Grave Of Dr. Timothy Clark Smith

Mr. Cruel

August 18, 2021

Mr. Cruel is an unknown serial child rapist from Australia who was responsible for three attacks on young girls in the northern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. He is also the prime suspect in the abduction and murder of another girl named Karmein Chan. 

Mr. Cruel is unidentified and all of his attacks and potential murder have been unsolved due to this. He was given the name by The Sun newspaper, after police had described a serial home invasion rapist in November 1987 as “super cool and super cruel.” At that time police believed the same person was responsible for three rapes: a woman in 1985, a girl in 1987 and another woman in 1987.

It is believed he began his attacks on August 22, 1987 in Lower Plenty where he had broken into a family home around 4am, armed with a knife and a gun. Mr. Cruel then tied the parents by their hands and feet and locked them in a wardrobe. He cut the phone lines, raped the 11 year old daughter and tied the son to a bed. 

The next attack occurred on December 27, 1988 in Ringwood where he broke into the back door of a house around 5:30am, again armed with a knife and a handgun. Mr. Cruel bound and gagged the parents in the home and demanded money. He took the 10 year old daughter, Sharon Willis and put tape over her eyes, a ball gag in her mouth and abducted her. However, Mr. Cruel never kept his victims for good. He later released Sharon 18 hours later and left her by Bayswater High School. 

The third attack by Mr. Cruel occurred on July 3, 1990 in Canterbury where he broke into a house at 11:30 pm and tied and gagged 13 year old Nicola Lynas. He covered her eyes with tape, disabled the phones and looked for money. He then took Nicola to another house and molested her for 50 hours before he released her at a power sub-station in a suburb known as Kew. 

On April 13, 1991, in Templestowe, a man who was armed with a knife abducted 13 year old Karmein Chan, who had actually gone to the same school as Nicola. Karmein was found about a year later with 3 gunshots to the head. No one knows for sure if Mr. Cruel was responsible for Karmein’s death, since he had never been known to kill any of his victims before. The case remains unsolved.

Though we are unsure of Mr. Cruel’s identity, police believe he is a very intelligent person who carefully planned out all of his attacks, probably having watched the families and the victims before attacking. Mr. Cruel has never left any forensic tracings behind, and had his face covered at all times during each attack. The above picture is the only sketch they have of him, given by Nicola, one of the victims. He was also described as having a soft-spoken voice, his behaviour was calm and not rushed as at one point he had stopped to eat a meal during one of the attacks. Mr. Cruel apparently would threaten to kill his victims with a large hunting knife or a handgun. 

There is a reward of $200,000 for any information on two of the abductions. In April 2016, police upped the reward from $100,000 to $1,000,000 for any information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of Mr. Cruel in the 1991 murder of Karmein Chan. 

It is believed that Mr. Cruel may have videotaped or taken photographs of his attacks and police believe that if he is still alive he probably has kept the tapes and photos, as well as collect child and maybe even swap child pornography. Police believe that he probably communicates with children using chat lines and collects porn through the internet. 

Mr. Cruel’s MO was always the same in home invasions and with the three attacks on victims, as these victims had all described their attacker in the same way. He would bathe all his victims carefully, with one of them saying it was almost “like a mother washing a baby.” During one attack, he had taken a second set of clothes from the victim’s home to dress her before he released her. In another attack, he had left the girl dressed in garbage bags so the police could not test her original clothing. 

Two of Mr. Cruel’s victims provided the police with details of the house they were kept while they were abducted. Both had been shackled to a bed with a rough neck brace and one told police she could hear planes landing, which police believe meant that the house was on one of the flight paths to Melbourne Airport. 

Police searched 30,000 homes and interviewed 27,000 suspects over the attacks, costing $4 million. There has been some evidence of the crime scenes that have been lost, including tape that was used to bind one of the victims. 

