Morbid - Episode 681: Elmer McCurdy: The Outlaw Mummy

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

In early December 1976, a film crew was shooting an episode of a popular television show at The Pike, a boardwalk amusement park in Long Beach, California. In order to prepare for the scene, the prop master moved what he believed to be a wax mannequin hanging from funhouse gallows; however, when he grabbed the mannequin by the arm, the limb broke off, revealing human bone and muscle tissue.After removing the body to the coroner’s office to be autopsied, it was revealed that what had long thought to have been a wax museum dummy was in fact the body of a man who’d died from a gunshot wound more than six decades before his body was discovered in Long Beach. After some basic detective work, investigators learned that the mummified corpse was that of Elmer McCurdy, an early twentieth-century bank robber who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s posse in Oklahoma in 1911.Removing the body from the funhouse and identifying the body allowed authorities to arrange for a proper burial, but it did little to answer the question on the minds of so many: How did the mummified body of a long-dead outlaw end up on display in a wax museum funhouse?Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesCohen, Jerry. 1976. "Mummy identified as bandit slain in 1911." Los Angeles Times, December 11: 1.Harvey, Steve. 1979. "Bungler Elmer McCurdy... RIP... gets more attention in death than in life." Los Angeles Times, December 31: 21.Himmel, Nieson. 1976. "'Dummy' found to be a corpse." Los Angeles Times, December 9: 3.Los Angeles Times. 1976. "Mummy was Oklahoma bandit killed in 1912." Los Angeles Times, December 10: 8.Reuters. 1977. "'Wax model' identified as Oklahoma bandit." New York Times, April 15: 14.Smith, Robert Barr. 1999. "Western Lore." Wild West. Svenvold, Mark. 2002. Elmer McCurdy: The Misadventures in Life and Afterlife of an American Outlaw. New York, NY: Harper.Stay in the know - wondery.fm/morbid-wondery.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, weirdos. Alaina here. If you're looking to kick back and relax with Morbid, Wondery Plus is the way to go. It's like having a cozy seat in our haunted mansion. No ads, just you, and early access to new episodes. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast. Hey, weirdos.

I'm Alaina. And I'm Ash. And this is M-O-R-B-I-D. Um, to the O, to the R-M. Wait, hold on. To the RM Morbid we need to clip that shit right out. Hold that up. M to the O. To the O.

To the R-O. It's like, whoa, we have another M. I said mormbid. Mormbid. It's mormbid. Oh. I was thinking D to the E to the L-I-C-I-O-U-S. And I was, that's my inspiration.

So I was like, M to the O to the R to the B to the A to the D.I-C-I-O-U-S, and I was like, that's my inspiration. I was like, M to the O, to the R, to the B, to the I, to the D. Oh my God, spelling mombad. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe Sometimes you are. Sometimes you're just an illiterate bitch. And this is one of those times. You know, I just, I don't really know what happened, okay? You know, it kind of fits with this wild tale that I'm about to tell. Tell us about it. Um, just the kookiness of it all. The misspelling of it all?

The misspelling of it all, you know? So this is gonna... Take those the fuck off. That was such a good reaction. A sunglasses headband all day. Do you guys ever just like do that? You put your sunglasses on and then you go inside and you put them on your head and you never take them off. Yeah.

I just remembered I had mine on my head so I just put them off. She just slowly put them on. I was ready for you to tell me a cool case. A cool case. She said, take those the fuck off. You got those the fuck off. You got those the fuck off. Those the fuck off.

That was so funny. That was very me coded. Yeah, it was very us coded. I don't know why. We're like super goofed today. It's the end of the week, you know. Yeah. It's the end of so many things and the beginning of other things. Yeah, we finally got some good news. Yeah, we got good news.

Maybe we're just feeling a little silly, goofy. Good news, good news, good news. That's all they want to hear. Yeah. Shout out to Mac. And we're going to talk about Elmer McCurdy, the outlaw mummy. OK. Who doesn't want to talk about an outlaw mummy?

Yeah, sign me the fuck up. Let's go, girls. This is a crazy one. It's a wild one. He was like a really bad criminal. And I mean bad in the way that like he wasn't good at being a criminal. Oh, okay. He wanted to be, but he was not. That's kind of fun. So that gets silly.

He was bad at being a criminal. He was very bad at being bad. So on the morning of December, and here's the thing, we're going to start in the end of the story and go back. Oh, that's fun. Because the end is really the like, wait, what? Excuse me. I love starting at the end sometimes.

Don't we all? We haven't done that in a while. We haven't. So on the morning of December 8th, 1976, the crew- It's my half birthday. There you go. even the year. Yes. You know?

The crew of the $6 million man, which was a popular science fiction series starring lead majors, began setting up for a day's shoot at the Pike, which was, and Blanche just charmed in, she was like, love that place. She said, great flick. It was a family amusement area along the boardwalk in Long Beach, California.

The segment was going to be called the Carnival of Spies. And it was supposed to take place inside one of the park's fun house fright attractions, which was called Laugh in the Dark. Laugh in the Dark. Which also reminds me of the Are You Afraid of the Dark episode, which also that episode fucked me up. With the scary clown of the Dark episode, which also that episode fucked me up. With the scary clown with the cigar? Yes.

Fuck that. Oh, so scary. So the ride was basically like one of those little like tunnel of love kind of rides at amusement parks, but where like two people would ride through as dark in their small car. But this had an emphasis on the scares instead of the romance. Or maybe both if you're that type of person. I love being scared. Yeah. So that's pretty romantic to me.

There you go. You know? I love that. Yeah. So all morning, prop master Chris Haynes had been loading props for the scenes through the back entrance of the ride. And at one point he came across a mannequin and it was hanging from a fake gallows, you know, just one of the scenes.

