# Urban legend comes to horrible life. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 3, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legend-comes-to-horrible-life/158705 "2003-03-03T03:34:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legend-comes-to-horrible-life/158705/21 "2003-03-03T18:15:08Z")
Certainly a real theft for transplant purposes wouldn’t have been so crudely done. While a Dahmer-like murderer is a possibility, I think the next most likely motive is a murder to obtain body parts for ritual purposes, as I believe is still theorized about the so-called [“Thames Torso”](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1788452.stm) murder in the UK. However, since external parts such as hands and genitals would be of value for such purposes, and they don’t seem to be missing from the Philly victim, it’s a little less likely. If he was killed for some specific ritual purpose, though, I guess they might have just taken what was prescribed. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legend-comes-to-horrible-life/158705/22 "2003-03-03T18:26:55Z")
This is why you should always bring along [spares](http://www.weebl.jolt.co.uk/bobs%20week%20in%20france%20pt3.htm), especially if you go to France. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legend-comes-to-horrible-life/158705/23 "2003-03-03T18:44:10Z")
Willie… are you okay? are you okay? are you okay? are you okay? Are echo jokes permissable yet? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legend-comes-to-horrible-life/158705/24 "2003-03-03T21:13:33Z")
Just because he was found in a trash-strewn warehouse doesn’t mean he died there. The body could easily have been dumped there after death, so who knows what happened to the organs at the time of death? StG [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legend-comes-to-horrible-life/158705.md?page=1)