Pour yourself a cup of calming tea, take a seat and brace yourself as you delve into some of the most shockingly strange crimes ever committed…
Welcome
THE WORLD’S WACKIEST LAWS
Sinister Supernatural
FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE • THE STRANGE CASE OF TERESITA BASA, WHO SOLVED HER OWN MURDER FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, CONTINUES TO BAFFLE AND FASCINATE
THE GREENBRIER GHOST • IN THE 19TH CENTURY, A MURDEROUS HUSBAND THOUGHT HE’D COMMITTED THE PERFECT CRIME; UNTIL THE GHOST OF HIS VICTIM PAID HER MOTHER A VISIT
“THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!” • ACCORDING TO LAWYERS, THE DEVIL HIMSELF HAD COME TO CONNECTICUT; BUT DID DEMONIC POSSESSION REALLY PLAY A PART IN A 1981 MURDER TRIAL?
VOODOO GODMOTHER • THE SKIN WAS CLEAR, THE FEATURES STRONG AND THE EYES SET DEAD AHEAD AS THE RITUAL SMOKE ROSE AROUND THEM. THE ONLOOKERS (SEEKING THEIR HEARTS’ DESIRES) WERE TERRIFIED. IT WAS A FEELING AS HEADY AS THE DRUG-TRAFFICKED HIGHS THE FIGURE’S ‘MAGIC’ WOULD CREATE
WHICH WITCH? • THE NARCOSATANICA CULT FUSED DIFFERENT OCCULT TRADITIONS. THESE INCLUDED:
SARA’S SANTERIA SEDUCTION SPELL? • MANY OCCULT PRACTITIONERS ARE FAMOUSLY SECRETIVE ABOUT THEIR RITUALS, BUT A LOT OF THE SAME INGREDIENTS ARE USED IN MAGIC ACROSS THE WORLD. SORCERESS SARA COULD HAVE USED A POTION LIKE THIS TO BEND A RIVAL DRUG TRAFFICKER TO HER WILL
LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLER • AS THE SMOKE CURLED FROM HER CIGARETTE, TRACEY WIGGINTON WATCHED THE MAN SHE’D CUT UP DIE, SLOWLY LICKING THE TASTE OF HIS IRON BLOOD FROM THE POINTS OF HER TEETH… OR DID SHE?
5 MINDS, MEMORIES AND MURDER • WIGGINTON’S VIOLENCE WAS BLAMED ON HER NOT-SO WILFUL RESPONSE TO ABUSE – THE DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER
VAMPING IT UP? • AS WIGGINTON ALLEGEDLY CLAIMED TO BE A BLOOD-SUCKER, WE SPEAK TO PROFESSOR MARK GRIFFITHS ABOUT VAMPIRE FACT AND FICTION
Bizarre Brainwashing
BLACK METAL MURDER • THE BLACK METAL SCENE OF THE EARLY 1990S BOTH CREATED SOME OF HEAVY METAL’S MOST EXCITING MUSIC AND RESULTED IN THREE TRAGIC DEATHS. HERE IS ITS FULL, BLOODY LEGACY
WHAT IS BLACK METAL? • JONATHAN SELZER, REVIEWS EDITOR AT METAL HAMMER MAGAZINE, EXPLAINS THIS FORBIDDING MUSIC SCENE
BURNINGS AND BOMBINGS • A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ARSON THAT SET NORWAY ALIGHT
MONSTER MORMON MOTHER • A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH A RELIGIOUS ZEALOT TURNED A SEEMINGLY LOVING WIFE INTO A FILICIDAL MONSTER HELL-BENT ON SURVIVING THE END-TIMES – EVEN AT THE COST OF HER OWN CHILDREN’S LIVES
THE DAYBELL SERMONS • DAYBELL’S BOOKS WERE THE RAMBLINGS OF A MADMAN, BUT HE CLAIMED THEY WERE PROPHETIC SERMONS
CRAZY CULT TALK • HER OWN WORDS HIGHLIGHTED TO THE JURY WHAT A FANATICAL KILLER HER TWISTED FAITH HAD MADE HER
THE KIDNAPPING OF PATTY HEARST • HEIRESS PATTY HEARST’S TIME AS A GUN-TOTING MILITIA MEMBER BOTH SHOCKED AND CONFUSED ONLOOKERS. WHO COULD HELP BUT WONDER IF SHE WAS A WILLING PARTICIPANT OR A BRAINWASHED BANDIT?
WAS PATTY HEARST BRAINWASHED? • RENOWNED PSYCHOLOGIST FRANK OCHBERG TELLS US ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF STOCKHOLM SYNDROME ON A HOSTAGE AND HOW IMPORTANT THE DIAGNOSIS IS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT
PATTY’S TAPES • THROUGHOUT A SERIES OF COMMUNICATIONS, HEARST’S MIND AND FOCUS SHIFTED FROM BEING A PRISONER OF WAR TO A SOLDIER ON THE FRONT LINE
Loopy Looters
PUZZLING PILFERY • NOTHING IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL TO STEAL FOR THESE RAVING MAD ROBBERS
THE GREAT MAPLE SYRUP HEIST • IN 2011, STICKY-FINGERED THIEVES HATCHED AN UNBELIEVABLE PLOT TO STEAL MILLIONS OF DOLLARS’ WORTH OF CANADA’S MOST FAMOUS EXPORT
THE SLIPPERY STORY OF THE IRISH BUTTER BANDIT • INSPIRED BY THE BIOPIC OF A NOTORIOUS ENGLISH PRISONER, KNIFE-WIELDING IRISHMAN MICHAEL ROONEY GOT CREATIVE WITH HIS ESCAPE PLAN
THE PECULIAR PHANTOM BARBER OF...