I read that Al Packer has been the only American to be put on trial for cannibalism. Is that true? And if so, what laws were used to charge and convict him?
Funny, I was just thinking about this yesterday. I don’t believe Packer was ever convicted of cannibalism at all even though he admitted to it. Cannibalism was apparently not a crime. He was convicted of manslaughter though. http://www.cozine.com/archive/cc1997/00390045.htm
Not to hijack the thread or anything, but is there some connection between Alferd Packer and April 15 (Tax Day)? Just curious, because part of the annual Tax Day “entertainment” at the local post office for the late filers is a performance by the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band. Or is this just a weird coincidence?
No connection I know of. What triggered my memory was reading a book called The Chemistry of Death. While the book is primarily about the bodies of dead people, the author goes into some detail about the keeping property of meats under various conditions. It was an odd juxtaposition of facts that got me thinking about cannibalism in general and about Packer in particular.
Correct, Packer was not convicted of cannibalism.
Here are some interesting links-
http://www.museumtrail.org/AlferdPacker.asp
http://www.archives.state.co.us/packer.html
And as mentioned in one of the links, the students cafeteria at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is named the Alferd Packer Grill! They used to have a demented “spirit-week” type fest called Packer Days, where the highlight (or lowlight, depending on your sense of humor) was an eating contest which featured some ungodly stuff. But not people, one has to assume.
Packer Days was finally eliminated in this era of political correctness.
Near Lawrence, are you?
If it’s the Alferd Packer Memorial Band I’m familiar with, they’ve been around a long time, but I’ve never heard of any relationship between April 15th and either the band or Packer himself.
Yep. Does seem like they’ve been around forever. And I don’t know, maybe I don’t pay enough attention, but seems to me like the only time I hear about the band is their annual appearance at the post office on April 15. But then I’m not into bluegrass much…