He'd already heard about the mannequin from several other members of the crew because they had spotted it earlier in the week and commented that it was like kind of bizarre. It had a weird glow in the dark paint job and they were like, it was really light, like weird. It just felt strange when you like moved it out of the way. Some guessed that it was made of balsa wood. Others were thinking it was just paper mache. But Chris was like, I don't know about that.

Like, I don't think it's either one of those things. And he's like, this looks like really real. Which like... Ugh. And he's like, I don't know if this is just like a really well done mannequin or what. Imagine having that feeling. Yeah, so he was... That's terrifying. He was curious, so don't know if this is just like a really well done mannequin or what. Imagine having that feeling. Yeah.

So he was curious. So he approached the mannequin and he grabbed one of the arms and he pulled it off accidentally. Which like if it's a mannequin that can happen. So at first he's like, okay, I'm going to try to put this arm back on. So he just like went to put it back on. But then he was like, wait a second. And he looked inside and typical problems will have like clean cuts, like a solid cross section.

This though, was like dark and textured. He said it was quote, almost shredded like beef jerky. No. And in the center there was something that looked like bone. No, I have a beef jerky stick today. I hate that you just said that to me. Fuck that. So Chris Hayes brought the arm over

to one of the other crew members and asked what he thought it looked like. He was like, I'm not going to tell you what I think it looks like. He said I hope you don't have jerky for lunch. Yeah, he was like, that looks like a human arm. And he's like, definitely one that has seen better days, but it looks like a human arm.

So the two guys approached what they had thought was a mannequin before, and they leaned in for a human arm. So the two guys approached what they had thought was a mannequin before and they leaned in for a closer look. And this mannequin was unclothed but it had been hung like really high up the wall. So it was really hard to see any details from down below, especially in the dark. But when they got a closer look, they saw that it had male genitalia.

Oh. Cause it's naked. Nike and it was flying, but Dick flying. And it was far more detailed than any replica they had ever seen. Oh honey. Yeah. And they, in fact, um, author Marks, Ben Bolds, which we're going to, um, we'll put him in the show notes. He said, this was not anatomically correct.

This was anatomical. This was anatomy, the body itself, a completely desiccated mummified human body. Shit, that's a different day at work. Very different. So realizing that they were now dealing with an actual dead human body, Chris Haynes quietly went to get the off duty cop

who was hired by Universal Studios for the shoot, assuming that this cop would know what to do in this situation. It's at this point that the story gets like, kind of crazy. Because as far as Haynes remembers, he informed the officer, who then reported it to the Long Beach police. But rather than take the situation seriously at all, Chris Hayes remembers that the officers used the situation as an opportunity for a prank. What? They reported the situation to the paramedics as quote, I'm not ready. A case of severe dehydration. I just like really fucked up. What the fuck? Can you imagine?

No. Your job is to do something about this. Like, literally your job. Let's have a lull. You're like, this is hilarious that this actual human being has been hung inside of a haunt attraction for who knows how long. He's mummified. Let's make this an opportunity

to have ourselves a little belly laugh. People are insane. People have always been lawless. Just always. That is lawless. Like that's literally lawless. I mean, he is dehydrated. So here's the thing. So there's a lot of like,

there's a little like urban legend he feels about this part of it, because none of little like urban legend he feels about this part of it, because none of the officers who worked the case remember that prank. Of course they don't. But again, that was pretty funny. But whether they did it or not, there was a 12 hour gap in time between when he reported the body and the body being removed to the coroner's office. Damn.

That's a long time. Yeah. So given that the body was obviously not that of a, you know, recently dead person, no one was really in a hurry to disrupt the filming process for the shoot that day. And they didn't want to disrupt the daily operations at the Pike or other boardwalk businesses.

In fact, when the news did finally break in the papers the next day, even the investigators working the case were pretty happy to just like minimize the whole thing. One investigator told reporters, the owners of the fun house thought it was just a dummy. I can't myself too much like Vincent Price. Now after being removed from the fun house, this body was delivered to the office of the medical examiner, Dr. Thomas Noguchi. As LA chief medical examiner at the time, he had been in that position since the early

1960s. And Dr. Noguchi had conducted autopsies on some of the most iconic celebrities, really, in American history. This includes Marilyn Monroe. Oh, I was going to say that name does sound familiar. Janis Joplin. Oh, wow. Sharon Tate.

Oh, yeah. It earned him a really yucky nickname, I would say. The Corner to the Stars. Okay. I don't know about that. Like, can we just have a little decorum? Actually, I know about that. I don't like it. Like, I just think. I know about it and I don't want't know about that. Like, can we just have a little decorum? Actually, I know about that. I don't like it. Like, I just think...

I know about it and I don't want to know about it. I wouldn't want to be called that. No. And also, like, I don't know. It's just, I don't like it. I don't like it. He's just the chief medical examiner. Can we just call him that? Like, we don't need to... We don't need to do that to, like, deaf industry employees, like, be like like the coroner to the stars. Like now. Just let them be the coroner.

That's wild. Yeah, it's not good. Obviously this body was likely not a celebrity, but I will say Dr. Noguchi took the same amount of care with him as he would with any of his high profile paces. According to the information they'd received from investigating officers, the body on the autopsy table had been found

by the fun house operators many years earlier in a defunct wax museum. Oh. This wax museum had wrapped it in brown gauze and advertised it as quote, the 5,000 year old man. That's something. Yeah, so the medical examiner quickly was like, yeah, he's not 5,000 years old, everybody don't worry.

And they said the corpse shows signs of post-mortem medical examination and has been embalmed. So Dr. Choi, another doctor on the case wrote in his autopsy report, the body is completely mummified. The nose and facial features appear to be Caucasian. When he was alive, they thought he would be roughly five feet, eight inches tall, maybe 150 pounds.

