Walter Hallas, a 26-year-old store clerk in Leeds, England, was so afraid of dentists that in 1979 he asked a fellow worker to try to cure his toothache by punching him in the jaw. The punch caused Hallas to fall down, hitting his head, and he died of a fractured skull (unverified).
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Karen Wetterhahn (1949 - June 8, 1997) was a well-known professor of chemistry at Dartmouth College specializing in toxic metal exposure. On August 14, 1996 while working with an organic mercury compound called dimethylmercury, she spilled a drop or two on her latex glove. Several months later, she noticed some neurologic symptoms such as loss of balance and slurred speech. She was admitted to the hospital, where it was discovered that the single exposure to dimethylmercury had raised her blood mercury level to 4,000 micrograms per liter, or 80 times the toxic threshold. Despite aggressive chelation therapy, she fell into a coma and died a few months later, less than a year after her initial exposure.
Her death, despite use of gloves, a fume hood, and standard safety procedures, shocked her chemistry department. They tested various safety gloves against dimethylmercury, apparently for the first time ever, and found that most of them were penetrated in seconds. Dimethylmercury was in fairly wide use as a standard for calibrating diagnostic instruments. The discovery of its extreme toxicity and danger is directly due to Karen Wetterhahn's unfortunate accident. OSHA recommendations and MSD Sheets were changed in consequence and use of dimethylmercury has been highly discouraged.
Dartmouth has established an award in her name to encourage other women in science.
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Tom and Eileen Lonergan were a married couple from Baton Rouge, Louisiana who were stranded January 25, 1998, while scuba diving with a group of divers off Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The group's boat from the (Outer Edge Dive Company) accidentally abandoned them due to a faulty head count taken by the dive boat crew. Upon leaving the diving area, the twenty-six other divers and five crew members failed to notice that the couple was not aboard. The couple was left to fend for themselves in shark-infested waters. Although their bodies were never recovered, they likely eventually died of dehydration, drowning, shark attack, or a combination thereof.
It was not until two days later on January 27, 1998, that the pair were found to be missing after a bag containing their passports and belongings was found onboard the dive boat. A massive air and sea search took place over the following three days.
Several theories surrounding their disappearance still abound. At the time it was suggested that the Lonergans might have staged their disappearance. There was speculation in Australia that the theory of them staging their disappearance was concocted to take the heat off the diving company's owner. Most experts later dismissed this theory, as the Lonergan's bank accounts were never touched and their insurance policies were not claimed.
Another theory suggested that the pair committed suicide, or murder-suicide. This theory was bolstered by entries found in both victims' diaries. Excerpts from Tom Lonergan's personal diary were used to portray a deeply disturbed man who was looking for a 'quick and peaceful' death. Eileen's writings had expressed concern for her well being given Tom's 'death wish.' She had openly chosen to stay with Tom Lonergan, no matter the outcome.
However, the diary entries were taken out of context, according to Eileen's parents and family members. The family, coroner Noel Nunan and the Port Douglas police claim that only pages that would validate the suicide theory were leaked to the press, whereas the majority of the diaries remain unread except by the Coroner, Port Douglas police, and the Hains family. Additionally, the coroner seemed to agree with that assessment when he dismissed suggestions that the Lonergans had either committed suicide or faked their own disappearance. Further, according to the Port Douglas police, Dive Queensland spokesman Col. McKenzie was directly involved with and possibly responsible for spreading theories that the Lonergans had faked their deaths. To date, McKenzie insists the Lonergans are still alive. "Most marine experts, myself included, feel that the Lonergans are not dead," says Col McKenzie.
Although some of their gear was found washed up later miles away from where they were lost, their bodies were never found. This recovered gear included a diver's slate which read: "Monday Jan 26; 1998 08am.
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Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He was born in Calgary, Alberta, the youngest of 12 children, all of whom were involved with wrestling in some way; the most famous of his brothers being Bret Hart. His father was legendary wrestling promoter Stu Hart.
Hart fell to his death in Kansas City, Missouri on May 23, 1999, during the WWE pay-per-view (then known as WWF) Over the Edge PPV event. He was being lowered into the ring from the rafters of Kemper Arena for a scheduled Intercontinental Title win over The Godfather.
