Providentia

A Tale of Two Books

Since 1258 when Pope Alexander IV first called for the prosecution of witches as heretics, the Church wholeheartedly accepted its role in stamping out witchcraft across Europe. Despite growing Protestant opposition to the persecutions, the Inquisition persisted in the arrest and prosecution of those suspected of witchcraft (usually women). Despite papal bulls and official Church pronouncements, there continued to be active dissent over how witches could be properly identified. It was only in the 15th century, when Heinrich Kramer first wrote what would later be known as the Malleus Maleficarum (the Witches' Hammer), that a true handbook for witch hunters became available. Kramer had been an active witch hunter in Austria whose anti-witch activities had been actively suppressed by the local bishop. Along with his colleague James Spenger, Kramer later arranged for a papal bull in 1484 to support their writings and their own witch-hunting efforts.

Many theologians actually opposed the Malleus at first since they viewed Kramer's methods as being unethical and illegal. Although Kramer was denounced by the Inquisition in 1490, his public lectures and widespread popularity of his handbook led to its formal acceptance. We can probably thank Johannes Gutenberg for the popularity of the Malleus since the invention of movable type made the book widely available across Europe. Between 1487 and 1520 alone, it was reprinted thirteen times and the anti-witch persecutions began in earnest.

The Witches' Hammer is divided into three sections: the first section addresses the "mistaken" belief that witchcraft didn't exist. Kramer and Spenger were emphatic in linking witchcraft to sexuality (primarily female sexuality). Since women were more "concerned with things of the flesh than men" and "all witchcraft comes from carnal lust", women were especially susceptible to the Devil's temptations. The second section deals with the powers that witches possess and how they recruit others to join them in their forbidden practices. Witches gained their power by signing their souls to Satan and their actions automatically made them blasphemers who betrayed God. The final section deals with the procedures to be following in "proving" witches and their punishment. Kramer and Spenger laid out a careful description of methods of questioning suspected witches (including different forms of torture), gathering evidence against witches, and the formal charges to be used.

The book provides a thorough guide to the psychological intimidation tactics used against accused witches. Not only did the book recommend telling witches about the tortures they would face if they didn't confess freely, but also promising worse tortures as the questioning continued. As Kramer and Spenger wrote, "And, while he is being tortured, he [the witch]- must be questioned on the articles of accusation, and this frequently and persistently, beginning with the lighter charges-for he will more readily confess the lighter than the heavier. And, while this is being done, the notary must write down everything in his record of the trial--how the prisoner is tortured, on what points he is questioned, and how he answers." Any evidence obtained through torture was perfectly valid and judges were also permitted to lie to the accused by promising them leniency if they confessed. The authors also instructed jailers to stay with the accused witch at all times, otherwise "she will be visited by the Devil and tempted into suicide."

And now we come to the other book...

Reginald Scot was no Heinrich Kramer. Born in 1538, there is very little known about his life except that he came from an old English family and enjoyed caring for his  beloved hop gardens (he also wrote a book on hop farming). While he seemed like an unlikely rebel against the witch mania that gripped Europe, Scot was moved to act after seeing fourteen women in a nearby village being tried for witchcraft in 1582. After researching how evidence was gathered and used against accused witches, Scot eventually published his findings in 1584 as The Discoverie of Witchcraft. Due to the book's controversial nature, Scot was forced to publish it himself.In his book, Scot argued against the existence of witches and and denounced the prosecution of suspected witches as irrational and "contrary to Christian doctrine".  He also raised the novel suggestion that anyone claiming to be a witch was actually deluded and needed to be "guided in their religious faith" rather than executed.