And Dr. Choi knew that determining the cause of death would help him kind of narrow down the potential timeline of when this man died. So during the initial examination, the doctors discovered a small hole in the man's chest. They thought this was either a chest tube or a bullet wound, which I think are pretty valid guesses. But when they x-rayed the body, the resulting image was completely white.

So this would indicate that the body had been packed with radio opaque material, making it impossible to tell anything from x-rays. When they opened the chest cavity, Dr. Choi discovered the source of the material. After the man was dead, whoever embalmed him had packed the body with arsenic to prevent further decay. Shoot. This was a common practice in Civil War-era America. Oh, really?

Yeah, but it had definitely, like, fallen out of, you know, being a common practice by the early 20th century. But that was another thing that helped them date this because this put this man's death somewhere between the last half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th. Damn. I mean, so we're starting to narrow it. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. There is such a stigma surrounding mental health, but especially men's mental health.

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no safe like simply safe. It was the arsenic that had prevented the x-ray machine from showing anything. But now that they were able to open them up, organs exposed, Dr. Choi saw that there was evidence of hemorrhaging in one lung and a perforation in the other. This was indicating probably that he was shot in the chest. Oh, wow. Also, since there didn't appear to be an exit wound anywhere, they were thinking, we're going to find this bullet in the body.

Yeah. So they traced the path of the perforation from the entrance wound in the chest through the lungs, then through the liver. And Dr. Choi found it lodged in the man's hip bone. Yeah, like ricocheted. The bullet fragment lodged in this hip bone was an antique slug, basically. And apparently it was known as a gas check. This kind of like a slug was mostly phased out in the early 20th century. But gas check ammunition was a non-jacketed bullet that loaded from a high pressure rifle or magnum revolver cartridge. According to the LAPD ballistics expert, Lee Cruman, the bullet was fired from a 3230 caliber

rifle, which he said was probably manufactured starting in 1905. That meant that however this man had died, it happened sometime between 1905 and probably the start of the World War II, which was 1939, because that's when that kind of bullet was phased out. This is so interesting to me. It is. How they're dating this. Yeah.

Because it's like they're looking at like the packing material. Okay, this started in this time and it phased out here. So now we've narrowed it a little. This is real investigative work. Yeah. Now we find the bullet that was created in this time, it phased out here. We've narrowed it a little more. It's like, this is so cool.

It is fascinating. So they've again, significantly narrowed it a little more. It's like, this is so cool. It is fascinating. So they've again, significantly narrowed down the window of time when the death occurred. Dr. Choi was inching closer to finding the precise time now. And it was the next step in the autopsy that proved most surprising and probably the more illuminating of anything. When Dr. Choi removed the jaw, mandible and teeth

for analysis by a dental expert, he discovered deep in the back of the mouth, a corroded copper penny dated 1924. And several ticket stubs. One with an address for the Pike Amusement Park where the body was discovered, and another for Lewis Sunney's Museum of Crime, 524 Main Street, Los Angeles. Okay. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, it was not uncommon for sideshows and boardwalk businesses, you know,

other amusement park kind of things to display the mummified bodies of supposed Wild West outlaws and other criminals. What? Yeah. They would just be like, come look at the mummy of this crazy outlaw from the Wild West outlaws and other criminals. What? Yeah. They would just be like, come look at the mummy of this crazy outlaw from the Wild West. That's cool and strange and so interesting. We've always been an interesting species, I can say that.

Based on the tickets found in this mummy's mouth, it appeared like that prior to his life in the Laugh in the Dark ride, he was probably part of one of these outlaw mummy shows. Yeah. So the next day, a statement from the Emmy's office appeared in the newspapers around the country, giving the cause of death, obviously shot in the chest, and requesting the public's help tracking down Lewis Sunny, or one of the relatives who might know the origin of the body. The story moves super fast. And within a day day the Emmy's office received a call from Dave Friedman, the president of Entertainment Ventures, which was the parent company of Lewis Sunney's

Museum of Crime. So he exclaimed immediately when he talked to the Emmy's office, it's old Elmer. So according to Friedman, the body was Elmer McCurdy, a small-time bandit who was gunned down by a sheriff's posse after robbing a train in Oklahoma in October 1911. The way he just knew, he said, oh, it's Elmer. Oh, that's old Elmer. Oh, that's old Elmer. Like, what the fuck?

So Friedman claimed that since no one had claimed McCurdy's body after his death, the enterprising sheriff at the time sold the embalmed body of the outlaw to the operator of a traveling carnival for display in their side show. In 1921, Lewis Sunny, the founder of entertainment ventures, quote, obtained McCurdy's body in 1921 as security on a $500 loan that was never repaid. Instead of $500, you get this guy?

For collateral, you just get this dude. Okay. Like, what the fuck? All righty. Bounties were different. Yeah, a little bit. Since then, Elmer McCurdy's body was displayed in various sideshow and boardwalk attractions until the practice of displaying mummified corpses fell a little bit out of favor with

the public around the late 1940s, I'd say. All right. Took us a little bit out of favor with the public around the late 1940s, I'd say. All right. Took us a little bit. All right. Took us a little bit. We said, you know what? This isn't great.

I did see a crazy kind of mummified body of a clown in California at the CIA. Welcome to the CIA. I don't think the CIA is a thing anymore. Yeah, I remember you telling me about that when I was probably like nine. Yeah, that place was crazy. What? It had like the, it had all this like cool shit. I'm sure people in California probably know what this place was or is.

Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd. Yeah, it played like, it was just like chaos in there. Like it was just a bunch of cool and random shit, like a lot of oddities and shit. And I loved it. And it was playing the Wizard of Oz on all the TVs and playing Dark Side of the Moon, but like backwards to go with it.

And the vibe was just right in there. But in a glass case was the supposed mummified body of a clown. And he wanted to be like buried in his clown makeup and shit. It was the most unsettling thing I've ever seen. I bet. But it's like, it's like when it fell out of favor in the 1940s, I'm like, I saw one in like 2005. So actually, I'm like, I don't know.