In April 2016, before the 25th anniversary of Karmein Chan’s murder, the Victoria Police released a 1994 dossier (nicknamed the Sierra files) to the Herald Sun newspaper which had details about the case that had never been released to the public before. The dossier, with the FBI, had contained information about 7 possible suspects. They had attempted to contact these suspects to varying degrees. The reward for any information has been increased to $1,000,000.

The Magdeburg Unicorn is an alleged Unicorn fossil that is on display at the Museum of Natural History in Magdeburg Germany. The Magdeburg Unicorn is described as bipedal horse-like fossil with little to no body, a horse-like head, a long tail, and a very long horn on its head. The fossil was first discovered in 1663 in Germany and the people that discovered the fossil thought they found a Unicorn however after the reconstruction, they realized that something seemed off. Later, testing was dine on the fossil and it was determined to be the fossil of a Wooly Rhinoceros and not a Unicorn. The Magdeburg Unicorn has been deemed as one of the worst fossil reconstructions of all time but, it still sparks the imagination that Unicorns and other creatures may exist and be out there.

The Sixth Swimmer by Kim Davidson (2014)

The family in this photograph had a rest in Murphy’s Hole, which is in southeast Brisbane, Australia. There were only 3 kids there that day, but looking at the photo we can also clearly see another child.

This photo of ghost was posted on Facebook and a random viewer commented on it, explaining that a 13-year-old girl drowned there in 1915 and that’s probably her image was captured by a camera

The Anatomical Machines, Giuseppe Salerno, c. 1756-64

In the Underground Chamber of the Sansevero Chapel, housed in two glass cases, are the famous Anatomical Machines, or Anatomical Studies, i.e. the skeletons of a man and a woman in upright position with their arteriovenous system almost perfectly intact. The circulatory system depicted on the anatomical machines was artificially fabricated with waxes, an iron wire and silk fibers, probably following techniques commonly used by anatomists of that time

These disquieting objects were kept in a room in the palace of the Prince of Sansevero called “the Apartment of the Phoenix”, as a number of travellers and the Breve nota di quel che si vede in casa del principe di Sansevero, an anonymous eighteenth-century guide to the Palace and the Sansevero Chapel, attest. This source describes the Machines in detail, from the blood vessels of the head to those of the tongue and adds that at the feet of the woman was placed “the tiny body of a foetus”, alongside which there was even the open placenta, connected to the foetus by the umbilical cord. The two anatomical studies were moved to the Chapel, and in this way saved from destruction or loss, long after the death of the Prince. The remains of the foetus were still visible up to a few decades ago, when they were stolen.

The 1944 Hartford Circus Fire & Little Miss 1565

June 14, 2023

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was the biggest circus in the United States during the mid-20th century. Due to the country’s involvement in World War II, the circus began experiencing shortages of personnel and equipment. 

Because of this the circus dealt with frequent malfunctions, on August 4, 1942, a fire had begun and it killed a number of the circus’ animals. On July 5, 1944, the circus made it’s way to Hartford, Connecticut, however the trains were late that day so one out of two shows had been cancelled for the day. 

There is a common superstition among circus folk that when the circus misses a show, it’s bad luck, and because of this, many of the circus performers and employees were on edge during the one show that night. However, the show ran smoothly with no issues. 

The next day on July 6, 1944, the crowd for the 2:15 pm circus show was mostly filled with women and their children. The exact number of people at the circus that day is unknown, but there has been an estimate of about 7,000 people. 

The big top could seat 9,000 people around the three rings and it measured 200 feet wide by 450 feet long. The sidewalls were 15 feet high and the roof was 48 feet high. The tent’s canvas had been coated with 1,800 pounds of paraffin wax that was dissolved in 6,000 US gallons of gasoline. This was a common way for circus tents to remain waterproof at the time. 

There was a main entrance to exit the tent along with 8 other small exits. It was later said that during the fire many of these smaller exits were blocked by circus wagons or other things which made it impossible for people to escape. 