Scot railed against the Malleus Maleficarum and "witchhunters" in general, stating that "because it may appear unto the world what treacherous and faithless dealings, what extreme and intolerable tyranny, what gross and foolish absurdities, what unnatural and uncivil discourtesy, what cankered and spiteful malice, what outrageous and barbarous cruelty… what abominable and devilish inventions, and what flat and plain knavery is practiced against these old women, I will set down the whole order of the Inquisition, to the everlasting, inexcusable, and apparent shame of all witch-mongers”. What made Discoverie even more remarkable was that Scot also denounced various popular superstitions including astrology, divination, charms, and witches' sabbats.He even provided a description of "harmless" conjuring tricks that were often linked with witchcraft. Not only did this make his book one of the first true classics of skepticism, but Scot is also credited with one of the earliest known treatises on stage magic.

It should hardly be surprising that the leading theologians and demonologists of Scot's time denounced his book.& Unfortunately,his greatest critic was King James VI of Scotland (later King James I of England). A Protestant convert who took witchcraft very seriously, the King's reign in Scotland was marked by some of the worst witch hunts in British history (James had personally authorized the use of torture and burnings in dealing with witches). His Royal Displeasure with Reginald Scot's book was all too apparent and, when he became King of England in 1603, James ordered all copies to be burned. It was just as well that Reginald Scot died in 1599 since he likely would have been prosecuted for his beliefs. Only a few copies survived King James' purge although the Discoverie would be heavily plagiarized in later centuries.

With critics like Scot being effectively silenced, the Malleus Maleficarum would be the primary reference for witch hunters and judges alike in dealing with accused witches for more than two centuries after it was published. Between 1480 and 1700, an estimated 40,000 (some historians put the number much higher) of convicted witches and heretics (mostly women) were executed across Europe and its various colonies. While it's easy to regard the witch trials as being a thing of the past,episodes of witch hysteria continue to occur around the world. 

The witch hunters aren't out of business yet.

When Men Harass

A study in the March 2009 issue of Journal of Applied Psychology demonstrated relations between men's perceptions of organizational justice and increased inclination towards sexual harassment. The researchers used a sample of 110 male employees of different companies in Switzerland. They were assessed with a battery of measures examining attitudes towards women, organizational policies, and personality traits. Respondents reported higher likelihood to sexually harass under conditions of low interactional justice, suggesting that sexual harassment likelihood may increase as a response to perceived injustice. The relation between justice and sexual harassment tendencies was especially marked for men low in agreeableness and high in hostile sexism. This finding is consistent with an interactionist perspective, suggesting that individual differences in hostility in general and toward women in particular affect how a person reacts to perceived unfairness. The authors discuss their results in terms of the study's limitations and the need for additional research into harassment.

For more information.

Chinese Parents Boiled Man's Head in Soup As a Folk Remedy for Daughter's Psychiatric Problems

By all accounts, Lin Zomgxiu and her husband Luo Tianhu were desperate.

Living in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan with their twenty-five year old daughter, they had been coping with the daughter's chronic psychiatric problems for the past seven years. The stigma surrounding mental illness remains especially strong in China, especially in the rural areas with few treatment resources available. In 2008, Lin Zomgxiu reportedly heard of a folk remedy for mental illness that involved feeding the victim a soup made from a man's head. Hoping to cure their daughter, the couple solicited the help of an acquaintance to find the necessary ingredients for the remedy.

Last December, the acquaintance attacked a passing 76-year old man who had been intoxicated. The body was beheaded and the upper part of the head was then boiled in a stew (apparently duck meat was added to mask the taste). Chinese authorities arrested the parents and their accomplice and has court has since sentenced the accomplice to death for committing the murder. The death sentence carries a two-year reprieve and may be commuted to life imprisonment. Lin Zomgxiu has been sentenced for destroying evidence, including the victim's bloody clothes and shoes.

The daughter's reaction on discovering the ingredients of the folk remedy her parents provided has not been recorded.

For more information.

