Those of you that have followed this blog know that I have been very prolific often writing five blogs a week or more. Unfortunately I have been so busy that I've had to cut that number drastically. I hope to have more time in the fall and winter and anticipate writing nearly full time then. For the summer I will try to keep posting once or twice per week. If you have a subject that is weird, creepy and or extraordinary please contact me and I will try and cover it. If you would like to post your own scary story, experience or author promo, I would love to have you guest host for a post. If you are interested or simply want to chat use the contact form on this site. Also if you would like to receive updates on this blog and my writing please join the mailing list.
Today I want to talk about an incident that may or may not have a paranormal twist. The incident is the story of Zachary Bowen also known as the Katrina Cannibal. Zachary was a military policeman serving in Iraq and Kosovo. He was highly decorated and earned commendations for his bravery. After his time in the military Zachary moved to New Orleans. During the time when the winds of Hurricane Katrina started pummeling the city he met and fell in love with Addie Hall. The two hunkered down and sheltered in Zachary's french quarter apartment. The two became well known locally for refusing to leave the city as the flood waters rose after the storm.
Although the two had a tumultuous relationship often fighting and breaking up, they always seemed to get back together and eventually moved to a second apartment. Here is what happened next - from crime museum.org:
"On the evening of October 16, 2006, Bowen had been out drinking with a friend. He appeared to those who encountered him to be in good spirits and talked about a much needed vacation. His friend even made a comment to him about “being in paradise” the following night. But the night of October 17 turned out to be anything but a trip to paradise for Bowen.
Around 8:30 PM on October 17th, a guest at the Omni Royal Orleans, sitting in an upper level lounge, noticed the body of a man atop the roof of the parking deck. Bowen had jumped to his death from a rooftop terrace with a suicide note tucked into his pocket. His badly mangled body was covered in cigarette burns. Surveillance camera footage shows Bowen walking to the ledge several times before following through with his fateful jump."
Here is what the first part of Zachary's suicide note said :
"I didn’t contact any of my family, so that’ll explain the shock. This is not accidental. I had to take my own life to pay for the one I took…Every last one of these [aspects] I failed at, hence the 28 cigarette burns, one for each year of my existence."
The most disturbing thing is what the police found in Zachary's apartment. He had spray painted directions on the wall for the police to follow. They followed one particular scrawling to a large pot on the stove. The pot contained Addie Hall's head. In a second pot they found her hands and feet and inside the stove was a basting pan that contained Addie Hall's arms and legs.
The second part of Zachary's suicide note detailed the fact that he repeatedly had sex with Addie's corpse. Reports from eyewitnesses said that Addie's torso was on the kitchen table cooked, but not charred and the legs in the basting pan looked as if they had been picked over and eaten. Official police reports suggest however that the subject of cannibalism was an over-exaggeration made by the salacious press.
Now many people said that Zachary and Addie had been partying in the partially deserted city. It is possible that drugs had a serious impact on Zachary, perhaps he indulged in bath salts? Others believe that the fact that the second apartment was in the "voodoo district" and that evil spirits had possessed Zachary. Could the spirits or a demon have been so angry that these two lovers were partying while the rest of the city was drowning that they forced a normally mild mannered person to commit this atrocity?
What do you think?
Today I want to talk about an incident that may or may not have a paranormal twist. The incident is the story of Zachary Bowen also known as the Katrina Cannibal. Zachary was a military policeman serving in Iraq and Kosovo. He was highly decorated and earned commendations for his bravery. After his time in the military Zachary moved to New Orleans. During the time when the winds of Hurricane Katrina started pummeling the city he met and fell in love with Addie Hall. The two hunkered down and sheltered in Zachary's french quarter apartment. The two became well known locally for refusing to leave the city as the flood waters rose after the storm.
Although the two had a tumultuous relationship often fighting and breaking up, they always seemed to get back together and eventually moved to a second apartment. Here is what happened next - from crime museum.org:
"On the evening of October 16, 2006, Bowen had been out drinking with a friend. He appeared to those who encountered him to be in good spirits and talked about a much needed vacation. His friend even made a comment to him about “being in paradise” the following night. But the night of October 17 turned out to be anything but a trip to paradise for Bowen.
Around 8:30 PM on October 17th, a guest at the Omni Royal Orleans, sitting in an upper level lounge, noticed the body of a man atop the roof of the parking deck. Bowen had jumped to his death from a rooftop terrace with a suicide note tucked into his pocket. His badly mangled body was covered in cigarette burns. Surveillance camera footage shows Bowen walking to the ledge several times before following through with his fateful jump."
Here is what the first part of Zachary's suicide note said :
"I didn’t contact any of my family, so that’ll explain the shock. This is not accidental. I had to take my own life to pay for the one I took…Every last one of these [aspects] I failed at, hence the 28 cigarette burns, one for each year of my existence."
The most disturbing thing is what the police found in Zachary's apartment. He had spray painted directions on the wall for the police to follow. They followed one particular scrawling to a large pot on the stove. The pot contained Addie Hall's head. In a second pot they found her hands and feet and inside the stove was a basting pan that contained Addie Hall's arms and legs.
The second part of Zachary's suicide note detailed the fact that he repeatedly had sex with Addie's corpse. Reports from eyewitnesses said that Addie's torso was on the kitchen table cooked, but not charred and the legs in the basting pan looked as if they had been picked over and eaten. Official police reports suggest however that the subject of cannibalism was an over-exaggeration made by the salacious press.
Now many people said that Zachary and Addie had been partying in the partially deserted city. It is possible that drugs had a serious impact on Zachary, perhaps he indulged in bath salts? Others believe that the fact that the second apartment was in the "voodoo district" and that evil spirits had possessed Zachary. Could the spirits or a demon have been so angry that these two lovers were partying while the rest of the city was drowning that they forced a normally mild mannered person to commit this atrocity?
What do you think?
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