Asterisk, asterisk. I saw one in the mid, the mid early aughts. I mean, I suppose if that's what you want. Yeah, if that's what you want, then go for it. Yeah. It's up to you. It's your shit. Go crazy.

So according to Friedman, after being taken out of the show, McCurdy's body was moved to a storage facility in Los Angeles. That's sad. It remained in storage until Dan Sonny, Lewis's son, inherited the company in 1968 and sold his Elmer McCurdy's body to the Hollywood Wax Museum. Whoa.

Who in turn sold it to the New Pike Amusement Company where it was on display until it was discovered by the film crew while shooting an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. The way this mummy is just traveling. He's been everywhere. In way this mummy is just traveling. He's been everywhere. In the days after that, Dr. Noguchi and his assistant

at the medical examiner's office conducted further analysis of the body to confirm or rule out whether this was in fact Elmer McCurdy. Since there was no DNA testing available at that time, the doctor took measurements of the bones and had a sketch artist recreate a rendering of what this man would have looked like while alive.

Based on a few existing photographs of Elmer McCurdy that were provided by the Oklahoma Historical Society, actually, the doctor and his team were able to confidently confirm that the amusement park mummy was indeed the corpse of Elmer McCurdy. Now, in a press conference held to announce this in April 1977, Dr. Noguchi stated that once the appropriate paperwork had been filed, the body would be released to the Oklahoma Historical Society and shipped to Guthrie, Oklahoma for burial.

The Historical Society spokesperson, Fred Olds, told reporters, Elmer will finally be buried at an old territorial cemetery with robbers and outlaws. He was sidetracked for a long time, but we feel like he's part of our history. So he's just buried among his brethren. A lot of outlaws. It took me a minute to get here. I also think it's kind of badass that there's just like an outlaw cemetery in Oklahoma. Like, where's that? I'd like to see it.

That'd be fun. The identification of the new Pike Mummy, that's what it was being called, seemingly brought this mystery to a close. But it did nothing to answer a lot of the new questions in the minds of people who have read this story. Who the fuck was Elmer McCurdy? Like tell me, how did he meet this kind of end?

Fate. Like, how did he end up here? So Elmer McCurdy was born January 1st, 1880 in Washington, Maine. Cappy. He's a Cappy. And he was born to an unwed mother, Sadie McCurdy, which of course in 1880, an unwed mother was. How dare she? Oh my goodness.

According to author Mark Svenvold, the identity of McCurdy's father, he never got to know that. But it was possibly Sadie's cousin, Charles Davis. So to protect Elmer from the embarrassment of having been born out of wedlock and potentially to his mom's cousin, Sadie's brother George and his wife Helen adopted the boy at an early age. In 1890, when Elmer was 10 years old, George unfortunately died of tuberculosis. Not so nice. So Helen and Sadie moved to Bangor, Maine to live with their older brother, Charles.

It was at this time that Sadie started taking a more active role in caring for Elmer. And not long after, the two women revealed to him that Sadie was actually his mother. Ooh, it's kind of like Ted Bundy. Yes. It's very Ted Bundy. Understandably, this is very traumatic. I can't imagine. Yeah, absolutely. He had recently lost the man who he thought was his birth mother father his whole life. And now he's finding this out. Like that's a lot for a kid. Not only is he finding out that this woman is not his mother, father his whole life. And now he's finding this out. Like that's a lot for a kid. Not only is he finding out that this woman is not his mother, but his aunt,

and that his mother, his aunt is his mother. And that now he actually is realizing he's never even known his father and won't. And that it was his beloved uncle who died. Like that's just a lot. Yeah, so according to Svenvold, those who knew McCurdy said this was the point that things turned for him.

Understandable. Caused him to become unruly and rebellious. I too might become unruly and rebellious. So within a few years, while very much still a child, Elmer started developing a drinking problem. Oh God. That would follow him the rest of his life, unfortunately. The first signs of like big trouble came

when he was arrested at age 15 for starting a bar fight in nearby by Belfast, Maine. Why was he in a bar? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Why was he in a bar? Why was he in a bar? So after this incident, Sadie and Helen decided Elmer needed a stronger masculine influence in his life

and he was sent to live with his grandfather, Hardin McCurdy. He grandfather, Hardin McCurdy. Hardin McCurdy actually really did help him. He helped him find an apprenticeship with a local plumber. This was a lot of structure, a new routine, and it actually seemed to suit Elmer, like he liked this kind of structure. And by the time he was 18 years old, he had become an expert.

Wow. So this was great. It seemed to be working well. The grandfather was good to him, got him on the straight and narrow, but he was short lived because in 1898, just as McCurdy was settling, you know, trying to get out on his own, the American economy took a downturn. It's always going to do that. One thing about the economy, she always is going to crash. She's always going to crash out, you know, recession indicators. So it always going to happen. So, and it really hit rural areas like Bangor and like Bangor.

Bangor. Bangor, Maine. It hit it particularly hard on the rural areas. So because of this recession, a lot of businesses are closing. Millions of people are losing their jobs. Thousands left their small towns and villages to find any kind of employment. So not great to be setting out on your own in this situation. So in Banger, Maine, Sadie and Helen both lost their jobs and experience, you know,

and this hit Sadie really hard. She always was prone to anxiety. So losing her job in this kind of recession was just not great. She developed an ulcer that she really struggled to keep under control. And in 1900, she ended up dying when it unexpectedly ruptured. And a few months later, Hardin-McCurdy died of Bright's disease, which was, it's like an outdated, basically generic term for inflamed kidneys, essentially. Oh, wow.