After the lions had performed a small flame had started on the southwest sidewall of the tent, during the Flying Wallendas performance. A bandleader named Merle Evans was believed to be the first person to notice the flames, and she directed the band to begin playing, “The Stars and Stripes Forever” which was a song that signaled distress to all circus personnel. 

A ringmaster named Fred Bradna tried to get the audience to not panic and to exit the tent in an orderly fashion, however the fire had shorted out power, no one could hear him. Fred and an usher tried to put out flames with big water jugs that were in the tent, but to no avail so they began to help evacuate the panicked crowd. 

There was almost no animals in the big top at the time the fire broke out, except for the big cats that were trained by May Kovar and Joseph Walsh. The cats were herded through the chutes to cage wagons and were unharmed, with some only experiencing a few minor burns. 

Most people were able to escape the fire, however there was lots of hysteria happening. Some people claimed individuals were just running around in circles trying to find their loved ones instead of trying to escape the fire. Others initially escaped the fire, but ran back into the tent to look for loved ones. Some stayed in their seats thinking the fire would have been put out quickly. Some of the exits were blocked by chutes to get animals out. 

The paraffin wax which had been used to waterproof the tent helped the flames spread extremely quickly, and the wind also did not help. Many people were burned from the melting paraffin wax which began to rain down from the roof. 

The tent collapsed in 8 minutes according to witnesses, which trapped hundreds of people underneath it. In many newspapers there was a photo of a clown named Emmett Kelly holding a water bucket, naming the event “the day the clowns cried.” 

Some burned to death while others died from the chaos. The true number of causalities is unknown but many believe it was between 167-169 people, with over 700 sustaining injuries. That is only the number of people who actually received or sought out treatment the day of, the number is believed to be higher as many people went home without seeing or doing anything about their injuries due to shock most likely. 

The number of people who died is also believed to be higher as there was not great residency records in rural areas and many smaller remains were never truly identified or claimed. Free tickets were also given out that day to drifters who would not likely have been reported as missing by their families or friends. 

Some people died from injuries they got from jumping from high areas to escape the bleachers, others were trampled to death in the crowds, some were asphyxiated under piles of people who fell over. Many dead bodies were found in piles by congested exits. Some people actually survived the fire by being underneath some of the piles of people.

Eunice Groark was among one of the survivors who later went on to be the first female lieutenant governor of Connecticut. 

One of the most known victims from the fire was a young blonde little girl who wore a white dress. She became famously known as “Little Miss 1565″ which was the number assigned to her body. She was known to be extremely well preserved. 

Little Miss 1565 was buried without a name in Hartford’s Northwood Cemetery and her identity has been a debate for many years. Despite her picture being displayed repeatedly in magazines she was never claimed. 

In 1981, one of the police officers who spent years trying to identify her, his widow publicly announced that he had identified her and contacted her family but they requested no publicity on the matter. 

In 1987, someone had left a note on the gravestone that read, “Sarah Graham is her name! 7-6-38 DOB, 6 years, Twin.” There were notes nearby on gravestones that said her twin brother and relatives were buried close. 

In 1991, an arson investigator named Rick Davey claimed the little girl’s name was Eleanor Emily Cook in a book he published, and that she was from Massachusetts. The book also claimed Eleanor’s brother Donald Cook contacted police in 1955, believing that the girl was his sister but nothing further happened.

Donald, the brother, believes family members were shown the wrong body in the morgue due to all the confusion that day with numerous bodies being brought there. Donald worked alongside Davey to identify Little Miss 1565, and in 1991 she was identified as 8 year old Eleanor Emily Cook. 

Eleanor’s aunt and uncle did not believe the body fit the description of Eleanor that they had provided after examining the body. Hair samples were compared and the consensus was that they had probably come from the same person. Her body was exhumed in 1991 and buried next to her brother, Edward, who had also died in the fire. 

