened and informed the current resident of it. (I believe she probably wasn’t even born when it occurred.) He filmed a short interview and left her with a special plaque or something to hang on the bathroom door.
Great list. I think this one is the best of the series yet. I didn’t think number 4 was that bizarre (maybe because I had already heard about it, or maybe because you can expect just about anything from the KGB). The rest, however, were appalling.
My family owns a rock quarry and one day one of the guys lost his right hand when his hat fell into the rock crusher and he tried to grab it without thinking. He said he remembers having to pull hard enough to pull his own hand off to save being pulled in any further. He didn’t die but obviously his juggling days are over.
Number two would suck so bad! why would jump into a hot spring!?
@Tonio (80):
why would use correct grammar!?
Well heard about hypasia on the cosmos. the rest are simply bizarre.
Cool list !!!
#2 and #8 were the most disturbing to me…
A bit icky, but good list..
I have a death that i read about on the Darwin Awards Lsts. Knowing this, the source may not be 100% credible but it can even show how human minds can even think of something as sick as this. A youn man was found dead in his own basement due to suffocation. He was found wearing a maid’s costume with a gas mask on. Instead of an air filter in the gas mask, howevr, there was a tube connected directly to his anus. He had apparently suffocated himself in his own gases. The police who discovered the departed found it very hard to tell his family what he saw.
If there was a B movie made about William Kogut (#7) It would end with the words “If only he used his talents for good instead of evil.”
Typo alert! You spelled “Swim” wrong in #2, it says “swin”
amazing list :]
Add the veteran actor Vic Morrow to the list… he “lost his head” to a helicopter blade while filming the “Twilight Zone” movie. And the two children he was carrying during the scene perished as well.
This vid is pretty violent, just giving a heads up.
Great list, Jamie. These are always interesting to read, and usually warrants further research. If I ever die by flying lawnmower, I hope that some one has the sense of humor to put it on my tombstone.
i feel sorry for the man and dog in no 2 and for the viking the most
imagine winning numerous battles, killing your enemy and then his corpses teeth infect you
The story about the actress and the chimney reminds me of something that happened in my hometown maybe 20 years ago. A burglar decided to break into a restaurant by sliding down a chimney that was never used. While sliding down he slipped and broke his neck. His body stayed stuck in the chimney for a couple of years until some employee decided to make a fire one day and everyone noticed a smell. They had to take the chimney apart to get his body out of there.
I remember hearing years ago, a young adult male died after inserting a tyre air-pressure pump, from a garage, into his anus and setting it off. He died instantly. Apparently he used to receive *****ual stimulation when he used to use bike pumps in the same way. I think he was from Germany. Sorry I haven’t being able to find a link, but I now have a very interesting search history…
You know, I read about 2 in a book called ‘Haunted’. I had just assumed the author made it up to add another touch of horror to the story; it just sounded too damn horrible to be real, but… *shudder*
In number 10. It says that her chariot was “…waylaid on her route home by a Christian mob, possibly Nitrian monks…”
Later on the possibility is forgotten when the author writes, “The Christian monks stripped her naked and dragged her through the streets…”
You say that it was possibly monks and then later that it was monks. This is important because it implicates clerical figures directly with the murder of Hypatia.
Just trying to keep a consistent presumption of guilt or innocence. Good list, Mythbusters should check out the playing card suicide one for feasibility. I don’t know if I believe it.
Had my forty winks and read the comments, and enjoyed them, thanks guys
But what is bizarre is to see Ricky Pontings face at the end of todays play against England – man o man the poms are giving them a hard time.
Gosh these are all awful… Poor poor people…
@87 damien – that’s been covered in another list. I forget the name of the list but it’s on here already.
John Polidori committed suicide by drinking prussic acid, which would have been a very slow, painful process. He took enough to kill approx. 20 people. It can take up to 12 hours for a person to die in some cases.
Very disturbing list. I cringed as i read #2 and #1.
#8 was really messed up too, they really knew how to execute people in those days. Was way more messed up than what the persians are said to have done to the Roman emperor Valerian
@pura: I think you are referring to “Haunted” by Chuck Palahniuk. In the second chapter, a young man finds ***** stimulation via the inground pool suction pump. He holds his breath, goes below the water, masturbates and well when he’s ready to come up for air he finds he is stuck…from back there.
And what wins? The desire to pull your entangled guts out, breath air and live or to have your intestines nicely inside of you and die embarassingly underwater with your ass stuck to the wall?
Tough choice…?
Might I take the liberty to remind you that actually there are 3 previous lists concerning bizarre deaths…namely the one I submitted!! =)
#8 is just sick. Imagine … Anyways great list. #3 is just ridiculous, a flying lawn mover? Simply stupid.
I had heard of Hypatia, I had also heard that she was the last curator of the Library of Alexandria. One more example of what happens with religious extremism.
wow. some of these are just plain sad. #5, for example! that was just awful.
A series of unfortunate events. #2, I would have let the dog die. No way would I have jumped. Did he think the water was cold?
