xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx

Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.

(NOTE: Those of you who sometimes get offended when you read things may be quite offended by the second story, so don’t read it.) A 51-year-old woman (calling herself “Mrs. B”) picketed the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich, Conn., on Jan. 15 over an alarming crisis: She believes she has for six years been possessed by from one to 19 demons, yet the church (six dioceses in three states) will not assign her an exorcist, which she says is “unpardonable neglect.” Among her signs: writhing, speaking in tongues, and having her eyes move “without my permission.”

Following a religious experience, Michael Braithwaite of the mountain village of Putney, Ky., recently converted his Love World shop (selling vibrators and other porn paraphernalia) to Mike’s Place (selling Bibles and other Christian items). (However, according to a December report in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, a 31-year-old government lawyer has developed a side business that may bridge both of Braithwaite’s lines: The lawyer manufactures and sells high-quality, silicone dildos in the shapes of religious icons, such as Moses, Satan and a nun, at prices of $54 to $65 each. One sex shop owner in San Francisco’s freewheeling Castro district said he might stock the “Jackhammer Jesus” model, but that his Buddhist customers would be offended at the Buddha model.)

Ayub Ali Khan, 36, who was held in a Brooklyn, N.Y., jail for 13 months after being detained as suspicious in the aftermath of Sept. 11, told a Washington Post reporter in January, “I feel I am the real victim of (Sept. 11). Just look at how much my family and I suffered.” Khan was deported to Hyderabad, India, after pleading guilty to credit card fraud (using and selling fake credit cards and other bogus documents).

Edward Blaine, 61, who served 20 years in prison for a 1963 bank robbery, apparently is becoming even less competent with age, as he was arrested in January and charged with robbing the Union Bank & Trust branch in Port Royal, Va. Police said Blaine fled with the stash while $100 bills were falling out of his pockets, and then he realized as he arrived at his getaway car that he had locked the keys inside. He grabbed a log to smash the window but tossed it away in frustration, only to have it hit Emmett Lowe’s truck, thus angering Lowe, who grabbed a gun and chased Blaine for 150 yards. In a struggle, Blaine shot at Lowe but hit himself in the leg, just before Lowe shot Blaine in the same leg.
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla. 33679 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd

NEWS OF THE WEIRD