# I'm speechless **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 17, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315 "2007-01-17T13:36:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/1 "2007-01-17T13:36:06Z")
[http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/17/manhole.bodies.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/17/manhole.bodies.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > SOUTH BEND, Indiana (AP) – William Abrams never felt in danger sleeping on his bedroll in hidden alleyways or along one of the city’s viaducts. That all changed last week. > > The discovery of the bodies of two homeless men in a manhole south of downtown on January 9 made Abrams uneasy. The discovery three days later of two more dead homeless men in a manhole less than a block away scared him and others living on the city’s streets. What the fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/2 "2007-01-17T14:02:53Z")
Er, what about the story is confusing you? I agree that the murder of four people is upsetting, though and I am somewhat mollified to see that the police are (apparently) hard at work to find the killer. > [@](#): > > **Investigators don’t believe the deaths are the work of a random serial killer** **and are working under the assumption someone had a motive to kill the four men,** police Capt. Phil Trent said. > > All four died of blunt force trauma, and Trent said there is little doubt they are related. “It’s just too coincidental for it to be anything else,” he said. > > Trent said all four men were known to collect scrap metal from vacant buildings and elsewhere to sell – a subculture fueled by high aluminum and copper prices across the country. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/3 "2007-01-17T14:49:30Z")
What’s so amazing/horrifying/shocking about this? Someone killed four homeless men, either a serial killer or someone with a more specific motive. While it’s moderately unusual, it fails to render me speechless. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/4 "2007-01-17T15:25:40Z")
[QUOTE=Absolute] What’s so amazing/horrifying/shocking about this? Someone killed four homeless men, either a serial killer or someone with a more specific motive. While it’s moderately unusual, it fails to render me speechless. [/QUOTE] Huh…and here I thought stuffing (apparently) targeted victims into manholes was a somewhat more heinous twist on the standard act of murder. I guess I must be living a sheltered life! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/5 "2007-01-17T15:37:50Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] Er, what about the story is confusing you? I agree that the murder of four people is upsetting, though and I am somewhat mollified to see that the police are (apparently) hard at work to find the killer. [/QUOTE] I’m not confused. Just more creeped out. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/6 "2007-01-17T16:06:12Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I’m not confused. Just more creeped out. [/QUOTE] Don’t worry, **Kalhoun**. NYC typically [electrifies](http://www.manhole.ca/pics/nytimes.pdf) its man-hole covers to prevent just such an occurance. “I’ts all part of the service, m’am.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/7 "2007-01-17T16:17:49Z")
Patrick Bateman? ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/8 "2007-01-17T16:27:27Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Huh…and here I thought stuffing (apparently) targeted victims into manholes was a somewhat more heinous twist on the standard act of murder. I guess I must be living a sheltered life! [/QUOTE] The killer stuffed the bodies in a place that would delay detection. It could have been a dumpster, but they found a [different](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhole) handy hidey hole that they apparently found more convenient. I don’t think it’s that unsual or strange. (Though, the fact that the murders happened is cause for alarm surely.) ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/9 "2007-01-17T17:16:33Z")
If he kills a woman next, where’s he going to find a womanhole? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/10 "2007-01-17T17:28:44Z")
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen] If he kills a woman next, where’s he going to find a womanhole? [/QUOTE] Go to the stink, turn North. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/11 "2007-01-17T17:33:07Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] Go to the stink, turn North. [/QUOTE] Post of the day! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/12 "2007-01-17T17:56:13Z")
Guess I’m jaded. While it is a pretty horrible story, when I read the headline **Four men beaten, killed, stuffed into Indiana manholes** I immediately expected the subhead _ **Police suspect foul play** _ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/13 "2007-01-17T18:02:50Z")
Foul play and not suicide? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-speechless/388315/14 "2007-01-17T18:03:50Z")
[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip] Guess I’m jaded. While it is a pretty horrible story, when I read the headline **Four men beaten, killed, stuffed into Indiana manholes** I immediately expected the subhead _ **Police suspect foul play** _ [/QUOTE] Yeah. It’s like not too long ago there was a news item about a headless, armless and legless torso being fished out of the Cumberland River near Nashville. The police had ruled out suicide. I spent some thought on how somebody could pull that off unassisted and came to conclusion that Rube Goldberg might have been able to do it with enough pulleys and chainsaws. Instead of the standard note, this individual might just have had a real vendetta against the police department and wanted to make them look far and wide for the murderer. It’s like the old “stabbed to death with an icicle” gag.