"Man's ear found in fire victim's pocket"

[NotQuiteCockney]

Is my WTF headline award of the day. It's from a very small piece in the Guardian, which doesn't explain a lot. They found two men dead after a fire, and the ear of one in the pocket of the other. So they think it's murder. I mean ... huh?

Urgh - that's alarming on so many levels!

I mean, was it some sort of Reservoir Dogs thing?

It is quite sad, the victim was older, deaf, and had throat cancer, and died of injuries.

Sorry but lol @ deaf. Well yes he would be wouldn't he?

Did it say the fire was suspicious? I just have this image of someone threatening someone else with a cigarette lighter too near the curtains?

Well, yes, the deaf bit does make it all that little bit more weird.

There was this fascinating story from some Scandi country about some mad preacher who got one of his congregation to kill his wife or something, all completely insane, and no matter how much you read about it (not much in the English papers, anyway, obviously) there always seemed to be more to learn ...

I read about this yesterday and have to say, it is perplexing.

It just sounds like something out of CSI or something.

Presumably, at the end, it turns out that the ear was a gift or something?

police are keepign hteir ear to the gorund

I read an article on it. They believe the one who had the ear in his pocket broke into the house of the other (a cancer sufferer). Tortured him and then set fire to the house. But the murderer was drunk and got overcome by the smoke and died in the very fire he started.

Ah, was that in today's paper? I've only read yesterdays, I have to read them in order [fraek].

So he took the ear as a trophy?

weird

I saw this and spent ages coming up with probable scenarios. I reckon earless guy was being beaten up by Mr X (lost ear in struggle), younger guy came to rescue, put ear in pocket with a view to surgical reattachment, Mr X then burns down house and escapes.

Message withdrawn

There's a report about it here .

It's very sad, and rather horrible.

I knew it would be depressing underneath, it could hardly turn out to be actually funny, could it?