The Scott Panetti Case

On September 8, 1992, Scott Louis Panetti shaved his head, dressed in military fatigues, and drove to his in-laws' Fredericksburg, Texas home where his wife and daughter were staying.  After breaking into the home, he shot his wife's parents at close range.  Amanda and Joe Alvarado died at the scene.  He then took his wife and daughter hostage and forced them to come to his bunkhouse.  When police later surrounded the building, Panetti released both hostages unharmed.  He then changed into a suit and surrendered.  He would later say that his in-laws had forced one of his several personalities, "Sarge", to come out and kill them.  He also added that, due to divine intervention, his victims didn't suffer. 

Scott Panetti's psychosis apparently began when he was a teenager in his native state of Texas.  Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, he was first hospitalized in 1981 and his bizarre behaviour and delusions would lead to multiple hospitalizations over the next eleven years.  In one psychotic episode in 1986, Panetti became convinced that the devil was taunting him and he attempted to slash the walls of his family home to exorcise the demonic influence.  He also buried his family's furniture believing that the "devil was in it" and nailed the house curtains shut for fear that the neighbours would film him.  In 1986 alone, he was hospitalized nine times for periods ranging from four to forty-four days. 

Panetti's case was complicated by his refusal to take psychiatric medication and frequent threats made against family members (especially his wife and her parents).  Between 1981 and 1992, he would be hospitalized eleven times (always involuntarily) with his last release being in August of 1992. Due to his drinking and abusive behaviour, Scott Panetti's wife left her husband and took her daughter to live with her parents, .  She also obtained a restraining order against her husband. 

As you might expect, the murders and the psychiatric issues involved triggered a media frenzy.  Two competency hearings were held in the Panetti case.   The first hearing, held in July 1994, ended in a mistrial when the jury failed to reach a verdict.  Prior to the second hearing, held in September of that same year, his lawyer reported that Panetti had been unable to instruct him in any useful way due to his delusional thinking.  Despite a psychiatric report presented by the prosecution confirming the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, Scott Panetti was found fit to stand trial. 

And it was quite a trial...

While in the Bell County Jail waiting for his capital hearing to begin, Scott Panetti discontinued all psychiatric medication.  He stated that he no longer needed any medication since he was a "Gnostic Nazarene who had been spiritually healed".  He also accused his attorneys of conspiring against him with the police and the prosecutor.  When his September 1995 trial began, he waived all right to counsel and insisted on representing himself.  Despite objections from his family, defense counsel, and even the prosecuting attorney, his request was granted.  By all accounts, Scott Panetti's defense was bizarre (to say the least).  He dressed in cowboy style during the course of the trial, complete with cowboy hat, bandanna, and cowboy style shirts.  The presentations that he gave in his defense were rambling and frequently incoherent.  He attempted to subpoena hundreds of witnesses, including Jesus Christ, John F. Kennedy, Anne Bancroft and a host of others.  Various observers to the trial commented on the judge's willingness to let Panetti ramble on.  One attorney who had been called as a witness by Panetti later commented that "The courtroom had the atmosphere of a circus. The judge just seemed to let Scott run free with his irrational questions and courtroom antics".  

Largely due to his long and incoherent rambles, the jury sentenced Scott Panetti to death on September 22, 1995.  Members of the jury had been intimidated by Panetti's strange presentation and were frightened by the prospect of his eventual release.  Since being placed on death row, Scott Panetti has consistently refused to take psychiatric medication and his attorneys have been fighting his execution on the grounds of his mental illness.   Under the 1986 Ford versus Wainwright Supreme Court ruling, persons deemed unable to understand the reality or reason for their punishment can not be executed.  Despite psychiatric evidence establishing Panetti's mental illness, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the execution order on the grounds that he was sufficiently competent to recognize the purpose of his punishment.

