Darwin Award Nominees
> > Hard to believe, but another year has passed. Once again, it's time
> for
> > the Darwin Award Nominees. The Darwin's are awarded every year to the
> > persons who died in the most stupid manner, thereby removing
> themselves
> > from the gene pool. This year's nine nominees are:
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 1: [San Jose Mercury News]:
> > An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former
> > girlfriend's windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the
> gun
> > discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette]:
> > James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI, was killed in March as he
> > was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck."
> Burns
> got
> > a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath
> so
> > that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns'
> clothes
> > caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped
> in
> the
> > drive shaft."
> >
> > Nominee No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record]:
> > Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December
>
> > in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside
> his
> > bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38
> > Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.
> >
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 4: [UPI, Toronto]:
> > Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown
>
> > Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and
> plunged
> > 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell
> into
> > the courtyard of the TorontoDominionBankTower early Friday evening as
> he
> &g t; was explaining the strength of the building's windows to visiting
> law
> > students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window
> > strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner
> of
> the
> > firm
> > Holden Day, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the
> > best and brightest" members of the 200-man association.
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 5: [Bloomberg News Service]:
> > A terrible diet and a room with no ventilation are being blamed for
> the
> > death of a man who was killed by his own gas emissions. There was no
> > mark on his body, and an autopsy showed large amounts of methane gas
> in
> his
> > system. His diet had consisted primarily of beans and cabbage (and a
> > couple of other things). It was just the right combination of foods.
> It
> > appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the poisonous
> > cloud that was hanging over his bed. Had he been outside or had his
> windows
> > been opened, it wouldn't have been fatal. But the man was shut up in
> his
> > nearly airtight bedroom. According to the article, "He was a big man
> with
> a
> > huge capacity for creating "this deadly gas." Three of the rescuers
> got
> > sick, and one was hospitalized.
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 6: [The News of the Weird]:
> > Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had
> > spent several years awaiting South Carolina's electric chair on a
> murder
> > conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While
>
> > sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV
> > set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.
> >
> > Nominee No. 7: [The Indianapolis Star]:
> > A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk,
> > IN. A JayCounty man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of
> a
> > muzzle loader, was killed Monday night when the weapon di scharged in
> his
> > face,
> > sheriff's investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his
> > parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said
> Pryor
> > was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzleloader that had not been firing
> > properly.
> > He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder
> > ignited.
> >
> > Nominee No. 8: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario]:
> > A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium
> > apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his
> death.
> > Stefan
> > Macko, 55, was standing on a wheeled chair when the accident occurred,
>
> > said Inspector D'Arcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. "It appears
> > that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony,"
> >
> >
> > Finally, THE WINNER!!!: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]:
> > Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and
> > struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday.
> > WoodruffCounty deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after
>
> > midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis,
>
> > 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog gigging
> trip on
> > an overcast Sunday night when Poole's pickup truck headlights
> > malfunctioned.
> > The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck
>
> > had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis
> noticed
> > that the .22 caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the
> fuse
> box
> > next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the
> > headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded
> > on eastbound toward the White RiverBridge.
> > After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the
> > river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole
> > in the testicles.
> > The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking
> a
> > tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident,
> > but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his
> testicles,
> > which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken
> > clavicle and was treated and released.
> > "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off,
>
> > or we might both be dead," stated Wallis. "I've been a trooper for 10
> > years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't
> believe
> > that those two would admit how this accident happened, "said
> > Snyder.Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole's wife) asked
> how
> > many
> > frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck???
> > (Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure
>
> > as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued
> that
> > Poole DID, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.)
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hard to believe, but another year has passed. Once again, it's time
> for
> > the Darwin Award Nominees. The Darwin's are awarded every year to the
> > persons who died in the most stupid manner, thereby removing
> themselves
> > from the gene pool. This year's nine nominees are:
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 1: [San Jose Mercury News]:
> > An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former
> > girlfriend's windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the
> gun
> > discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette]:
> > James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI, was killed in March as he
> > was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck."
> Burns
> got
> > a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath
> so
> > that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns'
> clothes
> > caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped
> in
> the
> > drive shaft."
> >
> > Nominee No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record]:
> > Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December
>
> > in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside
> his
> > bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38
> > Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.
> >
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 4: [UPI, Toronto]:
> > Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown
>
> > Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and
> plunged
> > 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell
> into
> > the courtyard of the TorontoDominionBankTower early Friday evening as
> he
> &g t; was explaining the strength of the building's windows to visiting
> law
> > students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window
> > strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner
> of
> the
> > firm
> > Holden Day, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the
> > best and brightest" members of the 200-man association.
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 5: [Bloomberg News Service]:
> > A terrible diet and a room with no ventilation are being blamed for
> the
> > death of a man who was killed by his own gas emissions. There was no
> > mark on his body, and an autopsy showed large amounts of methane gas
> in
> his
> > system. His diet had consisted primarily of beans and cabbage (and a
> > couple of other things). It was just the right combination of foods.
> It
> > appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the poisonous
> > cloud that was hanging over his bed. Had he been outside or had his
> windows
> > been opened, it wouldn't have been fatal. But the man was shut up in
> his
> > nearly airtight bedroom. According to the article, "He was a big man
> with
> a
> > huge capacity for creating "this deadly gas." Three of the rescuers
> got
> > sick, and one was hospitalized.
> >
> >
> > Nominee No. 6: [The News of the Weird]:
> > Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had
> > spent several years awaiting South Carolina's electric chair on a
> murder
> > conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While
>
> > sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV
> > set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.
> >
> > Nominee No. 7: [The Indianapolis Star]:
> > A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk,
> > IN. A JayCounty man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of
> a
> > muzzle loader, was killed Monday night when the weapon di scharged in
> his
> > face,
> > sheriff's investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his
> > parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said
> Pryor
> > was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzleloader that had not been firing
> > properly.
> > He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder
> > ignited.
> >
> > Nominee No. 8: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario]:
> > A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium
> > apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his
> death.
> > Stefan
> > Macko, 55, was standing on a wheeled chair when the accident occurred,
>
> > said Inspector D'Arcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. "It appears
> > that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony,"
> >
> >
> > Finally, THE WINNER!!!: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]:
> > Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and
> > struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday.
> > WoodruffCounty deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after
>
> > midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis,
>
> > 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog gigging
> trip on
> > an overcast Sunday night when Poole's pickup truck headlights
> > malfunctioned.
> > The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck
>
> > had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis
> noticed
> > that the .22 caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the
> fuse
> box
> > next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the
> > headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded
> > on eastbound toward the White RiverBridge.
> > After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the
> > river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole
> > in the testicles.
> > The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking
> a
> > tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident,
> > but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his
> testicles,
> > which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken
> > clavicle and was treated and released.
> > "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off,
>
> > or we might both be dead," stated Wallis. "I've been a trooper for 10
> > years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't
> believe
> > that those two would admit how this accident happened, "said
> > Snyder.Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole's wife) asked
> how
> > many
> > frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck???
> > (Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure
>
> > as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued
> that
> > Poole DID, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.)
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