In keeping with the Blazer's new 'buffoonish superhero' character, Owen was to be lowered to just above ring level, at which time he would release himself from the safety harness and then comically fall flat on his face. He had performed the stunt only a few times before, and was worried about performing the stunt at Kemper Arena due to the height involved (Owen had a fear of heights).
To soothe worries, Owen performed a practice stunt earlier in the day, and the stunt went forward on the show as scheduled. His wife Martha suggests that, by moving around to get comfortable with both the harness and his cape on, Owen unintentionally triggered an early release and fell 78 feet (24 m) into the ring, smashing his chest on a padded, but still tough, ring turnbuckle.
Despite many stories to the contrary, TV viewers at home did not see the incident or its aftermath, as the WWE was transmitting a promotional video package for the match, and only showed the audience while Owen was being worked on by medical personnel inside the ring while WWE television announcer Jim Ross repeatedly told those watching live on pay-per-view that what just transpired was not a wrestling angle or storyline and that Hart was hurt badly. It was also revealed that Owen had inadvertantly saved the life of Mexican Luchadore Max Mini, because the original idea was for Owen to hold on to Max, who would also be dressed as a "Blue Blazer", as a "mini-me", but Owen refused to take responsibility for another person's life.
Owen was transported to the Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, where he was pronounced dead on arrival (he actually died about six minutes after the fall, while still lying in the ring). The cause was later revealed to be internal bleeding from blunt chest trauma. He was 33 years old. The WWE chose to continue the event despite the tragedy, which drew a great deal of criticism over the following weeks, especially as the main event of the emotional evening involved The Undertaker (also known as the "Deadman") winning the WWE Title.
The next night on Monday Night Raw in St. Louis, Missouri, a two-hour televised tribute was broadcast (see RAW is Owen), in which WWE wrestlers and officials paid tribute to Hart. The Over the Edge event name was retired.
In the weeks that followed, much attention focused on the harness Owen used that night, especially on the "quick release" trigger and safety latches. When someone is lowered from the rafters in a harness, there are backup latches that must be latched for safety purposes. These backups may take some time to unlatch, which would have made Owen's stunt difficult to perform smoothly. Therefore, it was apparently decided that it was more important not to have the safety backups, because it would be easier for Owen to unlatch himself.
In addition to not having safety backups, the harness Owen used was designed for sailboats and required only six pounds of weight to trigger the quick release mechanism; Owen weighed about 225 pounds. An out-of-court settlement between Owen Hart's family and the WWE has prevented the release of any information about the harness. The WWE, however, decided to ban stunts of a similar nature from this point on to avoid a similar tragedy from occurring.
Owen prematurely left a widow, Martha, and two children, Oje Edward and Athena. Martha Hart settled her wrongful death lawsuit against the WWE for approximately $18 million, and used the funds to establish the Owen Hart Foundation. Martha wrote a book about Owen's life in 2002 called Broken Harts.
Owen's last match was on May 22, 1999, in Chicago. He and Jarrett won a tag team match against Edge and Christian.
On the October 4, 1999 edition of WCW Nitro, Owen's brother Bret wrestled Chris Benoit in an Owen Hart tribute match at Kemper Arena.
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Rod Hull (13 August 1935 - 18 March 1999) was a popular entertainer on British television in the 1970s and 1980s. He rarely appeared without Emu, a mute, highly aggressive arm-length puppet of such a bird. He died in 1999 after falling from the roof of his house, while trying to adjust the TV aerial.
Hull died in 1999, at the age of 63, after falling from the roof of his house in East Sussex while trying to adjust the television aerial. He and his son had been watching the Champions League fixture between Manchester United and Inter Milan (ref) when the picture lost quality.
Prior to Hull's demise, Lee and Herring had planned to revive their "Rod Hull" character for their contemporary series, This Morning with Richard Not Judy, but despite filming several sketches — in which the character would die after performing a pointless stunt — the footage was disposed of.