Not only does it contain quotations from wikipedia, every single entry is copy/pasted verbatim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_deaths
Great list. I’ve read #1 and #2 on snopes but it still makes me cringe.
Another good list by JFrater. To me, it seems that the better list are composed by you, JFrater. This week has especially been good because the list are mainly from you. Not to brown nose, but I would like to see more list from you, like it the good ole days. Anyone agree??
> Murdered with an umbrella
As a point of interest, the ricin umbrella qualifies as a WMD (weapon of mass destruction) under US law: 18 USC 2332a.
#9 that’s what you get for trying to be a bad-ass.
Regarding #7, I remember seeing an episode of Mythbusters where Jamie and Adam actually attempted to recreate Kogut’s suicide. And as I seem to remember, it did work.
@yawn (103): Maybe you missed this at the end of the list? – “This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.”
In JFraters defense, he came up with the list idea, then had to weed through numerous examples as the list from Wikipedia is quite long and contains over 100 entries. From there it needed to be edited down to these ten. He also found photos or illustrations to go with each story.
Finnally, he’s brought a community of people together who seem to enjoy sharing comments including both positive ones and, those like yours that may be critical. JFrater could easily edit out comments, but he leaves even those that are negitive towards him. Pretty respectable.
Sure these lists may not qualify as doctorial dissertations, but instead are fun to read and, for more creative people than me, seem as though they’re probably fun to make.
@damien_karras (86):
Watched the link and it was horrific. Seemed like he was trying to protect the kids.
Number 4 is sadly not unique the KGB are still knocking people off as and where they want, just look at the case of Alexander Litvinenko. The British goverment know who did it but Russia has closed ranks and refuses extradition.
When I first read the “Meathod of Death” of no.10 I thought the Ninja Turtles had killed her.
I’ve got a couple of old videos with Hypatia Lee in them, and although she does some bizarre things, I don’t remember her dying…
#10, #8, and #2 sound the most painful. I was literally cringing at #2, especially about what happened when they pulled the poor guy’s shoe off.
More bizarre deaths: In 1919 there was a giant molasses flood in Boston after a factory exploded. A bunch of people died by being suffocated by the molasses. What an awful way to go.
@damien_karras (86): I heard about that a long time ago. He was actually Jennifer Jason Leigh’s father. I didn’t know they actually had footage of that on the internet. I’m at work right now and can’t watch the link (You Tube is blocked) but I’ll check it out later.
Oddly enough, this was the story on the front page of Montreal newspapers this morning:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Falling+concrete+kills+woman+Peel+sushi/1797977/story.html
The couple had a reservation, didn’t like their table, and insisted on changing to a “better” table near the street…
i once read of a man who whilst having the worst golf round of his life put the ball in the lake at the 18th, totally exasperated he threw his golf bag and clubs into said lake. realising his car keys were in the bag he waded in. his last words were, “i’m going to get the keys, but i’m leaving the clubs”.
best list ever
(a)One would think “Peter the Reader” was probably picked on by ancient greek bullies.
(b)How many figures in Raphael’s School of Athens have been sited/featured in these lists, so far, I wonder? Not bizarre death lists but in general. You know, just stop it already. sheesh.
(c) The fear getting my penis cut off by an elevator is enough, let alone my other noggin. (yup, that is what I came up with to make light of such a horrific finale) No, but seriously, I do have an elevator castration fear…and I don’t think I’m the only one.
(d) A Current Bizarre Death you ask? The guy that fell in the vat of 120degree chocolate. Really.
lets see, I got it right here. Cocoa Services in New Jersey- July 8th, 29yr old Vincent Smith Jr. He was a temp hire and was bent over an 8ft deep vat, tossin in chocolate chunks when the agitator mixing blade knocked him in. His co-workers tried to pull him out. They couldnt shut off the machine immediately. He was in there for 10minutes.
(e) Whatcha thinkin’ “antique dolls” ?
(f) Homer to Langley, “Oranges, gots to have more oranges!..
Lots’n'lots-O-oranges.”
(g) William Kogut-I’m not surprised. Prison is a playpin of ingenuity.
(h) Type in “flying lawnmower” and this is what you get? I want one of those. Radio control it down the sidewalks of New York. “I said clear the way!”.
(I) suicidal house pets have been known to leap off highrise balconies, killing pedestrians below.
Just in case anyone is curious like me about #3
It turns out it’s a …………well it’s a flying lawnmower
Bonus item suggestion:
This is fiction, but can still probably be on the list.
Uzumaki volume 1 part 1
Shuichi is worried about his father, who has begun a strange obsession about spirals. He collects anything featuring a spiral pattern, and eventually he stops going to work to stay at home and stare at his spiral collection. His obsession becomes so disturbing that he starts to use his own body to create spirals. Eventually, he becomes a spiral himself by contorting his body in a wash tub in the shape of a spiral, killing himself in the process. (courtesy of wikipedia, slightly rephrased by yours truly)