Various people do not believe Little Miss 1565 is Eleanor Emily Cook. Writer Stewart O’Nan who also published a book about the fire, states the obvious that the deceased girl who had been found had blonde hair, Eleanor was brunette, the shape of their faces are different, their heights and ages don’t match and their dental features don’t match. 

Even Eleanor’s mother, Mildred Corintha Parsons Cook saw a photograph of Little Miss 1565 and did not believe that was her daughter. She believed it was not her daughter until her death in 1997. Mrs. Cook was unable to claim her two children and was so traumatized by the events she could not try to identify them later. 

She was told Eleanor had not been in any of the locations where bodies were kept for identification. Her mother believed she had been burnt beyond recognition and was one of the victims who would always remain unidentified. O’Nan believes Eleanor may be body number 1503. Many believe it is likely that Eleanor was wrongly identified by another family and is buried under another child’s name. 

What began the Hartford Circus fire in 1944 remains a mystery. Some investigators think it was started just from a flicked cigarette, while others believe someone purposely started it. In 1950, Robert Dale Segee, from Ohio, who was a 16 year old roustabout for the show from June 30 to July 14 confessed to starting the fire but was never tried and later recanted the confession. He claimed that he had a nightmare where an American Indian riding on a “flaming horse” told him to set fires. 

Segee also claimed his mind went blank after this and by the time he came to, the fire had already started. 

In November 1950, Segee was convicted in Ohio for unrelated arson charges and was sentenced to 44 years in prison. There were doubts over his confession as he had a history of mental illness and he could not be confirmed as being in Connecticut when the fire happened. 

On July 7, 1944, 5 officials and employees of Ringling Bros were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Out of the five, four had been charged and sentenced to prison, though shortly after being convicted they were pardoned. 

In 2002, the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation was established, and a permanent memorial to those killed in the fire was created. 

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey did actually go to Hartford during their final tour, with the final performance occurring on April 30, 2017. 

Mysterious Death of Zigmund Adamski 

One June 6th of 1980, Zigmund left his house to do some grocery shopping. When he didn’t return for a family wedding the next day, his family started to get worried. 

His body was found five days later (June 11th) in Todmorden next to a railway line. Trevor Parker, son of the coal yard owner, made the gruesome discovery PC Alan Godfrey was sent to investigate. His body was found face down on top 12 foot high pile of anthracite. He was found without a shirt, the rest of his clothes seemed like they were put on him by someone who had very little idea of how to put them on (both his shoes and pants were put on incorrectly). Even though he had been missing for 5 days, he only had a single day of beard growth. His neck and shoulders also had burn marks on them and forensics found that some kind of strange ointment was applied to them though they could not identify it.

Dr Alan Edwards, the consulting pathologist at the Royal Halifax Infirmary, conducted the post-mortem examination in Hebden Bridge just after 9pm that day he was found. Dr Edwards’ professional judgment placed the time of death between 11am and 1pm on the day that Adamski was found, while the burns were two days old. The exact cause of death was a matter of such deliberation, that Adamski’s death took Coroner James Turnbull several months to register. It was ruled as a heart-attack.

PC Alan Godfrey didn’t believe that Zigmund died of a heart attack, he believed that Zigmund was abducted by aliens. Godfrey claimed that he himself had witnessed a UFO in Todmorden. He went to investigate what he thought was an overturned bus, but was shocked when he saw it hovering 5 feet above the ground. He claims that the next thing he remembers is being back in his patrol car driving off. He claims that he had similar burn marks and a strange green gel on his neck too. He was put under hypnosis and asked about his encounter. The 2nd picture is his sketch of the UFO and the aliens he had an encounter with. Godfrey stuck to his claims that Zigmund was abducted by aliens and dropped back after they used him for research.

Zigmund’s family believes it was a case of human abduction instead of alien abduction. They believe he was being held captive and died of a heart attack.