Upon Hull's death, Michael Parkinson reminisced that he had found him to be "a very charming, intelligent and sensitive man — quite unlike the Emu." He observed that the puppet "was the dark side of Rod's personality, and very funny, provided it was not on top of you."
Hull married twice and had five children. His son Toby brought Emu out of retirement for the first time since his father's death during the 2003 pantomime season, appearing in Cinderella at Windsor's Theatre Royal.
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Bernd-Jürgen Brandes was stabbed repeatedly in the neck and then eaten by Armin Meiwes. Before the killing, both men dined on Brandes' severed penis. Brandes had answered an internet advertisement by Meiwes looking for someone for this purpose. Brandes explicitly stated in his will that he wished to be killed and eaten.
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Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev of Nepal (June 27, 1971 – June 4, 2001) was King of Nepal from June 1 to June 4, 2001. He was accused of slaughtering his family at a royal dinner on June 1, 2001. Dipendra was also mortally wounded, either by his own hand or at the hands of the palace guard, and officially became king for the three days he lingered in a coma.
Dipendra reportedly assassinated family members because of anger over a marriage dispute. Dipendra's choice for a bride was Devyani Rana, a member of the Rana clan, with whom the Shah family of kings have a historical animosity. The Rana clan had served as the hereditary prime ministers of Nepal until 1951, with the title Maharaja, and the two clans had a long history of inter-marriages.
According to official accounts, Dipendra was denied his choice of a wife by his mother, and so he massacred his family in a much-publicised incident after indulging in a drinking binge. Among the dead were his father King Birendra, mother, brother, and sister. After the event, Dipendra survived comatose for three days, and was proclaimed king in his hospital bed. He died of his injuries on June 4, 2001 and was succeeded by his uncle, Prince Gyanendra.
Gyanendra, not as beloved in the country as his brother Birendra, had been third in line to the throne before the massacre. He was out of town (in Pokhara) during the massacre and was the closest surviving relative of the king. Gyanendra's son, Crown Prince Paras, was reportedly in the royal palace during the massacre but escaped injury. Paras is extremely unpopular in Nepal because of a prior history of debauchery, including at least one incident of vehicular homicide for which he was never prosecuted.
Conspiracy theories circulate in Nepal that suggest the official account of the massacre may differ from the actual events. According to Nepalese local accounts of the actual events, it has been suggested that Dipendra did not in fact kill his family and then turn the gun on himself. Rather, the theory holds, Gyanendra had ordered the massacre of King Birendra and his family so that Gyanendra and his own family could succeed to the throne. It cannot be purely coincidental, goes the theory, that Gyanendra's son and wife conveniently escaped the mass killing. However Gyanendra's wife was severely injured in the shooting.
Another blow to the conspiracy theories would be the fact that several of the survivors (wounded and otherwise) have publicly confirmed that the shooter was in fact Dipendra, as was documented in interviews on a recent special documentary by the BBC.
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Giuseppe Sinopoli (November 2, 1946 - April 20, 2001) was a conductor and composer.
He was born in Venice in Italy and studied composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen as well as studying medicine. He began to make a name for himself as a composer of serial works before gaining fame as a conductor. He was appointed principal conductor of the Philharmonia in 1984 and of the Staatskapelle Dresden in 1992, but is best known for his intense and sometimes controversial interpretations of opera, especially works by Italian composers and Richard Strauss.
Sinopoli died of a heart attack while conducting Giuseppe Verdi's Aïda at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. The last recording made by him was Dvorak's Stabat Mater.
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Brian Douglas Wells (November 15, 1956 – August 28, 2003) was a pizza deliveryman who was killed by a time bomb fastened to his neck, purportedly under duress from the maker of the bomb. After he was apprehended by the police for robbing a bank, the bomb exploded. The bizarre affair was subject to much attention in the mass media, and remains unsolved.
Wells dropped out of high school in 1973, and had primarily worked as a pizza delivery person for 30 years, until he received a call to deliver to an address a few miles from the Erie, Pennsylvania "Mamma Mia Pizzeria" for which he worked. It was later found that the address was that of an unmanned radio tower at the end of a dirt road.
