On this day, Jan. 7, in 1901, confessed cannibal Alferd Packer was paroled on a manslaughter conviction after the disappearance of a gold mining expedition. In April 1874, Packer was the lone miner to emerge from the Rocky Mountains, suspiciously fit after a brutal Colorado winter.
Packer said he lost five other prospectors in a blizzard, but later admitted killing Shannon Wilson Bell out of self-defense. He claimed Bell had killed and cannibalized their fellow miners.
Packer spent 18 years behind bars before his parole. He died at age 65, reportedly a vegetarian.
The Packer legend lives. The Department of Agriculture unveiled a brass plaque naming one of its cafeteria the Alferd G. Packer Memorial Grill. The plaque was moved and displayed at a bar at the National Press Club. The bar’s burger was named the Alferd Packer.
Scott McCabe
