Man Eaten By His Own Pet Spiders

Neuqua · 03-01-2004, 12:18 AM

Link

Pet spider kills its owner
Killer ... a poisonous Black Widow spider

From ALLAN HALL
in Berlin
A MAN who lived in his own “zoo” of lizards and insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow spider — then eaten by the other creepy-crawlies.

Police broke in to Mark Voegel’s apartment to find spider Bettina along with 200 others, several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and several thousand termites had gorged on his body.

Neighbours alerted police after becoming alarmed by the stink.

And horrified officers were met by a nightmare scene.

A police spokesman said: “It was like a horror movie. His corpse was over the sofa.

“Giant webs draped him, spiders were all over him. They were coming out of his nose and his mouth.

“There was everything there one could imagine in the world of reptiles.

“Larger pieces of flesh torn off by the lizards were scooped up and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders.”

Hungry ... termites ate body

Loner Voegel, 30, never invited people back to his “jungle” home, a small apartment in the German city of Dortmund.

Police described it as a cross between a botanical garden and the butterfly breeding ground in the serial killer movie The Silence Of The Lambs.

One tarantula had built a nest the size of a swallow’s in a corner of the ceiling.

Voegel also had a boa constrictor and several poisonous frogs from South America.

Spider expert and animal cruelty officer Gabi Bayer said he kept creatures “that should never be allowed in a private home”.

She said: “He had spiders so aggressive they are the equivalent of a pit-bull in the animal world.”

The reptiles were allowed to roam free in the flat.

The heating elements on two tanks containing spiders and their termite snacks had exploded and dislodged the metal tops allowing them to escape.

Voegel is thought to have been dead for between seven and 14 days.

A post-mortem will be carried out in the next few days. But authorities believe Bettina alone was responsible for Voegel’s death.

Calis · 03-01-2004, 12:24 AM

Not something I needed to read right before bed time.

Very disturbing, and all the more reason to never be a coroner.

GoldenEagle · 03-01-2004, 12:28 AM

Uh....wow.

Fonzie · 03-01-2004, 12:51 AM

I'm not really sure how I'd want to go, but I do know that I would prefer not to be killed and eaten by my pets.

MrBug708 · 03-01-2004, 12:58 AM

Oh Geez, the lights are stayong on tonight...

JeeberD · 03-01-2004, 01:04 AM

There was an old lady that lived next to my family when I was little that died all alone in her house. Well, alone except for her two dogs. They dined well for a couple of weeks until someone figured out something was wrong with the old lady. There wasn't much of her left...

SunDancer · 03-01-2004, 01:08 AM

Thanks JeeberD. Now I really won't be sleeping tonight.

GoldenEagle · 03-01-2004, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Oh Geez, the lights are stayong on tonight...

Coward.

JeeberD · 03-01-2004, 01:11 AM

Spiders are attracted to the light. You would be better off with the lights off...

Chief Rum · 03-01-2004, 01:45 AM

Thank you. I now know my nightmares can really happen.

CR

GoldenEagle · 03-01-2004, 01:48 AM

I have never once had a nightmare about a spider or any other rodent for that matter.

Chief Rum · 03-01-2004, 02:06 AM

Actually, not sure I have either. But that the horrible fantasies I have had about experiences with creepy-crawlies and the like (especially spiders) are nightmarish in nature.

CR

Honolulu_Blue · 03-01-2004, 03:33 AM

This is perhaps the grossest thing I have ever read.

No. me. gusta.

corbes · 03-01-2004, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

I have never once had a nightmare about a spider or any other rodent for that matter.

I haven't either... yet...

cincyreds · 03-01-2004, 07:31 AM

maybe CSI will make an episode based on this.

It has CSI written all over it. Grissom will have a field day with all of these bugs.

man what a way to go.

The_herd · 03-01-2004, 07:34 AM

And to think Joe's Apartment made it look cool to live with bugs...

Ksyrup · 03-01-2004, 07:49 AM

Once you die, are you really going to care what happens next? I suspect this was much more horrifying for the police that found him and the millions of people reading this than for him.

Now, if the bite simply left him paralyzed while the insects/lizards feasted on him...then you've got a Stephen King story.

jeff061 · 03-01-2004, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Now, if the bite simply left him paralyzed while the insects/lizards feasted on him...then you've got a Stephen King story.