In the spring of 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Scott Panetti's favour in a 5-4 decision.  The Supreme Court decision sent the case back to the Federal District Court for resolution.  An evidentiary hearing was conducted before Judge Sam Sparks on February 6 2008 to evaluate the defendant's mental capacity.  On March 26, Federal Judge Sparks ruled that Scott Panetti was competent to be executed.  In his ruling, the judge concluded that "Panetti was mentally ill when he committed his crime and continues to be mentally ill today. However, he has both a factual and rational understanding of his crime, his impending death, and the causal retributive connection between the two. Therefore, if any mentally ill person is competent to be executed for his crimes, this record establishes it is Scott Panetti."

Despite numerous appeals and petitions (including one filed by his ex-wife and the daughter of the victims), Scott Panetti remains on death row. No formal execution date has been set.  

For more information.

From Bad to Mad

I just got into Edinburgh and I'm still getting settled into the conference while fighting off jet lag. So far, I've listened to a fascinating presentation on a topic that I've been meaning to write about for a while. Beginning in 1991 when Kansas became the first U.S. state to allow indefinite confinement of sex offenders, civil commitment legislation has been increasingly used to force convicted sex offenders into psychiatric facilities following the end of their prison terms. Although classifying sex offenders as mentally ill has an old history, psychiatric hospitals have been left scrambling to deal with influx of sex offenders for which they were poorly prepared. States that have adopted Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) laws include Illinois, Arizona, California, Minnesota, Washington, Texas, New York, Virginia, and many others.

Typically, SVP laws tend to have three components: conviction for a sexually violent offense, presence of a mental disorder, and substantial likelihood that the offender will engage in sexual violence in future. Offenses that have led to SVP status include sexual assault (involving a child or adult) or other types of violent crime with a sexual component. Mental disorders (defined as a "congenital or acquired condition affecting capacity that predisposes a person to engage in acts of sexual violence") can include diagnoses such as pedophilia, personality disorder, or Sexual Sadism. Persons held under SVP acts are substantially different from the patients usually found in mental health settings. While the clinicians giving the presentation assured me that there was little real conflict between the civilly committed sex offenders and the conventional psychiatric patients, I'm finding that hard to believe (and many jurisdictions are starting to segregate the two populations).

The commitment process seems pretty much the same for all jurisdictions with a pre-screening phase in which convicted sex offenders are reviewed for SVP eligibility. Eligible sex offenders are then given a psychological assessment including clinical interview, psychometric testing, and actuarial measures of re offense risk. Once the psychologist makes the recommendation for SVP status, the Attorney General then files a petition with the civil court for probable cause. If the probable cause hearing is successful, a new hearing is conducted with state and defense evaluators providing opinions regarding SVP criteria. After a court determines that an offender is an SVP, they are indefinitely committed with their status being reevaluated on a regular basis (usually once a year). In all reevaluation hearings, the burden of proof is very much on the offender to demonstrate that they are a manageable risk in the community.

While all SVP treatment programs are considered voluntary, treatment participation is one of the factors that are taken into consideration during reevaluation hearings and SVPs who don't participate are rarely released. Treatment usually consists of group and individual sessions focusing on relapse prevention and cognitive behavioural therapy.  Many committed sex offenders are also placed on medication to lower their sex drive (usually leuprolide acetate). Offenders with special needs (i.e. learning disorders or psychiatric issues) receive addi tonal treatment resources. 

Constitutional challenges to SVP legislation have been largely unsuccessful despite concerns about double jeopardy and ex post facto law. A 1997 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of preventative long-term confinement of "mentally disordered" persons. Despite some victories by psychiatric organizations opposing civil commitment as well as the imposing of lengthier prison sentences for sex offenders, the use of psychiatric hospitals to hold SVPs after the end of their sentence is likely to continue.

Eiffel Tower Suicide Under Investigation

A 25 year old Brazilian tourist is in hospital with extreme shock after failing to stop his sister from throwing herself off of Paris' Eiffel Tower. The still unnamed 18-year old woman apparently broke through a security barrier and threw herself over a railing from the landmark's second tier. She fell onto the plastic roof of the tower's first floor restaurant where patrons were still eating. A waiter in the restaurant said that the sound of her falling on the roof was "like a bomb going off as the roof cracked, then everyone there very quickly realised what had happened. But the most bizarre thing was, most of the customers just carried on eating. I have no idea why they did that."