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Learn more at toronto.ca slash leash your dog. A message from the city of Toronto. toronto.ca slash leash your dog. A message from the city of Toronto. In the span of 10 years, Elmer McCurdy lost his, who he thought was his father, his birth mother and his grandfather. That's a lot of loss. All of whom had played a very important part in his life

up until this point. Like they were all like positive things in his life. Yeah. And to make matters worse, after working hard to learn a trade and become an expert plumber, the recession had completely fucked that up. Like he couldn't get any job. These definitely left him like bitter, frustrated, and he turned to drinking even more. So he decided there was not a lot left for him in Maine.

So he decided to go find something somewhere else. And after leaving Maine, he kind of drifted around the East Coast states for a few years, hopping train cars from town to town, trying to find work. Occasionally, he could find like temp work as a plumber or handyman, but inevitably his drinking would get the better of him and he would end up just getting himself fired. In 1903, he found himself in Iola, a small town in southeast Kansas. And about a decade earlier, a large deposit of natural gas had been found under the ground there.

Oh, shit. Which is pretty interesting, and it resulted in like a boom of new industry and a big increase in the town's once very tiny population. So in response to this whole thing, they're becoming a successful town now, the town leaders went out of their way to erase any traces of this former like wild west identity. They wanted now to present Iola as like this up and coming hub of industry,

the future of Kansas. So within a few years of discovering the resources under the land in Iola, they had transformed this place. I mean, they paved the roads, invested in a telephone system, built accommodations and attractions, an opera house, a local branch of the YMCA. It was the fucking happening town. It's a fun place to go.

They had a lot to offer someone like Elmer McCurdy, who's looking to start over, and someone who is a skilled tradesman. It's not like he's walking in there not knowing how to do anything. So he was psyched about this. And honestly, the town was excited to have him, which is interesting. They basically said it, he arrived in town that year, and in an announcement of several newly arrived citizens, the local paper described Elmer as quote, an industrious young man who had gained access to the better society circles

of Iola, who classed among his friends, many of the well known people of the town. That's fun. Wait, as a society, why do we not announce newcomers in a paper? That's what I'm saying. Do you remember being in school and they were like, oh, we have a new kid. And you were like, I'm going to find them and befriend them immediately. I would do that with the newcomers in town.

Yeah. I'd be like, I will sit with them at lunch. Like, let's be friends newcomers. Come on. It gets people excited to be like, oh, I'm just, yeah, look at me, I'm industrious. Welcome to me to your town. I'm new in town.

I'm new in town. You get to John Mulaney it. That would new in town. I'm new in town. He gets a John Millenia. That would be so fun. Yeah, I love it. I think we should write to our town. I think it's adorable. Unfortunately, this didn't last very long because Elmer struggles to keep things good for himself.

He's a self-sabotager. It happens to the best of us. It didn't take long for him to squander the opportunities presented to him by the people of viola. Not long after he came into town, he did find work as a plumber, but within a couple months, his alcoholism reared its ugly head and started causing trouble. According to McCurdy's former employer, William root, after a long night of drinking at a local saloon, Elmer claimed that he had killed a man during a bar fight in another state. And rumors started swirling. He did confront him about this and was like, dude, you kill someone? Did you like kill someone? Because like you can't work for me. And he

was like, no, I didn't. I was just like, boasting. I was just shooting something up. But he had to let him go. I was just boasting about murder. Yeah, you know, like, that's that's bad too. So McCurdy left Kansas in 1905 and hopped a freight car, eventually winding up in Webb City, Missouri. Missouri. Missouri. Webb City was also experiencing a boom in industry and population, thanks to the discovery of the world's largest zinc deposit located underneath the town.

Elmer got a job with the Davy Mine Company. At a time when safety standards were lax, if not completely absent, like just totally gone, there were a few dangerous jobs around, but none quite as dangerous as being a fucking miner. Get the black lung pop. Yeah, you're going to... One could make a decent enough living as a miner because like... Yeah, because you could die tomorrow. Yeah, it's a trade off. The trade off's not great.

We'll pay you if you show up back from the mine. If you live through it. Right. Cave-ins were very common too. Oh, God. McCurdy was on a team of muckers, the men who would collect the loose and chipped pieces of zinc into a cart and haul them back up to the surface. The salary was about $2 a day.

The work would have been very grueling, very backbreaking, and it would require him to shovel about 60 to 100 tons of ore into the cart by hand. To make matters worse, the conditions were not ideal. According to Svenvold, men were crushed by rockfall or blown to bits by overzealous applications of dynamite a lot. Whoa.

Also, because hard hats had not been invented yet, head injuries were pretty common. Stop it. In order to try to stop these, the miners were pretty industrious themselves. They would wad up newspapers under their hats to like cushion the blow, essentially inventing hard hats. So good on them.

But there were also other unexpected effects. There was like endless amounts of zinc dust that was hanging in the air all the time from the drilling and blasting. When breathed in for extended periods of time, zinc caused silicosis or miner's consumption. It's a scarring of the lung tissue that would eventually lead to death. Ooh, that's horrible. Yeah. And after less than two years in the mines, Elmer McCurdy had developed a terrible cough. He was short of breath a lot. He constantly struggled with lung irritations. They were

pretty debilitating and it would stop him from doing his job eventually. So that really wasn't his fault. Yeah, no, not at all. So he couldn't earn a living in the mines anymore. And he was having trouble. He went right back to like alcohol and but his savings were dwindling. So he joined the US Army in November 1907. And he was assigned to company E third infantry stationed at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

So on his enlistment papers, he his previous occupation was listed as minor, not plumber. And he had way more experience as a plumber and he was much more skilled as a plumber. Maybe because of that, he was assigned to a program that trained soldiers in demolition, specifically with various forms of explosives. In addition to his training with explosives, he served as a machine gun detachment person and generally flew under the, I don't know what they're called. Artillerymen. Yeah, sure.

