4 (more) Bizarre Deaths
For the morbidly curious among our readers
Mystery mob,
In early August, we brought your attention to four truly strange deaths throughout history. There was an Austrian who tripped over his own beard, a Swedish king who ate himself to death, an American Congressman who shot himself defending a murder suspect, and an ancient Athenian who died from too much applause.
Well guess what? We’ve found FOUR MORE just for you, dear reader.
But before we dive into these bizarre mortalities, let’s solve this week’s Whodunnit:
A dead body is discovered at the bottom of a five story building. A homicide detective is called in. He goes to the first floor, opens the window, and flips a coin out the window. He goes up to the second floor and does the same thing. He does this on every floor. On the fifth floor he knows it was a murder, not a suicide. How?
Answer: The closed windows. If it were a suicide, the window would not have been closed. Someone (the murderer) must have closed it after shoving the person out!
Now let’s leave fictional deaths behind and embark on some of the non-fiction variety:
The grim reaper visits the horse racing track
On June 4, 1923 at New York’s Belmont Park, jockey Frank Hayes won the only race of his career. One problem: he was dead before he crossed the finish line.
He’s (obviously) the only man to ever win a race despite being dead.
The Brooklyn-born jockey suffered a heart attack at some point between the start and end of the race. His horse, Sweet Kiss, didn’t seem to mind.
Sweet Kiss was never ridden again - superstition and fear won out over the horse’s potential. It was even renamed “Sweet Kiss of Death.”
The Japanese politician who forgot a shield
Inejiro Asanuma was a Japanese politician who became an advocate of socialism after World War II. Asanuma was widely criticized for a 1959 incident in which he visited Communist China and called the United States "the shared enemy of China and Japan" during a speech in Beijing.
When he returned from his trip, many people (including some within his socialist party) were, well...upset. One man, in particular, was a bit angrier than the rest.
On October 12, 1960 Otoya Yamaguchi, a 17-year old nationalist, killed Asunama. But this was no ordinary assassination.
It happened during a political debate...while on television. Oh and did I mention it was with a traditional Samurai short sword (known as a wakizashi)? Yeeeesh.
The photo of the incident won a Pulitzer Prize and World Press Photo of the Year:
Don’t bring a gun to a cactus fight
The saguaro cactus is a plant native to Arizona. When you see “cactus” in a cartoon, it’s these tall and slender plants that are depicted. While they are not technically endangered, they only grow in the Sonoran desert.
Humans are the primary threat to these cacti. There are laws enacted to safeguard them. But sometimes...a cactus just has to take matters into its own hands.
The year is 1982. Enter David Grundman - 27-year-old American and certified dolt. He brought a shotgun to the desert to take some target practice out on these innocent plants.
After firing several shots at the trunk of a 26-foot-tall saguaro from extremely close range, a large arm detached itself. When the arm fell, it crushed the Grundman to death.
Now that’s a prickly situation, amiright?!
Lighting...the unknown mass killer?
When prepping for a big soccer match, you have to account for the weather. But even Ted Lasso wouldn’t be able to scheme against this one.
In 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a bolt of lightning struck a soccer pitch during a game. The strike killed an entire visiting team…while miraculously leaving the home team completely unhurt.
Around 30 other attendees of the game received burns. But only the visiting team was killed.
Talk about a home field advantage.
Kinshasa daily newspaper L’Avenir said local opinion was divided over whether someone had cursed the team. After all, the two sides were drawing 1-1 in the match in eastern Kasai Province when the lightning struck.
Care to shove that sword a little deeper?
If these piqued that morbid curiosity of yours, here’s some links to longer reads for each death:
Here’s a longer read on Frank Hayes, the jockey who won a race dead.
A Guardian write up on the Inejiro Asanuma assassination
Here’s a New York Times article on the saguaro cacti that mentions the death of David Grundman
Here’s a BBC news article on the lightning bolt that killed a team
As always,
Stay ‘spicious
-Andy & Mark
Pssst. Hey! You. Yeah, you, the one still reading. Question: are you a true fan of Mystery and Crime? If so, join our official Mystery Nibbles Facebook group and our official SubReddit. We discuss all the goods: mysteries, crime, and anything ‘spicious.