On this day, Jan. 7, in 1901, confessed cannibal Alferd Packer was paroled. In April 1874, Packer emerged alone from a gold mining expedition in the Rocky Mountains, suspiciously fit after a brutal Colorado winter.
Packer explained that he lost the other five men in a blizzard, but later confessed that four miners had died naturally and the starving survivors ate them. He later changed his story to say Shannon Bell had killed the other four with a hatchet, and Packer shot Bell in self-defense and eventually ate his corpse to survive.
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Packer was convicted of manslaughter and spent 18 years behind bars before his parole. He died at age 65, reportedly a vegetarian.
The Packer legend lives on. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, during a dispute over its contract with cafeteria workers, unveiled a brass plaque naming its executive cafeteria the Alferd Packer Memorial Grill. The plaque was moved and displayed at the member’s-only bar at The National Press Club. The Press Club’s hamburger is called the “Alferd Packer Burger.”
– Scott McCabe