The Eiffel Tower attracts over six million tourists a year with an estimated four or five suicides annually. Security barriers and netting have been erected on the Tower's upper levels to prevent attempts. An investigation is continuing and the name of the victim will not be released until her family is informed.

The Alchemist

Alchemy has a very long history. First believed to have been practiced in Ancient Persia, the ancient dream of endless wealth and immortality has enticed practitioners for thousands of years. While attempts to transmute lead into gold or create the elixir of life have always ended in failure, the lure was enough to entice famous scientists such as Roger Bacon, Tycho Brahe and Isaac Newton to give it a try. Still, by the 18th century, there was enough skepticism for alchemy to be dismissed as a fantasy by the scientific community.

Which brings us to James Price...

Born in 1752, his original name was actually Higginbotham but he changed it to Price when a wealthy relative left him a legacy. After distinguishing himself at Oxford by earning various degrees, he became a member of the Royal Society at the age of 29. Although Price seemed set for an eminent career in science, he began to concentrate a more unconventional line of research: transmuting base metals into precious metals (particularly turning mercury into gold). As I've already mentioned, whatever respect alchemists claimed in previous centuries had long since evaporated by Price's time.; After telling a few of his friends that he had been successful in his strange research, Price became the subject of some fearful whispering among fellow chemists. It was this public skepticism that caused Price to begin a series of public demonstrations of his transmutation process. The process centered on a special "powder of production" that could transform mercury and other base metals into gold or silver "under special circumstances". He conducted seven public experiments beginning on on May 6, 1782 and ended on May 25th. With various peers, baronets, clergymen and chemists in attendance, Price mixed borax, nitre, mercury, and other assorted chemicals and produced small amounts of gold and silver that he later presented to King George III.

The initial reaction was certainly positive. Oxford University bestowed a Doctor of Medicine degree on Price and there was tremendous demand for the written account of his experiments. Anyone remembering the cold fusion debacle a few years back can appreciate the tremendous enthusiasm resulting from the news of Price's discovery. The notion of endless wealth being produced for England through alchemy was certainly intoxicating (setting aside the fact that gold was mainly valuable because it was scarce). Since James Price was a respected and wealthy scientist who came from a distinguished family, the possibility that he might have faked his results seemed unthinkable.

Unfortunately for Price, the Royal Society remained skeptical.They insisted that Price repeat his experiments under controlled conditions to rule out the possibility of error. Price's hesitation made them even more suspicious. He attempted to downplay his earlier success and insisted that his powder of production was too expensive to make in large quantities. He added that the process of creating gold wasn't as cost-effective as he had previously assumed and that the cost of ingredients was greater than the cost of the gold produced. While his experiments were of scientific value, Price insisted that there would be no point in repeating them.

The president of the Royal Society, Joseph Banks, flatly told Price that his scientific reputation was at stake as well as the reputation of the Royal Society itself. Price, in return, began to insist that he was the victim of persecution and that his reputation should rule out any thought of deceit. By then, even Price's friends had become distressed by his refusal and finally persuaded him to produce more of his powder of production for the Royal Society to examine. He left London in January, 1783 and returned to his Guildford laboratory. Although he had promised to return in a month, nothing more was heard from him for six months when he finally returned to London. Inviting as many members of the Royal Society as he could to his Guildford laboratory, he arranged for a demonstration on August 3rd of that same year.

