Greed leads many people to commit absurd crimes. Some of them think small, like the man that swallowed a ring. Some of them think big, like the one that even sold the Statue of Liberty! Here’s a list of some most bizarre crimes for money.
10 Bizarre Crimes That Shocked The World
10. The fake doctor and the homemade implant
The young dance, Nathalie Johnson, from Miami, was unhappy about her appearance. So she decided to have surgery to get a bigger bottom.
She was one of the victims of Oneal Ron Morris, a fake doctor who charged only $700 for the procedure.
Not long later, Nathalie started suffering the severe consequences. She developed pain throughout her body. After heading to the hospital, where she found out that the injection contained a mixture of cement, mineral oil, tyre inflator and sealant.
Morris was eventually arrested in March 2011. And has been charged with practicing medicine without a license.
9. In a box with snakes
Murdering a spouse for the insurance is a known strategy. And usually, the widow is the first suspect. Yet, Raymond “Rattlesnake”, also known as Robert S. James was able to do it more than once!
He was a barber in Los Angeles during the 30s. And during that time, he was married to Mary Busch. Due to an unwanted pregnancy, they decided to have an abortion. Robert persuaded a friend to pose as a doctor, and both told the woman to stick her feet in a box with two rattlesnakes. Saying it was an abortion method, and that it wouldn’t cause any pain, they convinced Mary. But she didn’t die. So Robert drowned her in the bath, then dragged the woman to a lily pond, with her face down the water, to be discovered the next day.
The two man split the $14,000 from the insurance. Police thought Mary’s death was an accident, until Robert got arrested for a different crime. Then they discovered he committed similar crimes, and the two other victims were his first wife and his nephew. He was executed by hanging, and it took him over 10 minutes to die.
8. Such a stud!
During the 80s, the Irish Shergar became a celebrity. Of course, he was a stud… Really, he was literally a horse. A race horse. But he won so many contests, and made $600,000 in 5 years.
But in 1983, Shergar was kidnaped. Although it was offered millions for the super horse, there was no deal, and he was never to be seen again.
Its believed that IRA was involved, and the goal of the crime was to get money for armed battle.
7. Can I bring the family?
An Irish, Thomas Blood, had already been a colonel by the time he started his crime life. He decided to steal the Crown Jewels, which were kept in the Tower of London. The Keeper of the Jewels was Talbot Edwards who lived with his family on the floor above the basement.
One day, Blood disguised as a ‘parson’ went to see the Crown Jewels and started to be friends with Edwards. Blood convinced the old man to let his family visit to see the Crown Jewels. Needless to say, the “family” were actually accomplices. After being knocked with a mallet and stabbed with a sword, Edwards was unconscious, while Blood and his “family” took all they could.
It didn’t last long. They got caught and then exiled in Ireland. Pretty lucky, no?
6. Brazil Chainsaw Massacre
Former colonel of Acre State Military Police and Brazilian politician, Hidebrando Pascoal, was convicted in 2006 for drug trafficking, leading a death squad, kidnapping, torture, attempt of murder and electoral corruption.
However, during the investigation, most of the witnesses were assassinated, including a former accomplice of Hildebrando; he was found dismembered with his eyes torn out. Another witness was kidnapped with his two sons, tortured, and then killed. Others were killed and then dissolved in acid.
His sentence was to serve 18.5 years, but with cases still pending, he could face more than 100 years.
5. Statue of Liberty for sale
George C. Parker was great at selling things. So good that he even sold things he didn’t have! He sold landmarks of his country to native buyers during the 20s. One of his “products” was The Brooklyn Bridge, that was sold many times by him.
Parker even sold the Statue of Liberty, the Madison Square Garden, and Metropolitan Museum of Art (with the works of art included). However, his scam wasn’t perfect. He got arrested 3 times for fraud, and the last one got a life time sentence.
Parker spent his last years in prison, telling everyone his stories from his time as con man. At least those were true.
4. Elderly robs a bank in a wheelchair
Peter Barry Lawrence, a 71 year old man from California robbed a bank in 2008 and made his getaway in a wheelchair! He took only $2,000.
In 2010, when Peter got caught and was convicted, he said the reason why he committed the crime was because he wanted to be returned to prison for the medical care.
The elderly faces up to 35 years to life in state prison. He also admitted he has two prior convictions for bank robberies in the late 1990s. He didn’t use a wheelchair in those.
3. Robbed by blondes
In 2008, a man from Florida clains he was robbed by half naked women.
Olmer Morales said he was riding his bicycle, when he was stopped by five blondes, in overalls, with no shirt or bra. The gang took $100 from his pockets.
No arrests have been made, since the police couldn’t find anyone matching Morales’ descriptions. Hard to say if he was lucky or not!
2. Santa Claus robbed a bank
It was in 1927 in Texas, around noon. The customers and employees from First National Bank got an unusual visit: Santa Claus!
He brought three friends, that were not elves or reindeers. They were actually grown men. Two of there were ex-cons… Yes, it was a robbery.
The “Santa” was actually Marshall Ratliff, and since he was well known there, he decided to commit the crime in disguise.
The problem is: his Santa costume attracted a lot of kids, that followed him and his accomplices all the way to the bank. At the bank, he did not respond to the greetings directed at Santa, and the other three drew their guns. While the others covered the customers and employees, Ratliff grabbed money from the tellers and forced one to open the vault.
The police was warned, but they escaped. Eventually the gang got caught, and in 1928 Ratliff got convicted. He was recognized by a witness, 10 year old Emma May Robinson. At least for him, Emma wasn’t a good kid that year. No presents for her.
1. The ring has been through a lot
Hopper asked to see more rings, so when the jeweler Fred Burgess turned his back, them groom swallowed the and was promptly arrested by police for the attempted theft.
Hopper had been looking at rings with jeweler Fred Burgess, when he allegedly swallowed the ring while the other man’s back was turned. When Burgess asked where the ring was, Hopper said he had already returned it to him.
Suspicious, Burgess called the police, that used a metal detector to find the ring. He got arrested, and spend 12 weeks in jail.
The worst part for him and the police? They had to wait 3 days for the ring to be naturally returned.
