Posted on 05/24/2004 4:57:39 PM PDT by Shermy
Police investigating the death of a British businessman in America believe he may have been killed by a bite from a venomous snake he bought on the internet.
Garrick Wales, 48, was found slumped in a hired car near Little Rock airport in Arkansas. He had vomited and a snake expert said it was possible he was seeking help when he was overcome by venom.
Toxicity tests are expected to reveal whether he was killed by one of four deadly African snakes he had collected the same day. A box containing the animals, a 14in twig snake, a 6ft green mamba, a 4ft black mamba and a 5ft forest cobra, was found later on the side of a road half a mile from his car.
Mr Wales, a father of three, from Kilmacolm, near Glasgow, had ordered the snakes from a dealer in Florida and picked them up 11 days ago after they were flown to Arkansas. Dangerous animals have to be kept on licensed premises in Britain but there is no such legislation in many American states.
Police are also attempting to find out what Mr Wales, a computer programmer, had done with another three snakes ordered from Florida earlier this year. His family told Little Rock Police he was a regular visitor to the US as a consultant and had been in Arkansas on business.
Mr Wales's widow, Pamela, an English teacher, said she did not wish to make any comment. Neighbours of the family described Mr Wales as a "lovely man". Lynn Dalgleish, a friend of the family, said she had heard he might have been bitten by a snake in South Africa last year.
"The thought of Garrick buying snakes and having them shipped about seems so out of character. He was a devoted family man. Most of his life was centred around it."
Simon Townson, of the British Herpetological Society, said it was possible Mr Wales was in a race against time when he was overcome by the venom. "The poison can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to set in before paralysis then death. It seems Mr Wales was trying to save himself when he was driving towards the airport."
He said venomous snakes were not expensive and a green mamba would cost around $150 (£84) from the website of the Exotic Reptiles Jungle in Palm City, Florida, which was used by Mr Wales.
"It is unlikely he would have been smuggling snakes, especially as they appeared to be in a specially-labelled air freight box and would have been taken to the airport quite legitimately," said Mr Townson.
Ping.
Darwin Award Nominee...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1137236/posts
Driver Finds Four Poisonous Snakes in Box ["So I went over and kicked the box!"
AP ^ | 5/17/04
Posted on 05/17/2004 3:18:50 PM EDT by 11th Earl
The only snakes from Arkansas that I know are named "Clinton"
PS Location of above is also Arkansas...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A curious pickup truck driver spotted a box in the grass marked "Live venomous reptile" east of downtown and stopped to take a look.
"When you see something like that, you want to look and see what it is," Paul Mitchell of Little Rock said of his Friday afternoon discovery. "I went over and kicked the box."
The electrician looked inside and found a cloth bag slithering into the form of a cobra ready to strike.
Another Snake Bites Man story.
Scotsman turned into a briton?
The Scotsman's company was the cabinet builder for the clinton liebrary in LR.
Add one more mysterious death due to Arkicide with the clintons.
How many people do YOU know who have been murdered or commited suicide by 2 45 slugs to the head and a shotgun blast to the back? (or similar circumstances)
How many does this make now?
I wonder if green mamba venom is ever tested for in questionable death autopsies?
The speckled band perhaps?
Anytime a neighbor says "he was a lovely man" I get Creeped out and think the worse!!! SERIAL KILLER.
Snakes from Arkansas are horrified to learn they are named "clinton".
"When you see something like that, you want to look and see what it is," Paul Mitchell of Little Rock said of his Friday afternoon discovery. "I went over and kicked the box."The electrician looked inside and found a cloth bag slithering into the form of a cobra ready to strike.
We almost had a double-Darwin.
Professional courtesy.
Darn it! ;)
Even if this guy made it to the local hospital, he most likely would have died anyway. Depending on what snake bit him, it is highly unlikely the medical facilities had the anti toxin serum to treat victims of exotic snake bites.
Surely this is a candidate for the Darwin Awards...
And a Man Kicks Snake story.
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