Price's reputation had already been damaged by his long delay and even most of his friends had deserted him by the time of his demonstration. That only three members of the Royal Society showed up on August 3rd probably told Price all he needed to know. After greeting his guests cordially, he stepped away from them and drank a vial of what would later turn out to be laurel water. When he began to collapse, his visitors tried to help him but it was too late.Before they could arrange for medical attention, James Price was dead. An investigation would later find that Price had recently written his last will and testament and wrapped up his affairs before calling for the demonstration. Despite intense speculation over why Price had staked his professional reputation (and his life) on his strange fixation with alchemy, no real explanation was ever found. It's probably likely that he had deceived himself into believing that he was successful and, little by little, resorted to deception to avoid disgrace. Suicide may have been the only solution for the mess that he had created for himself.

James Price's suicide marked the end of alchemy in the United Kingdom (though it lingered on in other parts of the world). His sad fate represents an object lesson in how easy it is to be seduced by the prospect of fame and fortune as well as how hard it is to admit that you're wrong. Too many other would-be discoverers have learned this the hard way.

Sex, Women, Children and the Media

The sexualization of underage girls in the popular media has become a major concern both due to the media representation of children as sexually aware as well as the "trickle up" phenomenon where adult women are presented as childlike. A study published in a recent issue of Journal of Media Psychology tested the hypothesis that viewing images of women posed as sexy young girls can lead to greater acceptance of child sexual abuse myths. Sixty-five participants were randomly assigned to three groups: the control group who viewed “Nature” ads, the “Sexy Adult” group who viewed ads of adult women, and the “Sexy Child” group who viewed advertisements of women posed as sexy young girls. It was predicted that participants who viewed advertisements of women posed as sexy young girls would score higher on the Child Sexual Abuse Myth Scale (CSAM; Collings, 1997) than participants in the two other groups. The hypothesis was not supported; however participants who saw ads portraying women of any age in sexual terms scored significantly higher on the CSAM Scale than those who viewed nature ads. The researchers conclude that images of objectified women can lead to greater acceptance of child sexual abuse myths. While it was recognized that this research was preliminary in nature, the researchers concluded that further research was definitely justified.

For more information.

Off to Edinburgh

I'm heading to Edinburgh this week to attend the annual International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services conference. I'm looking forward to attending some fascinating talks and renewing my acquaintance with a city I haven't seen in 25 years. Walking along the Royal Mile and checking out the scenery should be fun (and I may even try eating haggis again). I'll give you a summation of the conference and what I learn in future posts.

 

For more information.

Tanzier's Obsession

It does seem amazing that the bizarre story of Karl Tanzier and Maria Elena de Hoyos isn't better known.  Even with the strange directions that obsessive love can take, this case definitely stands out.

While it's still difficult to separate fact from fiction in Karl Tanzier's life considering all the unlikely stories about his life and accomplishments that he told over the years, we do know that he was orn on February 8, 1877 in Dresden, Germany. Although his claims of having nine university degrees and being an expert authority on different branches of science seem a little implausible, early records do suggest that he worked as an x-ray technician for a while (just not very successfully). His marriage to Doris in 1920 was followed by the birth of their two children and an unsuccessful attempt to emigrate to Australia.  Karl eventually sailed to the United States in 1926 and settled in Zephyrhills, Florida where a sister was already living.  Doris and their children joined him there but the marriage didn't last long. 

By 1927, Karl had managed to relocate to Key West, Florida and changed his name in the process. Now "Count" Carl von Cosel (he claimed to be descended from an old German aristocratic family), he somehow managed to get a job in the tuberculosis ward at the U.S. Marine Hospital.  Some accounts described him as being a radiologist there which seems hard to believe considering he had no medical credentials at all.  Existing hospital records had him listed as being an x-ray technician and a bacteriologist who worked with the critically ill tuberculosis patients.  In his spare time, he was an amateur inventor who created complicated electrical devices and "miracle cures" in his home laboratory.

Whatever his plans for the future, everything changed when Carl von Cosel met the woman of his dreams...

In April, 1930, Carl von Cosel first laid eyes on Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos.  A beautiful 20-year old woman from an old Spanish Cuban family, she was brought to the hospital after being diagnosed with tuberculosis.  Carl would later claim that he had instantly recognized Elena from the dreams that he had been having for years about a "dark haired woman".  He saw no problem with her grim diagnosis or the fact that she was already married to another man, Carl von Cosel was determined to have Elena any way he could. 

