xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx

Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.

News of the Weird reported in 1996 that Mr. Virldeen Redmon, then 67, had just been sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison on three drunk-driving-related counts, the latest of his nearly 400 alcohol-related arrests since 1947. He was released from prison for health reasons in 2001, but has been arrested several times since then on similar charges (running his total to over 400), and in December 2003 was sentenced on three new counts to 17 years in prison. His driver’s license was revoked in 1977.

The Classic Middle Name (all-new):
–Arrested for murder: Dennis Wayne Bryant (Richmond, Va., August).
–Committed suicide while wanted for murder: Rodger Wayne Chastain (San Francisco, August).
–Awaiting trial for murder (pending a competency evaluation): Elvis Wayne Botley (Palm Springs, Calif., June).
–Murder appeal rejected: Barry Wayne Riley (Vancouver, British Columbia, September).
–Acquitted of murder (Ouch!): David Wayne McQuater (Athens, Ga., May).
–Sought by police for a 1995 murder (in Bonita Springs, Fla.) and suspected in a 2003 murder (in Leeds, England): David Bieber (who, when he went on the lam in England, chose as his alias, for some reason, Nathan Wayne Coleman).

Recent Alarming Headlines:
–“Westchester Ordered to Pay $2,500 to Pedophile Clown” (an August New York Times story about clown Richard Hobbs’ winning a lawsuit against a county that had tried to keep him out of a public park).
(–“Champion Liar Accused of Cheating” (a November London Evening Standard report that this year’s winner of the World’s Biggest Liar contest in Cumbria, England, read from a script instead of extemporaneously lying).
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla. 33679 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd

NEWS OF THE WEIRD