The Death of Pierre Beaumard
1979: To help cure his shyness around women, Pierre Beaumard's therapist had him lie sandwiched between two mattresses. This was meant to simulate the womb. Four people then walked on top of the mattresses to "stamp out his complexes". Beaumard died of suffocation.
I'm skeptical about whether this story is true. For some reason it makes my BS spidey sense tingle. It was definitely reported in papers as legitimate news, but it's been known to happen that reporters will hear an urban legend or joke and then (knowingly or not) put it out on the wire services as a true story. I'm suspicious that's what happened here. I'd believe it more if I could find an original French source, which I can't.
I'm skeptical about whether this story is true. For some reason it makes my BS spidey sense tingle. It was definitely reported in papers as legitimate news, but it's been known to happen that reporters will hear an urban legend or joke and then (knowingly or not) put it out on the wire services as a true story. I'm suspicious that's what happened here. I'd believe it more if I could find an original French source, which I can't.
The Santa Clarita Signal - May 27, 1979
The Ottawa Citizen - May 17, 1979
Comments
A modern instance which renders the historical one more credible:
https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,,509588,00.html
https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,,509588,00.html
Posted by Paul on 09/06/21 at 10:32 AM
@Paul; Thank you for the link. A horrifying story. In search for more information about the prosecution of the other adults involved lead me to this Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Newmaker. I searched using the mother's name receiving many links about this crime.
Posted by Steve E. on 09/06/21 at 11:43 AM
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Category: Death | Psychology | 1970s