Yeah, thats what i was thinking happened. Freaky.

illinifan999 · 03-01-2004, 08:00 AM

I don't like bugs. This does not help my fears.

Ksyrup · 03-01-2004, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeff061

Yeah, thats what i was thinking happened. Freaky.

I don't think so. The article says the spider was the lone cause of death.

hukarez · 03-01-2004, 08:30 AM

Time for me to stock up on cans of Raid.

WSUCougar · 03-01-2004, 08:42 AM

YEECH!

Any chance this is an urban myth?

cthomer5000 · 03-01-2004, 08:56 AM

so wait, the Sun online is our source here?

Tekneek · 03-02-2004, 01:48 AM

Stories like this show up at least once a year, where some fool has exotic animals and authorities break in to find they've eaten their owner. The one I remember the most was from at least a few years ago where somebody in the US had monitor lizards that had been eating him after he died from cardiac arrest. A good friend of my wife's from 5-6 years ago had two or three that walked free in her house all of the time. There's no way I would let reptiles roam my house freely.

Back when I was a kid, a friend of mine's older brother had a python and a tarantula. He was such an idiot that he routinely lost them for days at a time.

cartman · 03-02-2004, 02:11 AM

I've gotta call BS on this one. With that many insects already consuming his body, many of which I assume could also be poisionous, I'd think his body would be pretty well worked over. How could they determine at that early stage, before the post-mortem, that a single Black Widow bite killed him?

Nothing on snopes about it from what I could see, so maybe it is true?

stevew · 03-02-2004, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cartman

I've gotta call BS on this one. With that many insects already consuming his body, many of which I assume could also be poisionous, I'd think his body would be pretty well worked over. How could they determine at that early stage, before the post-mortem, that a single Black Widow bite killed him?

Nothing on snopes about it from what I could see, so maybe it is true?

I would assume that the widow poison would have circulated through his blood cause he was still alive, whereas the other poisons would have been locally centered.

SackAttack · 03-02-2004, 02:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Once you die, are you really going to care what happens next? I suspect this was much more horrifying for the police that found him and the millions of people reading this than for him.

Now, if the bite simply left him paralyzed while the insects/lizards feasted on him...then you've got a Stephen King story.

King actually wrote a story similar, although not precisely the same. I'll refrain from expounding so as not to ruin it for anybody who hasn't read it and has an interest in so doing. I'll simply say that it's one of the stories in his "Everything's Eventual" collection - the very first one, I believe.

cartman · 03-02-2004, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevew

I would assume that the widow poison would have circulated through his blood cause he was still alive, whereas the other poisons would have been locally centered.

A clue like that wouldn't be discovered until the post-mortem tests have been run, and wouldn't be seen in a visual only inspection.

The cynic in me is still skeptical. Doing some Google whacking always comes back to the same single story written by one reporter. Don't spiders only make webs to capture live prey, not to keep already dead prey in place? And from what I remember, Geckos don't really have the kind of bite to rip flesh away in chunks. Third, I don't remember black widows causing an incapacitating bite that knocks you out. And finally, how did ALL of the cages get opened so all of the creepy crawlies got out to feast upon their owner?

cartman · 03-02-2004, 06:08 AM

Dola,

since when did Termites become flesh-eating creatures?

Super Ugly · 03-02-2004, 06:49 AM

"so wait, the Sun online is our source here?"

Right. The Sun. Journalism at its finest.

"And finally, how did ALL of the cages get opened so all of the creepy crawlies got out to feast upon their owner?"

I have a feeling that the reporter was watching 'Eight Legged Freaks' and thought it was a documentary.

jeff061 · 03-02-2004, 06:51 AM

Heating components on a couple of spider cages burst and blew open the cages, letting the spiders out. The lizards had free roam.

JeeberD · 03-02-2004, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SackAttack

King actually wrote a story similar, although not precisely the same. I'll refrain from expounding so as not to ruin it for anybody who hasn't read it and has an interest in so doing. I'll simply say that it's one of the stories in his "Everything's Eventual" collection - the very first one, I believe.

Ahh, Autopsy Room Four. Very nice story. It makes you think...

tucker342 · 03-02-2004, 07:22 PM

Spiders scare the hell out of me, and this just makes it worse... it's sending shivers down my back just thinking about it...

Spiders are the only thing I'm afraid of

tucker342 · 03-02-2004, 07:23 PM

dola-

I forgot Clowns.