Within an hour of leaving for the delivery, Wells had entered a bank with a home-made shotgun disguised as a cane and demanded $250,000. When police intervened, Wells claimed that three unnamed people had placed a bomb around his neck, provided him with the shotgun, and told him that he had to commit the robbery and several other tasks, otherwise he would be killed.
Unfortunately, the police were unable to disarm the device. At 3:18 PM, it exploded, blasting a fist-sized hole in Wells' chest just a few minutes before the bomb squad arrived. The story remained in the news for several days after the event, with various media outlets speculating as to whether Wells had been an innocent victim, a co-conspirator, or the lone perpetrator of these events.
The crime has never been solved, despite a $100,000 reward offered by the FBI, but a note found on Wells had instructed him to carry out four tasks—the first of which was the bank robbery—in a set period of time before the bomb went off. Wells would gain extra time with the completion of each task.
However, it was later determined that regardless of what unfolded, Wells would never have had enough time to complete the tasks to get the bomb defused.
On September 17, 2005, the story of Brian Wells was featured on America's Most Wanted with newly released evidence in hopes that officials could gather new clues behind the puzzling case.
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Timothy Treadwell (April 29, 1957 – October 5, 2003), born Timothy Dexter, was an environmentalist and bear enthusiast who lived among the Coastal brown bears of Katmai National Park in Alaska for approximately 13 seasons. At the end of his thirteenth season in the park in 2003, he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard (age 37) were killed and partially eaten by a brown bear. The attack was notable because of the unusual lifestyle of the victims, and the survival of an audio recording of the attack. Treadwell's life, work, and death were the subject of the 2005 documentary film, Grizzly Man.
In October 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, visited Katmai National Park in Alaska. Treadwell, who never carried any means of defense against bear attacks, chose to set his campsite near a salmon stream where bears commonly feed in the fall. Treadwell was in the park later in the year than usual, at a time when bears fight to gain as much fat as possible before winter, and limited food supplies cause them to be more aggressive than in other months.
On October 6, 2003, Treadwell and Huguenard’s bodies were discovered by the Kodiak air taxi pilot who arrived at their campsite to retrieve them from their trip. A large elderly male bear protecting the campsite was killed by park rangers while they attempted to retrieve the bodies. A second adolescent bear was killed a short time later after it charged the park rangers. A necropsy showed that the first animal had consumed parts of the couples' remains. This bear is not believed to be one of the bears Treadwell usually encountered, though this point is disputed.
A video camera, with the lens cap in place, was recovered at the site. The video camera had been turned on at some point during the fatal attack, presumably by Huguenard, but the camera only recorded six minutes of audio before running out of tape. Treadwell's head, partial backbone, and left forearm/hand still wearing his wrist watch were recovered at the scene. Huguenard's partial body was found near the encampment somewhat buried in a mound of twigs and dirt.
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Kenneth Pinyan (June 22, 1960 - July 2, 2005) was a Seattle, Washington resident who engaged in sexual activity with full-size stallions (horse), of which some were videotaped and distributed informally under the name Mr Hands. His death at the age of 45 from accidental internal injury, in July 2005, received during a sex act being videotaped by a friend of his, was one of the most read stories in The Seattle Times for that year, and prompted the passing of a bill in Washington state prohibiting both sex with animals, and the videotaping of the same, some months later.
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Lee Seung Seop (born c. 1977, died August 3, 2005) was an industrial boiler repairman in Taegu, South Korea. On August 3, 2005, he achieved global notoriety when he visited a nearby Internet cafe and proceeded to play World of Warcraft and StarCraft for almost fifty consecutive hours. Ultimately exhaustion and dehydration induced heart failure and he went into cardiac arrest. He died shortly thereafter at a local hospital. A friend commented: "He was a game addict. We all knew about it. He couldn't stop himself." About six weeks prior to his death, his girlfriend, also an avid gamer, broke up with him and he had been fired from his job for missing work to play computer games.
