I love a good mystery story. Even better when it's especially bizarre, or if it takes place in an exotic locale. When I first heard about the 22 year old British woman who was discovered dead and buried in a bathtub full of sand on a Tokyo balcony, I didn't think anything could top it.

I was wrong.

When a disheveled man showed up at police headquarters in Vercelli, Italy claiming that he had amnesia, police were baffled. One can only imagine that their bafflement turned to downright befuddlement at what they found later.

Three days earlier, on March 16, the owner of a bed-sit outside Bergamo, more than 70 miles away, had broken into the flat. The tenant had not paid his rent and she wanted to know if he was still there.

She found a scene of pure horror. The apartment was in chaos and there were signs everywhere that it had been used for a satanic rite.

There were upturned crosses, and the walls and floor were smothered with esoteric symbols written in blood. Police forensic experts estimated that as much as 3l had been splashed around.

Only later was it established that all of it belonged to the young man who had turned to the Carabinieri.

Several experts have said that the man does not appear to be faking the amnesia. He can't recognize his own family, and his body has several small puncture wounds on it. His parents say that he had always been into UFOs, and that he had quit his job six months earlier. What is unclear is how he managed to travel the 70 kilometers to the police station after losing 3 liters of blood, and who removed his computer's hard drive and his cell phone's SIM card.

I'm reminded of the Piano Man story. Of course, that guy turned out to be a hoax, and he was just a piano player, not a UFO-obsessed satanist.

Valeyard

Shreveport, LA

January 2005

MAR 30, 2007 03:05 PM

I feel an new movie coming on...strains of The Ninth Gate

Margot_Dent

Los Angeles, CA

February 2004

MAR 30, 2007 03:07 PM

what, no hat tip? also, that bathtub thing is weird.

st_even

Milwaukee, WI

September 2006

MAR 30, 2007 03:24 PM

Wouldn't it be cool if this guy turned out to be like, Satan's ambassador to the world, or some guy who was possessed by aliens and scribbled their messages all over the wall, messages which had for a thousand years been wrongly associated with Satanism? Man, that would be fuckin' awesome.

Valeyard

Shreveport, LA

January 2005

MAR 30, 2007 03:30 PM

st_even said:
Wouldn't it be cool if this guy turned out to be like, Satan's ambassador to the world, or some guy who was possessed by aliens and scribbled their messages all over the wall, messages which had for a thousand years been wrongly associated with Satanism? Man, that would be fuckin' awesome.

I prefer the strictly Satanic explanation...lets not muddy the issue with his obsession with aliens

RudieCantFail

Intercourse, PA

January 2006

MAR 30, 2007 03:43 PM

Isn't amnesia sometimes the brains response to severe psychological trauma? It's entirely possible that this guy was witness to some extremely fucked up shit, and his mind has suppressed everything to avoid confronting it.

Valeyard

Shreveport, LA

January 2005

MAR 30, 2007 03:48 PM

RudieCantFail said:
Isn't amnesia sometimes the brains response to severe psychological trauma? It's entirely possible that this guy was witness to some extremely fucked up shit, and his mind has suppressed everything to avoid confronting it.

He could have caused the trama himself, that much blood-loss can cause some pretty severe shock. It would be cool if something supernatural happened, but right now I'm thinking the idiot caused the amnesia himself induced by the shock of severe blood loss....

Roethke

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

MAR 30, 2007 04:12 PM

He could have been in a fugue state, or dissociative amnesia. But for the most part, amnesia happens when there is physical harm to the brain. Losing that much blood could actually have caused brain damage. I'm not a doctor of anything besides being a sweet dude, so I'm clearly not an expert in the matter.

Roethke

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

MAR 30, 2007 04:13 PM

VenimenB7 said:

beat me to it

Trahern

United Kingdom

March 2003

MAR 30, 2007 06:44 PM

I feel so much safer not knowing what happened.

palcode

Italy

November 2005

MAR 30, 2007 07:27 PM

that guy is a friend of a friend of mine!! i'm italian.....and i can tell you for sure that this story is a true mistery!!
sincerly, i don't know what to think about it...but i remember the face of my friend when she told me about the fact!!!

Shalome

MODERATOR

Los Angeles, CA

MAR 30, 2007 09:59 PM

Wow.

Rin

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

MAR 30, 2007 11:24 PM

Roethke said:
He could have been in a fugue state, or dissociative amnesia. But for the most part, amnesia happens when there is physical harm to the brain. Losing that much blood could actually have caused brain damage. I'm not a doctor of anything besides being a sweet dude, so I'm clearly not an expert in the matter.

but you are ACE at being a dr. of sweet dudeism so i will take your version as a-ok.

BOARDS:

TOPICS:

New York, NY

November 2004

MAR 30, 2007 01:35 PM

Shreveport, LA

January 2005

MAR 30, 2007 03:05 PM

Los Angeles, CA

February 2004

MAR 30, 2007 03:07 PM

st_even

Milwaukee, WI

September 2006

MAR 30, 2007 03:24 PM

Shreveport, LA

January 2005

MAR 30, 2007 03:30 PM

Intercourse, PA

January 2006

MAR 30, 2007 03:43 PM

Shreveport, LA

January 2005

MAR 30, 2007 03:48 PM

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

MAR 30, 2007 04:12 PM

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

MAR 30, 2007 04:13 PM

United Kingdom

March 2003

MAR 30, 2007 06:44 PM

Italy

November 2005

MAR 30, 2007 07:27 PM

MODERATOR

Los Angeles, CA

MAR 30, 2007 09:59 PM

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

MAR 30, 2007 11:24 PM

Seattle, WA

OLD SKOOL

MAR 31, 2007 10:54 AM