And flew under the radar pretty much for three years. And in the spring of 1910, he was given an honorable discharge after his initial term, and he chose not to renew his contract. And he was like, you know what, I have some other ways that I can make a living. Like that was nice, fun little thing I did for three years. So he left the military and he was going to look for a new job, but there was still that whole recession thing. So competition was pretty stiff still.

After about two weeks of unemployment, he sent a telegram to his army buddy, Walter Schoepelary. And he asked him to get a few days of leave to help him with a job. So Walter managed to get a week long pass from the base and joined McCurdy in St. Joseph, Kansas. On the night of November 19th, 1910, Elmer, McCurdy and Walter were walking down the main street in St. Joseph, Kansas, when they were stopped by three special officers for Burlington train line.

At the time, it was pretty common practice in many towns for officers to stop unfamiliar men who they suspected of being like drifters or some nefarious kind of, you know, suspects of something. So they stopped them and they questioned them. And then the officers noticed the large heavy bag that Elmer was carrying. The officers insisted he open it and they looked in and found that the bag contained a four screw, a door jimmy, assorted drills and hacksaws, chisels, a nitroglycerine funnel, gunpowder and a gunpowder funnel. Just your typical what's in my bag. Yeah, what's in my bag? Get ready with me.

These were all tools that were commonly used by burglars and bank robbers at the time. Yeah. So Elmer and Walter couldn't super explain why they were carrying such hefty quantities of burglar tools. I just love screwdrivers. But they were like nefarious, we are not. But they were like, okay, cool. What are you? And they were like, not sure. Not nefarious. Can't explain it. But we aren't nefarious. We are unnefarious. But the officers could see right through that shit. And in the affidavit filed for their arrest, the officers asserted that the men were in possession of quote, mechanical devices adapted, designed and commonly used for breaking into

vaults and safes. Oh no. Just two weeks out of the army and Elmer has already been arrested. Damn, only two weeks. Worse than that, he was facing felony charges that carried a sentence of between two and 10 years in prison. Yikes. Broke and unable to find either a lawyer or a decent explanation for why he was carrying

burglar equipment, he concocted a new plan. On November 23rd, the day of his court date, Elmer wore his US Army uniform and headed into court. No. So Elmer explained that no, he was not carrying the tools of a common burglar. What was he carrying? It's like, come on! He said they were parts to an invention that he and Walter were trying to patent.

A machine gun tripod that allowed the user to fire the gun with his... foot. Innovative. Elmer went as far as to ask for a continuance so he could subpoena his commanding officer, Captain Charles Murphy, who he claimed would testify to the veracity of these claims. You're not in the army anymore. Yeah. So everyone in the court was like, that's bullshit. Like, I am sure of that.

And unfortunately, I think he like overplayed, no, I know he overplayed his hand here because he actually subpoenaed Captain Charles Murphy. And I don't think he thought this would go further than that. I thought he would just be like, you know, kind of like bluff and they would be fine. But to come Elmer McCurdy surprise when the arraignment resumed a few days later, Captain Murphy appeared in court and he explained those bits of metal would have absolutely no use in any machine gun of mine. Yikes. In response, Elmer McCurdy jumped up from

his seat and lunged at Captain Murphy and had to be restrained by the officers in the court. This outburst with the fact that Elmer was clearly lying about the tripod machine gun that you could use with your foot was sufficient enough evidence for the judge to return an indictment and a trial was scheduled for January 1911. Like his ejection from Iola society a few years earlier the arrest and indictment in st Joseph was definitely another turning point for Elmer McCurdy. It was yet another experience That made him just think you know what? I don't belong in the polite society

I belong amongst the criminals the criminals as Elmer sat in jail awaiting his trial He started making friends with the other inmates because he's Elmer. You know, you gotta shoot the shit out of him. He's gonna talk to you. You gotta do something. Talk to him. Including a man named Walter Jarrett.

At the time of Elmer's arrest, Jarrett was serving a short prison sentence for a petty burglary conviction, but he also had some experience robbing banks and had served longer sentences in the past. So he was like, not to brag. Kind of a career criminal. Like many men his age, Jarrett had, Jarrett had grown up idolizing the outlaws of the old west, you know, Jesse James, the Dalton brothers, men who had like bucked modern society standards and made a living, you know, just robbing.

Shooting. And being violent. And riding horses. Exactly. And once he was grown, Walter Jarrett was determined to be just like his childhood heroes, which landed him in jail a lot. So it was Jarrett who convinced Elmer McCurdy that if he was able to get out of his current predicament, you know, the two men, Jarrett and he, they could experience, you know, they could maybe like do something together. Like he's like, I can rob banks.

Like I've done that. He said, let's collab. And he's like, and you Elmer McCurdy, we could do a really good collab here because I think you can explode things. Okay, he said, post for post. Like you went, you went in the army and you learned how to blow stuff up.

That's pretty good for a bank robbery. Yeah. So they were like, let's do this. First Elmer needed, he was like, you know, at first deal with the charges against you and then we'll, we'll talk. We'll go from there. Inspired by the hit, Wondery podcast Against the Odds comes the gripping guidebook, How to Survive Against the Odds, Tales and Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters.

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when faced with a situation that is truly against the odds. Go to www.survivalguidebook.com to get your copy of How to Survive Against the Odds Today, or visit your favorite bookstore. ["The Last Post"] today, or visit your favorite bookstore. So on January 30th, 1911, Elmer McCurdy's case went before a jury in what everyone assumed was going to be a pretty fucking short trial. But within the first day, it seemed like things might actually be working in Elmer's favor. The prosecutor was only able to find one person who would testify

against his machine gun defense, but when that witness was shown the tools McCurdy was arrested with, he couldn't identify them as being the tools of a burglar or bank robber either. Alright. Like basically like, I can't say they are and I can't say they aren't. He said they're just tools. Also, Elmer was able to find US Army officials who were willing to testify that McCurdy, quote, was the best damn soldier in the whole damned army. Wow.