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On August 25th, 1998, Franc Filipic, 47, drowned in an eastern Slovenian lake when he was pulled in by his catch. Determined to land the sheat fish, a kind of catfish, he walked into the lake after hooking it and refused to let go when it pulled him under. According to a friend, his last words were: "Now I've got him!". Police and divers found Filipic's body after a two-day search. The fish was not found. The friend said it was six feet (1.8 m) long and weighed about 110 lb (50 kg). (Associated Press -August 26th, 1998).
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A dwarf nicknamed Od has died in a circus accident in northern Thailand. According to the Pattaya Mail, he "bounced sideways from a trampoline and was swallowed by a yawning hippopotamus which was waiting to appear in the next act. Vets on the scene said Hilda the Hippo had a gag reflex that automatically caused her to swallow." The vet said it was the first time the hefty vegetarian had ever eaten a circus performer. "Unfortunately, the 1,000-plus spectators continued to applaud widely until common-sense dictated that there had been a tragic mistake". (Melbourne Herald Sun - July 16th, 1999)
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The naked body of Daniel 0. Dukes, a 27-year-old drifter from South Carolina, was found draped across the back of a killer whale in a tank behind Shamu Stadium at Seaworld Orlando on the morning of 6 July. He had apparently hidden in the Florida theme park after closing time and drowned in the cold, salty water of the 26 ft (8 mtrs) tank. The 14-year-old whale, named Tillikum after the Chinook Indian word for friend, and at 11,000 lbs (4,990 kg) the largest in captivity, may have played with Dukes' 180 lb (82 kg) body as if it were a toy. The post mortem showed one bite - in Dukes' groin - and that occurred after death when Tillikum ripped of his green shorts. The shorts were found at the bottom of the rank. Killer whales, also called Orcas, are not naturally aggressive to humans (Reuters - 6 July; AP, Knight Rider -July 8th, 1999).
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Kathleen Yeoman, a 46-year-old divorced mother of two, staged an elaborate fake burglary to win back the affection of Paul Cockerhill, her neighbor in Brixworth, Northamptonshire (England), on October 30th, 1998. She ransacked her house, tipping out drawers and throwing jewelry on her bed. She piled electrical goods in the front room, taped her mouth, put a plastic bag over her heard and tied her hands together. Leaving her front door open, she lay across the front doorstep of her former lover. As she waited for his return from a pub, she vomited and, unable to remove the tape from her mouth as her hands were shackled with self-tightening plastic ties, she choked to death. Police at first treated the death as suspicious, but they reviewed the case when they found that nothing had been taken and she still had £918 in her handbag (Times, Daily Telegraph -July 1st, 1999).
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A 23-year-old Italian man died during an Easter re-enactment of Christ's passion, probably because the noose he was wearing in the role of Judas Iscariot was too tight, police said Sunday. Watched by his parents, Renato Di Paolo had taken part in a re-enactment of the Via Crucis, or way of the cross, in Camerata Nuova 75 km (47 miles) outside Rome Saturday night. He played Judas, who betrayed Christ, allowing him to be arrested and crucified on what Christians commemorate as Good Friday. Engulfed by remorse, Judas hanged himself from a tree. Di Paolo, who had played the part safely Friday night, jumped from a height of about 30 cm (one foot) and lay immobile on the ground with a noose around his neck while the play continued. A fellow actor raised the alarm after noticing that he looked too rigid. Di Paolo was rushed to hospital but could not be saved (Reuters -April 24th, 2000).
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Chalil Chathothu Ravindran, 45, retired to a room in his house in Chelora, a town in southern Indian state of Kerala, on 19 December. He told his mother he would come out of the room after 41 days of prayers with complete abstention from food and water, and that he would have divine powers. When he failed to come out after the specified period, neighbors tried to break into the room but were prevented by his relatives. After 50 days, police forced open the door and found Ravindran's decomposed body (Gold Coast Weekend Bulletin (Queensland) -February 12th-13th, 2000).
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Dwayne Carroll, 48, from Kentucky, had a fatal heart attack while clearing a place for the double gravestone intended to commemorate himself and his wife in the Floyd County cemetery. When he was late arriving home, his wife Carolyn, 49, sent her sister, Shelby Shrewsbury, to look for him. Mrs. Carroll had a fatal heart attack herself when her sister told her the news. The headstone had the names and birth dates of both husband and wife on it, but only one date of death will be required. A joint funeral service was planned (Ananova -July 11th, 2001).