So Spiders and Clowns are the only things I'm afraid of

JeeberD · 03-02-2004, 08:55 PM

What about The Man trying to keep you down?

wig · 03-02-2004, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeeberD

What about The Man trying to keep you down?

Get your FOFC members right.

judicial clerk · 03-02-2004, 09:03 PM

WTF is going on in Germany? the stories always happen in Germany. Like the dude who let some guy he met on the internet eat him.

JeeberD · 03-02-2004, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wig

Get your FOFC members right.

You can't be the only person who has a problem with that...

Crim · 03-02-2004, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cartman

I've gotta call BS on this one. With that many insects already consuming his body, many of which I assume could also be poisionous, I'd think his body would be pretty well worked over. How could they determine at that early stage, before the post-mortem, that a single Black Widow bite killed him?

Uhh, some of you beat me to it, but... this story is a load of crap. Figuratively speaking, of course.

Crim

Crim · 03-02-2004, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by judicial clerk

WTF is going on in Germany? the stories always happen in Germany. Like the dude who let some guy he met on the internet eat him.

Eek! My first ever dola!

I think I also heard about a guy in Germany last summer whose apartment was too hot, so he climbed up onto the (inclined!) roof and slept in a sleeping bag. Until he rolled off, of course, and, presumably, woke up briefly in free fall, only to fall into a more... permanent sleep upon hitting the ground a coupla stories below.

Crim

Sublime · 03-02-2004, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Ahh, Autopsy Room Four. Very nice story. It makes you think...

Just read that and the other stories in the book, scary thought.

P.S. Clowns are the most terrifying thing in the world!

JeeberD · 03-02-2004, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sublime

P.S. Clowns are the most terrifying thing in the world!

Speaking of King, you ever read It?

03-01-2004, 12:58 AM	#5
MrBug708 Head Coach Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Temple City!	Oh Geez, the lights are stayong on tonight... __________________ Richard Karstark - Ruler of Karhold - Bannerman of House Stark KKiTTLeS21: UCLA r0x d00d, #1

03-01-2004, 01:04 AM	#6
JeeberD General Manager Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The Town of Flower Mound	There was an old lady that lived next to my family when I was little that died all alone in her house. Well, alone except for her two dogs. They dined well for a couple of weeks until someone figured out something was wrong with the old lady. There wasn't much of her left... __________________ UTEP Miners!!! I solemnly swear to never cheer for TO

03-01-2004, 01:11 AM	#9
JeeberD General Manager Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The Town of Flower Mound	Spiders are attracted to the light. You would be better off with the lights off... __________________ UTEP Miners!!! I solemnly swear to never cheer for TO

03-01-2004, 01:45 AM	#10
Chief Rum Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Where Hip Hop lives	Thank you. I now know my nightmares can really happen. CR __________________ . . On this subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire, to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest--I will not equivocate--I will not excuse--I will not retreat a single inch-- AND I WILL BE HEARD!!!

03-01-2004, 02:06 AM	#12
Chief Rum Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Where Hip Hop lives	Actually, not sure I have either. But that the horrible fantasies I have had about experiences with creepy-crawlies and the like (especially spiders) are nightmarish in nature. CR __________________ . . On this subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire, to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest--I will not equivocate--I will not excuse--I will not retreat a single inch-- AND I WILL BE HEARD!!!

03-01-2004, 12:24 AM	#2
Calis College Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Mulvane, KS	Not something I needed to read right before bed time. Very disturbing, and all the more reason to never be a coroner.

03-01-2004, 12:28 AM	#3
GoldenEagle Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Little Rock, AR	Uh....wow.

03-01-2004, 12:51 AM	#4
Fonzie Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Illinois	I'm not really sure how I'd want to go, but I do know that I would prefer not to be killed and eaten by my pets.

03-01-2004, 01:08 AM	#7
SunDancer College Benchwarmer Join Date: Sep 2002	Thanks JeeberD. Now I really won't be sleeping tonight.

03-01-2004, 01:48 AM	#11
GoldenEagle Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Little Rock, AR	I have never once had a nightmare about a spider or any other rodent for that matter.

03-01-2004, 03:33 AM	#13
Honolulu_Blue Hockey Boy Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Royal Oak, MI	This is perhaps the grossest thing I have ever read. No. me. gusta.

03-01-2004, 07:31 AM	#15
cincyreds High School Varsity Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Mississippi	maybe CSI will make an episode based on this. It has CSI written all over it. Grissom will have a field day with all of these bugs. man what a way to go. __________________ The Dallas Cowboys!! America's Team will rise again.