Given the lack of modern antibiotics, tuberculosis was usually fatal (and the disease had already killed several members of Elena's family).  When the well-spoken von Cosel approached Elena and offered to treat her with his (self-proclaimed) medical expertise, Elena and her family were too desperate to refuse.  The doctors at the hospital had already given up hope and Elena seemed destined for an early death. Whatever the family's impression of Carl's approach to medicine, they had to admire his persistence.  The experimental treatments that he tried on Elena included strange electric shock machines and x-ray devices that he brought to her home as well as different potions that he made just for her.  The ingredients are still a mystery but reportedly included various exotic herbs and even flecks of gold.  He also plied Elena with expensive gifts and proposed marriage often.  Elena always refused since she was still married to her husband Luis (despite their separation).

Elena de Hoyos died on October 25, 1931.  With her family's permission, Carl von Cosel paid for the funeral and arranged for Elena's body to be interred in a lavish mausoleum that he had constructed in Key West Cemetery. Elena's body was placed in a metal coffin and Carl even equipped the crypt with a telephone so he could communicate with her.  The mausoleum even featured an airship.  He continued to visit the mausoleum on a nightly basis for two years before the visits stopped.  By this time he had lost his hospital job and moved to a remote shack but the full extent of his bizarre obsession with Elena didn't become apparent until 1940.  

After hearing some very bizarre rumours about Carl von Cosel, Elena's sister Florinda began to investigate and found that the body was no longer in the crypt.  She guessed that Carl was responsible and tracked him down to his shack.  Whatever Florinda suspected already about Carl didn't prepare her for what she found when he kindly invited her inside.  As Carl himself would state later, during his regular vigil in the crypt he began to hear Elena's voice begging him to rescue her from the metal coffin.  In April 1933, he stole Elena's body and took it to his shack where he used his chemical knowledge to preserve the corpse.  In the years that followed, he lovingly tended Elena's body and even reconstructed part of her face with wax as it decayed.  He also replaced her eyes with glass and made her a wig from her own hair.   Carl lovingly described his plans to bring Elena back from the dead using his electrical equipment (including a million-volt Tesla coil). 

After Florinda fled from the shack, she notified the police and Carl was arrested. After a full psychiatric evaluation he he was found competent to stand trial.   In the meantime, there was immense public fascination with the case.  Elena's preserved body was put on display at a local funeral home and more than six thousand people came out to see her in just a few days.  There was also a surprising amount of public support for Carl.  Not only did he attract numerous visitors to his cell, but two friends posted  bail and arranged for his release.  When the case came up for a preliminary hearing on October 9, 1940, the only charge that the authorities could lay against von Cosel was "wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization".  Since the statue of limitations for the crime had already expired (two years was the maximum and he had taken the body six years before), Carl von Cosel was eventually released.  While later sources claimed that he had also inserted a tube into her vagina to permit sex with the corpse, no allegations of necrophilia were made at the trial.

Elena's body was autopsied and later buried in an unmarked grave to prevent any further tampering.  Karl Tanzier (he went back to using his old name) returned to Zephyrhills and lived on his own.  Amazingly, his wife Doris continued to support him financially although they never officially reconciled.  He wrote his autobiography and became an American citizen in 1950.   He also created a life-sized wax effigy of Elena's corpse that he tended faithfully and often showed to tourists (he supported himself by selling postcards featuring Elena's death mask).  Karl Tanzier died on July 3, 1952 but his body was only discovered three weeks after his death.   Despite claims that he somehow managed to retrieve Elena's body, no human remains were found in the effigy. 

Visitors to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum in Key West, Florida can still see Carl's body on display. His long-suffering widow, Doris, died in 1977. She never remarried.