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Two fishermen bled to death in separate incidents in June of 2001 along the Sepik river in north-western Papua New Guinea after having their penises bitten off by pacu fish. The fish are related to piranha and follow urine strams in the water, swimming to its source and then biting it off with razor sharp teeth. Some believe the killer may be a fish introduced from Brazil in 1994 as a protein substitute, but marine biologist Ian Middleton blamed another pacu species, introduced from Indonesia. "The killer fish have the most human-like teeth on the bottom jaw I have ever seen and quite possibly feed on insects," he said. The Brazilian pacu grow to 44 lb (20 kg) and have no teeth (Melbourne Herald Sun -July 6th, 2001).
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A man hit by a car in New York in 1977 got up uninjured, but lay back down in front of the car when a bystander told him to pretend he was hurt so he could collect insurance money. The car rolled forward and crushed him to death (unverified).
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In 1983, Mrs. Carson of Lake Kushaqua, N.Y., was laid out in her coffin, presumed dead of heart disease. As mourners watched, she suddenly sat up. Her daughter dropped dead of fright (unverified).
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Depressed since he could not find a job, 42-year-old Romolo Ribolla sat in his kitchen near Pisa, Italy, with a gun in his hand threatening to kill himself in 1981. His wife pleaded for him not to do it, and after about an hour he burst into tears and threw the gun to the floor. It went off and killed his wife (unverified).
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George Schwartz, owner of a factory in Providence, R.I., narrowly escaped death when a 1983 blast flattened his factory except for one wall. After treatment for minor injuries, he returned to the scene to search for files. The remaining wall then collapsed on him, killing him (unverified).
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Richard Versalle suffered a heart attack onstage at the New York Metropolitan Opera after delivering the line "Too bad you can only live so long" during a performance of The Makropulos Case.
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Mike Stewart, 31, of Dallas was filming a movie in 1983 on the dangers of low-level bridges when the truck he was standing on passed under a low-level bridge -- killing him (unverified).
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A fierce gust of wind blew 45-year-old Vittorio Luise's car into a river near Naples, Italy, in 1983. He managed to break a window, climb out and swim to shore -- where a tree blew over and killed him (unverified).
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On Memorial Day of 1987, a forty-year-old Louisiana lawyer stood up in his boat as a thunderstorm approached. "Here I am," he taunted the skies, raising his hands over his head. A bolt of lightning struck, killing him instantly. The lawyer's first name was Graves (unverified).
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Then there's the thirty-six-year-old San Diego woman who, in 1977, plotted to kill her twenty-three-year-old Marine drill instructor husband for his $20,000 insurance policy. She dropped the venom sac from a tarantula in a blackberry pie she baked, but he only ate a few bites. Next she tried electrocuting him in the shower, but that too failed. So did attempts to kill him with lye, run him down in a car, inject an air bubble into his veins, and slip amphetamines in his beer while driving in hopes he would hallucinate and crash.
Exasperated, she enlisted a twenty-six-year-old female companion in crime. Together, they beat the husband over the head with metal weights as he slept. It was only at that point that he finally succumbed (unverified).
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In Prague, Czechoslovakia, a woman who leapt out of a third-floor window after learning of her husband's unfaithfulness. The husband, entering the building just as she jumped, broke her fall. She survived. He died on the spot (unverified). 
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Henry Ziegland of Honey Grove, Texas, walked out on his girlfriend one day in 1893. Her brother did his "heroic" duty and shot Ziegland. Ziegland, however, was barely injured by the bullet, which only grazed his face before embedding itself in the trunk of a tree in front of which Ziegland was standing. The brother, thinking himself avenged, ended his own life with the same weapon.
Twenty years later, in 1913, Ziegland decided to remove the tree from his property. Unable to perform the task manually, he decided to use dynamite. In the explosion, the bullet, which had originally been intended for Ziegland, became dislodged with such a catapulting jolt that it was shot violently into Ziegland's head, killing him at last (unverified).
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