03-01-2004, 07:34 AM	#16
The_herd College Starter Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Fort Lackland, Texas (San Antonio)	And to think Joe's Apartment made it look cool to live with bugs... __________________ Oakland Raiders: HFL's 1970 AC West Champs

03-01-2004, 07:49 AM	#17
Ksyrup This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off. Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: In Absentia	Once you die, are you really going to care what happens next? I suspect this was much more horrifying for the police that found him and the millions of people reading this than for him. Now, if the bite simply left him paralyzed while the insects/lizards feasted on him...then you've got a Stephen King story. __________________ M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete."

03-01-2004, 08:00 AM	#19
illinifan999 Pro Rookie Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: VA	I don't like bugs. This does not help my fears. __________________ Chicago Eagles 2 time ZFL champions We're "rebuilding"

03-01-2004, 08:30 AM	#21
hukarez College Starter Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Chula Vista, CA	Time for me to stock up on cans of Raid. __________________ ...what we have here is a man who looks like Tarzan, but fights like Jane! My VG collection \| Xbox 360 Gamertag: ManThol \| PS3 Network ID: hukarez Doce Pares International - San Diego Council Filipino Martial Arts Digest tweet tweet twitter

03-01-2004, 08:42 AM	#22
WSUCougar Rider Of Rohan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Port Angeles, WA or Helm's Deep	YEECH! Any chance this is an urban myth? __________________ Come join FOFC's Parent's Anonymous

03-02-2004, 01:48 AM	#24
Tekneek Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: USA	Stories like this show up at least once a year, where some fool has exotic animals and authorities break in to find they've eaten their owner. The one I remember the most was from at least a few years ago where somebody in the US had monitor lizards that had been eating him after he died from cardiac arrest. A good friend of my wife's from 5-6 years ago had two or three that walked free in her house all of the time. There's no way I would let reptiles roam my house freely. Back when I was a kid, a friend of mine's older brother had a python and a tarantula. He was such an idiot that he routinely lost them for days at a time.

03-02-2004, 02:11 AM	#25
cartman Death Herald Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Le stelle la notte sono grandi e luminose nel cuore profondo del Texas	I've gotta call BS on this one. With that many insects already consuming his body, many of which I assume could also be poisionous, I'd think his body would be pretty well worked over. How could they determine at that early stage, before the post-mortem, that a single Black Widow bite killed him? Nothing on snopes about it from what I could see, so maybe it is true? __________________ Just a perfect day, problems all left alone Weekenders on our own, it's such fun Just a perfect day, you made me forget myself I thought I was someone else, someone good

03-02-2004, 06:08 AM	#29
cartman Death Herald Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Le stelle la notte sono grandi e luminose nel cuore profondo del Texas	Dola, since when did Termites become flesh-eating creatures? __________________ Just a perfect day, problems all left alone Weekenders on our own, it's such fun Just a perfect day, you made me forget myself I thought I was someone else, someone good

03-02-2004, 06:49 AM	#30
Super Ugly High School JV Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Look behind you	"so wait, the Sun online is our source here?" Right. The Sun. Journalism at its finest. "And finally, how did ALL of the cages get opened so all of the creepy crawlies got out to feast upon their owner?" I have a feeling that the reporter was watching 'Eight Legged Freaks' and thought it was a documentary.

03-02-2004, 06:51 AM	#31
jeff061 Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: MA	Heating components on a couple of spider cages burst and blew open the cages, letting the spiders out. The lizards had free roam.

03-02-2004, 07:22 PM	#33
tucker342 Pro Starter Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Iowa City, IA	Spiders scare the hell out of me, and this just makes it worse... it's sending shivers down my back just thinking about it... Spiders are the only thing I'm afraid of

03-02-2004, 07:23 PM	#34
tucker342 Pro Starter Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Iowa City, IA	dola- I forgot Clowns. So Spiders and Clowns are the only things I'm afraid of

03-02-2004, 08:55 PM	#35
JeeberD General Manager Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The Town of Flower Mound	What about The Man trying to keep you down? __________________ UTEP Miners!!! I solemnly swear to never cheer for TO

03-02-2004, 09:03 PM	#37
judicial clerk College Benchwarmer Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Portland, OR	WTF is going on in Germany? the stories always happen in Germany. Like the dude who let some guy he met on the internet eat him.

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