In September of 1990, the Dugard family moved from from Los Angeles to South Lake Tahoe in California under the presumption it was a safer community to raise a family. Unfortunately, they couldn’t have been more wrong. Jaycee Dugard was close to her mother, Terry, and her half-sister, Shayna. The couple lived with Jaycee’s stepfather, Carl, who was married to her mother. She never knew her birth father. He had no involvement in her life whatsoever.

It was a prickling hot day on 10th of June, 1991, when Jaycee was 11-years-old. On that morning, Jaycee got up for school and left the family home to walk the short distance to the bus stop. However, she never made it. In full view of Carl, who was watching Jaycee from the garage, a man and woman pulled up alongside her in a grey car and rolled down the window. Assuming they were looking for directions, Jaycee walked over. Next, the man produced a stun gun and zapped Jaycee before bundling her into the car. Carl, who didn’t have a car at the time, jumped onto his bike and peddled as fast as he possibly could. It was no use, however, and Jaycee was gone.

Over the forthcoming days, weeks, months, and years, Jaycee was in the forefront of her families mind. Despite an exhaustive search, Jaycee could not be found. As the years passed, hope began to fade that she would ever be found. But then, on the 24th of August, 2009, 18 years after her disappearance, there was a breakthrough. A man and two young girls appeared at the University of California, where witnesses said they were acting very peculiarly and the two girls seemed sullen and extremely pale, as if they hadn’t seen sunlight in a prolonged period. The man told an employee he wanted to hold an event in which he would speak about “God’s Desire Church” which he explained involved mind control. After leaving his name, a background check was ran and it was discovered he was a registered sex offender and on federal parole for kidnapping and rape. The man was Philip Greg Garrido, who in 1976 had kidnapped and raped a young woman. As part of his parole, Garrido could not be around minors.

Thinking something was awry, the employee contacted police who drove to Garrido’s home and arrested him. On the 26th of August, Garrido went to the parole office with his wife, Nancy, and the two girls who had been with prior. Also in attendance was Jaycee who initially claimed her name was “Allissa” and defended Garrido. She was showing signs of Stockholm Syndrome in which she sympathised with her kidnapper. Eventually the truth came out - both Phillip and Nancy had abducted Jaycee on that hot summer’s day 18 years ago. The two young girls were Jaycee’s and were a product of rape from Garrido.

Over the past 18 years, Jaycee had been raped numerous times. Initially, she was kept in handcuffs and had to use a bucket as a toilet. Garrido would often go on methamphetamine binges in which he would tell Jaycee ludicrous tales of him being a chosen servant of god and that she was kidnapped due to “demon angels” granting him permission to use her as a sex slave. By the age of 13, Jaycee was pregnant. She gave birth while locked up and took care of her two daughters with information learned from watching tv. Eventually, Jaycee was granted more and more freedom. The handcuffs disappeared and the bolts on the doors were dismantled. Never did she once mention to anybody her true identity due to Stockholm syndrome.

After her eventual discovery, the Dugard family were ecstatic. While they had never given up hope on Jaycee, as the day’s passed, it seemed more and more unlikely that she would ever return home. Jaycee and her two daughters were in well health despite their living condition. In 2011, Jaycee wrote a book titled “A Stolen Life” in which she details her abduction. Phillip was sentenced to 431 years to life while Nancy was sentenced to 36 years to life.

Unique case of Fake Persian Princess Mummy - Unexplained Mysteries

A "mummy" that duped archaeologists and nearly sparked a diplomatic row between Pakistan and Iran is finally being laid to rest.

The Persian Princess or Persian Mummy is a mummy of an alleged Persian princess who surfaced in Pakistani Baluchistan in October 2000. After considerable attention and further investigation, the mummy proved to be an archaeological forgery and possibly a murder victim.

In 1974, the mummy of pharaoh Ramesses II was issued a valid Egyptian passport (nearly three millennia after his death) so that he could fly to Paris. (Source)