# Catching a serial shitter **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751 "2010-08-28T01:58:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/21 "2010-08-29T01:24:10Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > The Mad Crapper lives! > > (See: National Lampoon’s High School Yearbook Parody) And MusiCat isn’t the Mad Crapper!! I suggest you check the superintendent’s locker. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/22 "2010-08-29T02:18:19Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Navy veteran. [Seriously](http://www.google.com/search?q=phantom+shitter+navy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a). Yup. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/23 "2010-08-29T02:22:49Z")
The butler shit it. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/24 "2010-08-29T02:29:17Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The butler shit it. In what room? Using what? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/25 "2010-08-29T05:20:41Z")
I must confess, the part of me that will always be 13 thinks this is hilarious. Mostly because I don’t have to clean it up or deal with it. Also, obligatory [Onion link](http://www.theonion.com/articles/midlevel-manager-forced-to-find-out-who-isnt-flush,372/). ---
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/26 "2010-08-29T12:08:27Z")
Horatio, do you have a number 1 suspect ? Not this time Frank _(puts on sunglasses)_ This time -_pause_ I’m looking for number 2 Yaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/27 "2010-08-29T16:03:25Z")
He should be easy to catch. just use the process of elimination. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/28 "2010-08-29T16:37:43Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > I thought dna tests could prove who it came from? Sure, if you desperately wanted to spend that much money. AND had reference DNA samples. Which I’m reasonably certain they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![UTejas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UTejas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UTejas)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/29 "2010-08-29T18:32:41Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > He should be easy to catch. just use the process of elimination. Holy shit, this is funny ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/30 "2010-08-29T21:08:53Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > I thought dna tests could prove who it came from? Yes, generally feces contains enough cells with DNA material to provide a positive identification. So have the campus police send samples to the lab. And if you know that the perpetrator lives in your dorm (how?), you might ask everyone to voluntarily submit to DNA tests. You might find him. Or you could concentrate on the men who refused the test – skip than the ones who are constitutional rights activists, and look closely at the others. All this might just scare him into stopping, but that’s partly what you want, right? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/31 "2010-08-30T12:57:07Z")
One thing I can tell you is that it’s not Sherlock Holmes. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/32 "2010-08-30T13:22:42Z")
No shit? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/33 "2010-08-30T13:53:14Z")
How do you know a student is responsible? Perhaps the teacher shit on his own hood and just forgot about it. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/34 "2010-08-30T14:01:36Z")
You can rule out the anal retentives with the tidy rooms. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/35 "2010-08-30T15:56:28Z")
Actually, it’s my understanding that this can be a sign of serious mental illness. We had a similar problem in an office that I worked in, and the police took it much more seriously than we expected. It was way past the “prank” stage though, including smearing on the walls in the ladies room, and attempts to write words and such. You are looking for a person with a very childish temper. Imagine the way a 2-year old gets angry, and watch for that behavior. Verbal tantrums, assuming that others mean to offend, very low confidence level. This person is a gatherer of grudges, and the majority of his (or her, but it is highly likely to be a male) conversation will be about who has offended him and how. This person probably does not date or have a “best friend.” This person’s roommate probably has no doubt about who is doing it, but not enough proof to speak up. (You might start with the list of people whose roommates have asked to be switched to another room.) Ours was unusual in that it was mostly happening in the women’s restroom. The police were really surprised that a female would exhibit this behavior. It turned out to be a physical male who was living as a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/36 "2010-08-30T16:01:50Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Ours was unusual in that it was mostly happening in the women’s restroom. The police were really surprised that a female would exhibit this behavior. I wouldn’t have been. You shoulda seen the condition of the female heads on my last at-sea duty station. ‘Nasty’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. Up to, and including, obscenely-worded fecal smearings on the walls of the stalls. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/37 "2010-08-30T16:32:30Z")
> [@CWN](#): > > Horatio, do you have a number 1 suspect ? > Not this time Frank > _(puts on sunglasses)_ > This time -_pause_ > I’m looking for number 2 > > Yaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Well done. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/38 "2010-08-30T16:41:03Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > > A teacher who swears that he/she will capture this dispenser of poopy justice is likely to have his or her car fall victim to **defecation vigilantism**. > > The Scarlet Poopernel? > Robin Dood? If he has a couple of accomplices, they could be the Three Tushkateers. And if he’s religiously-minded using hemorrhoid pads to wipe with when he’s done, we could call him Friar Tucks. ---
**Author:** ![CrimeThink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90db22/32.png) [@CrimeThink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrimeThink)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/39 "2010-08-30T16:59:02Z")
When I went to Space Camp as a child somebody took a dump in the sink. The culprit was never identified, maybe it is the same man continuing a 15 year long brown streak of fecal terror. I really pissed me off too since the counselors tried the whole ‘lets punish everybody until the person who did it confesses’ routine. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751/40 "2010-08-30T17:46:18Z")
Could it be a copycat pooper? One person’s prank getting outshat by competitive shit disturbers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catching-a-serial-shitter/551751.md?page=3)