WEIRD NEWS

The Bambi Punishment

A notorious Missouri poacher who illegally killed what is believed to be hundreds of deer over the past decade has been ordered to watch the Disney classic Bambi at least once a month for one year, as part of his sentence. Nobody quite knows exactly how many deer David Berry and his two sons - David Berry Jr. and Kyle Berry - have poached in the forests of southern Missouri over the last nine years, but investigators suspect that the number reaches into the hundreds. The three men hunted the defenseless animals mostly at night, cutting off their heads and antlers as trophies and leaving the bodies to rot where they fell. Although their cruel and illegal activities were financially motivated, police evidence suggests that cutting off the heads of the deer was mostly about satisfying the poachers' personal egos. According to court records, Lawrence County Judge Robert George ordered David Berry Jr. "to view the Walt Disney movie ‘Bambi,' with the first viewing being on or before December 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter, during Defendant's incarceration in the Lawrence County Jail." He will be in jail for a year, so that's at least 12 viewings. (News-Leader)

Sorry Bro - Thought You Were Bigfoot!

In Helena, Montana, a 27-year-old man reported being shot at multiple times by another man who "mistook him for Bigfoot." The victim was reportedly setting up targets on BLM land in the North Hills when, he says, a bullet hit about 3 feet to his left, and then another bullet hit to his right before he ran to cover and heard more shots. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said the guy then confronted the shooter, who told him he was "not wearing orange and thought he was Bigfoot." He reported the shooter's vehicle as a black Ford F-150, but did not have a license plate number or description of the alleged shooter. While he did report the incident, the victim said he did not want to pursue charges. However Dutton noted that despite a desire not to pursue charges, the allegations are serious and could warrant a charge of attempted negligent homicide. Deputies did check the area and no vehicle matching the description was found. (Independent Record)

"Reprehensible Photos" of Wildfire Cleanup

This is hard to believe but three wildfire cleanup workers in California have been fired for clowning around in the ruins of people's homes and posting what the town of Paradise calls "reprehensible" photos on social media. One photo shows the burned remains of a pet cat with a bottle near its mouth and the caption: "Dude... I was just chilling with my homies, having a couple of cold ones, and BAM... damn fire breaks out." Another shows a worker jumping on burned trampoline, with the caption: "Trampolines are stupid. (By the way), it used to be called a Jumpoline until your mom got on it." The town of Paradise shared the photos in a Facebook post and promised that Rob Freestone, the worker seen in many of them "will no longer be working in our town." Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., which had been subcontracted by the PG & E utility for Camp Fire cleanup, says Freestone and two other workers have been fired. In a statement, the company said it regrets that residents have suffered an "egregious insult" at an already difficult time. Paradise police spokesman Matt Gates says the department is looking into filing charges against the three. (NBC News)

Pastry Anyone?

Meanwhile... down in Brazil, a trio of locals will be spending several decades in prison after they were convicted of murdering women and stuffing their flesh into pastries that they then ate and handed out to neighbors. Jorge Beltrao Negromonte da Silveira, his wife, Isabel Pires, and his mistress, Bruna Cristina Oliveira, were sentenced over the weekend after they were arrested in 2012 for killing at least three women. The trio - nicknamed the "cannibals of Garanhaus" for the neighborhood where the murders took place - lured women to their home by offering them a job as a nanny or giving them religious advice. Silveira was sentenced to 71 years in prison, while his wife received 68 years and his mistress 71 years and 10 months. The rest of the victim's remains were reportedly buried in their back yard. (FOX News)

Boris the Very Stupid Russian Robot

How they thought they'd get away with this we'll never know. On Monday, at the opening of Russia's annual "PROJECT" scientific forum in the city of Yaroslavl, the audience was treated to the debut of Boris, a highly-advanced robot that major news channel Russia24 called "the country's most modern robot." The problem is Boris was nothing more than a scam. Very similar in appearance to Honda's famous Asimo humanoid robot, Boris can reportedly walk and talk, do mathematical calculations and even dance. The audience, made up primarily of young students, was blown away by the robot's advanced capabilities, as were several news outlets. But then a few things didn't quite add up about Boris, and internet users were quick to point them out. First, everyone wondered where Boris' sensors were located, as its head seemed to only feature LED lights for eyes and mouth. How could it perform all these feats, and be aware of its surroundings without any sensors? Then there was some controversy about its speech capabilities as many were convinced that Boris' voice was in fact pre-recorded. And doesn't it seem odd that Boris was supposed to be the most advanced robot ever created in Russia, and yet no had ever heard of it. Finally, the question that seemed to be on everyone's mind was why did Boris look so bulky compared to other humanoid robots? Asimo and other advanced robots featured slim, hinged arms and legs, as well as a very slim waist, but Boris looked like a person could easily fit inside it. As you probably guessed, it turns out Boris was indeed nothing more than a human in a robot suit - incidentally, one you can buy online for $3,495. (Oddity Central)

Report Card Friday - Not Good For Kids

An alarming new report from the University of Florida says that child abuse increases the day after school report cards are released - but only when kids get their grades on a Friday! The curious finding startled researchers, who had figured abuse might go up regardless of the specific day kids got their grades. But their study of reports to a child abuse hotline that included broken bones, burns and other confirmed abuse found otherwise. An increase only occurred on Saturdays after a report-card Friday. Though overall increase rates were small, there were almost four times more cases on those Saturdays than on other Saturdays. No apparent connection between report cards and abuse was found on other days of the week. The state is now considering making sure report cards come out only Mondays - Thursdays. (WGN-TV)

What the What?

Police in the Bronx, New York, are looking for the woman who allegedly slashed two other bus riders when they petted her small dog! The victims, ages 20 and 22, were just being friendly and one of them petted the woman's dog. Well, it was apparently a service animal and the owner pulled out a knife and slashed the22-year-old woman four times across the face. The 20-year-old woman was slashed in the left arm. Both victims got off the bus at East 149th Street and Morris Avenue, and ran to Lincoln Medical Center. The suspect got off at the same location, and fled inside a green SUV taxi. The 22-year-old victim now has a number of stitches across her face, all because she says she wanted to pet someone's dog. The suspect is described as a woman in her early to mid-30s, about 5-feet-7 to 5-feet-9, wearing eyeglasses, a dark-colored baseball cap, a black waist-length coat, black pants, black and white sneakers, and a black shoulder purse. She was carrying a small white dog that was wearing some sort of coat. (NBC New York)

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