Yeah. What a compliment. In the end, it all came down to a matter of reasonable doubt. And it's, I mean, nobody knows if the jury actually believed the tripod machine gun claim. But the prosecution was unable to prove that the tools were like a bank heist toolkit. And he was acquitted of the charges. Okay, Elmer. Yeah.

Following the acquittal, Elmer was free to go and immediately sought out Walter Jarrett to begin their life of crime. Let's go. Yeah. And by then, Jarrett had already talked up Elmer to his brothers, particularly his experience in exploding things. In the spring, the gang broke into a general store in Oklahoma and stole the ammunition his brothers, particularly his experience in exploding things. In the spring, the gang broke into a general store in Oklahoma and stole the ammunition

and tools they needed for their first big job, which was robbing the St. Louis Iron Mountain train. On a routine mail run in April, the gang caused a disturbance on the tracks, which forced the train to come to a stop. Once the train was stopped, the gang opened fire, showering the express car in a hail of bullets. As the passengers of the train panicked, the Jarrett brothers entered the engine car and held the engineer at gunpoint. In the meantime, Elmer entered the express car to blow the safe up. That's where there would have been this large sum of money. Unfortunately, Elmer turned out to be, you know, less of an expert than they were expecting

because remember, he went into the army with lots of experience in plumbing, you know, like he could plumb. Yeah. He wasn't that great with explosives. They just were like, sure, let's have you blow shit up. Okay. So he was not great. And the men returned to the train car to find that the explosives had been unsuccessful

in opening the safe. But determined, because Elmer, we will find out, is nothing if not determined. Okay. He tried again, but he was still unable to blow it up. Likely because he had no idea what he was doing. Yes. For more than two hours, the train sat motionless on the track as the inept robbers repeatedly tried and failed

to blow the safe open. Two hours? Meemaw, the passengers are sitting there, just watching these bumbling idiots try to open this safe. Two hours is a long time. Finally, after an unreasonable long period of time, Elmer was able to get the door to the safe open. I think I could have done it faster.

Exactly, but by that time, he'd blown an enormous hole in the side of one of the train cars. What? And destroyed the interior of another. And then when they entered the car to grab the $4,000 in silver coins that was awaiting them inside the safe. And was that blown up too? They discovered that the explosives had been so hot that it fused all the coins into a

single shiny mass of silver. And that single shiny blob of silver was stuck to the inside of the walls and floor of the safe. It's a real bang up job. The men tried desperately to pry this loose. And when then they saw the lights of an approaching car, so they just had to run. And they just stole some of the passengers watches on the way out.

I love that they were like, well, we got to do something. Give me a watch. I need something. I would honestly be like, okay, you need it more than I do. I feel like, you know what? You want my earrings too. I'd be like, you okay, you need it more than I do. I'd be like, you know what? You want my earrings too. I'd be like, you tried your best.

Wow. Wow. Wow. First you do not succeed. Try for two hours. So following that robbery, if you could call it that, Elmer McCurdy and Walter Jarrett were immediately identified as the suspects and a thousand dollar reward was offered

for the capture of either of them. All the mistakes were laid at their feet. And like they were like there. And honestly, it was laid mostly at their supposed explosives expert. And the gang made no secret that they were pissed. Not long after the failed heist, a knife fight broke out between McCurdy

and Jarrett. Elmer got a deep cut on his arm and Walter's face was slashed. The resentment ended up ruining the relationship between the gang and McCurdy, and they went their separate ways. After just a few months though, Jarrett's gang was all rounded up and prosecuted for their crimes, and Elmer was remaining at large because they cut him loose. On the run. ended up and prosecuted for their crimes and Elmer was remaining at large because they cut him loose. On the run. Yeah. As a criminal now on the run, Elmer passed himself off as several different aliases like

Charles Davis, Frank Curtis, and that's the one he used in September 1911. No longer in the company of hardened bandits, he was definitely still determined to make his name as an outlaw. He wasn't ready to quit, you know? And by late September, he'd hooked up with a new criminal outfit and formulated a new plan to get rich. Let's go. On the night of October 6th, 1911, McCurdy and his new gang stopped Katie train number

29 near Ocasca, a small town in Northeast Oklahoma. The gang had heard a rumor that the train was carrying $400,000 and it was supposed to be delivered to Osage Registration in exchange for oil. And they set their sights on that money. That's a lot of money. Now determined to make up for the last failure, Elmer volunteered to take point. He was like, I don't want to make up for this. Yeah.

And after stopping the train on the tracks, Elmer set about decoupling the engine and the express cars from the other cars So that you ride the train further down the tracks and make off with the money Okay at first things were going great the train stopped they were able to get the cars unhooked moving again. No problem But when the gang went to the express car to collect their loot They discovered that Elmer had uncoupled the wrong car. And they'd left the car with the safe miles behind them. So instead of getting $400,000, the car they'd stolen only had about $45 inside. They were pretty pissed. Deeply disappointed. The gang split up and went their separate ways. But not before Elmer stole the conductor's watch and a bottle of whiskey. I

Love that. They all literally in that moment. They were pissed They were disappointed and then they all just went fuck y'all and they all just went different ways and Elmer stole Whiskey and a watch and was like peace. Yeah, so now separated from the gang and he's walking on his own now Just left that whole shenanigans. On a sad boy walk. Oh yeah, true sad boy walk. Elmer fled into the Osage Hills, but the law, the law wasn't far behind. The long arm of the law.

The longest arm of the law. The area where McCurdy had fled proved far more difficult to traverse than he'd expected. Not only was he completely unfamiliar with this region, but it was dense with thickets and ravines. And he was also drinking whiskey the whole time. So he was sloppy drunk. Or, or. He's not only moving slowly, but he's doing absolutely nothing to cover up his tracks

as he goes, because he's just lit. And he's probably not being quiet. In fact, at one point he dropped the completely dropped the whole empty whiskey bottle on the ground, which gave the bloodhounds that were following him an opportunity to renew their scent. Oh no. In short time, the sheriff's posse caught up with Elmer at a farm along the big Caney river where he was hiding out in a barn.

It was nighttime by them. And when they approached the barn, they found him sleeping in a large in a barn. It was night time by them and when they approached the barn they found him sleeping in a large pile of hay. He just passed right out. I mean yeah you would after a bottle of whiskey. So they were worried about losing him in the darkness if they had like just jumped on him so they just waited there until daylight to make the arrest and at about 7 a.m. the next morning, they're like yeah he's not going anywhere. Three deputies approached the barn door making noise. So they woke him up from his sleep. And when Elmer looked through the hole, he saw them

and he didn't hesitate. He just opened fire on them. Oh, fuck. Yeah. Bob Fenton later said, he took a shot at me first. Then he took a shot at Stringer. After that, he took three shots at Wallace before we opened fire.

God. Elmer McCurdy had proven a poor explosives expert and as it turns out, he wasn't that great with a rifle either. All five shots McCurdy took at the men standing less than 10 feet away from him missed. Elmer. The deputies retreated somewhat and for about an hour the group traded gunfire until finally one of the shots found its target hitting Elmer in the chest. And it sent the bullet, obviously ricocheting into his hip, where it would later be discovered decades later by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. So the posse collected Elmer's body and brought it back to Pawhuska with them.

That is a fun town. Right? Where they handed it over to the owner of Johnson's, the local funeral parlor. Knowing that no one was going gonna come claim the body, the undertaker saw an opportunity to make some money. So he treated the body with an arsenic compound, creating the situation that would allow the body to be mummified over time.

And after that, Elmer was stored in the back room of Johnson's where the proprietor charged a nickel for people to come look at him as he was billed as the bandit who wouldn't give up. What? You know, that's so nice. They're like, he tried, tried, tried again. You know what he did?

He was a little bended who could. He was, toot toot. Who really couldn't, but. Pay a nickel, you can see the bandit that wouldn't give up. Dang. To the undertaker's surprise, five years later, a man came into the funeral parlor saying he was McCurdy's long lost brother. What? And he tearfully begged to the undertaker's surprise, five years later, a man came into the funeral parlor saying he was McCurdy's long lost brother. What?

And he tearfully begged the undertaker to give Elmer's body back to him so he could give him a proper burial. That's fake as fuck. Not wanting to run afoul of the law, the undertaker was like, absolutely, you can have the body. Take your brother. It was only later that he learned that this long lost brother was in fact the owner of the traveling carnival who tricked him into handing over his side show star. Trickery. And so it was that Elmer McCurdy entered the carnival and sideshow circuit getting passed from one traveling show to another until he finally ended up hanging in the laugh in the

dark ride at the Pike in Long Beach. Curly Pop. That was a tale. For the most of his life, he had tried and failed to make a name for himself, first as an upstanding member of society, then as a hardened bandit and train robber. But it was in his death that he finally achieved the notoriety that he felt he deserved. Once all the paperwork had been signed and filed after he was discovered, Elmer McCurdy's body was released to the Oklahoma Historical Society

and the Indian Territory Posse of Westerners. That's the name of it. And in April 1977, Elmer McCurdy was finally laid to rest at Boothill Cemetery in Guthrie, Oklahoma, 66 years after a bullet fired from the Osage County Sheriff's Deputy ended his life. Wow. And that is the tale of Elmer McCurdy, the outlaw mummy. Sister. Sister. What a journey we just took together.

I think that story slaps. That is a slap of a story. Wild tale. I think Elmer is a character. Yeah, I would say so. I feel bad for his beginnings, because I think it really colored the rest of his life. And it looks like he got, you know, you feel,

you're like, he got into the cups, and it took him away from being an upstanding member of society. And he just couldn't catch a break. Yeah, don't be dragging him. And he just wasn't good. And he wasn't even good at being bad. That's the thing. I don't think he was meant to be a bad. Yeah, don't be dragging him. And he just wasn't good. And he wasn't even good at being bad. That's the thing.

I don't think he was meant to be a bad guy. He was destined to be good. Yeah, he was destined to just like be Elmer, you know? Yeah, just be a cool plumber. But it's sad what happened to him after. I know, it is sad. And it's really wild that that was able to happen for so long. Sure is.

What a world. Yeah, that's the tale. Well. Crazy tale. With that being said, we hope you keep listening. And you should because that's a crazy tale. There's more where that came from. And we hope you keep it weird.

But not so weird as Alma. As Alma. As Alma. Come on. Don't keep it so weird as Alma. That's crazy. That guy's a freaking crazy guy. A freaking crazy guy. A freaking crazy guy. I'm going to go to the bathroom. If you like morbid, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts.

Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. Last year, long crime brought you the trial that captivated the nation. She's accused of hitting her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe with her car. Karen Reed is arrested and charged with second degree murder. The six week trial resulted in anything but resolution. We continue to find ourselves at an impasse.

I'm declaring a mistrial in this case. But now the case is back in the spotlight and one question still lingers. Did Karen Reed kill John O'Keefe? The evidence is overwhelming that Karen Reed is innocent. How does it feel to be a cop killer, Karen? I'm Kristin Thorn, investigative reporter with Law and Crime and host of the podcast, Karen, the Retrial. This isn't just a retrial. It's a second chance at the truth.

I have nothing to hide. My life is in the balance, and it shouldn't be. I just want people to go back to who the victim is in this. It's not her. Listen to episodes of Karen, The Retrial, exclusively and ad-free on Wondery+.