Ronald Poppo, the homeless man who was the victim of the infamous “Miami Cannibal”, Rudy Eugene, is doing as well as can be expected. After being attacked by Eugene near a busy Florida road, Poppo lost both eyes and most of his nose. Eugene, who police suspected was high on “bath salts”–a synthetic drug–tore the flesh from Poppo’s face with his teeth and then turned on officers, who shot him to death. The grisly attack was the beginning of a string of weird incidents around the country last year, which set off much speculation about the dangers of synthetic marijuana.
But during the mediastorm, we barely heard a thing about the victim, who came away from the gruesome event disfigured but alive. A photo of him is floating around the web this week; be warned, it’s a pretty graphic image. This is what Poppo looks like today, one year later.
Lately, news outlets have been inundated with bizarre stories regarding people displaying extremely aggressive and violent behavior, some of which ends in cannibalistic tendencies. Since the story that started it all–Rudy Eugene’s face-eating attack on homeless man Ronald Poppo in Miami–several more incidents have been documented, several of which involve the synthetic drug “bath salts”, but by no means all. In fact, the scariest part of these incidents is that they don’t seem to have a common denominator; nothing to tie them all together. Eugene, who was widely believed to be high on bath salts when he chewed up 75% of Poppo’s face, tested positive for nothing more than marijuana. And a more recent attack on a woman in China gave initial reports that the attacker, a bus driver who pulled the woman from her car and began chewing on her face, was simply inebriated.
A new story out of Arizona seems to have several parallels to many of the other stories, although police aren’t speculating on what caused his erratic behavior at this time. 45-year old John Brigham rammed his car into the back of a Porsche on Friday, which caused a chain-reaction and sent the Porsche flying into the back of another car. Brigham exited his vehicle, took off all his clothes–just like Eugene– jumped onto the roof of a nearby car and began screaming gibberish and ranting. He quickly hijacked another car from a pregnant woman–who was almost full term and suffered two broken legs in the accident he’d caused–and sped off down the highway the wrong way, where he hit several more cars before coming to a violent stop in a ditch. He was actually ejected from the car but it didn’t seem to affect him, as he jumped up and immediately began looking for another car to commandeer. Police arrived at that point and were able to take him into custody, however. In all, his spree injured six people, including one man who was ejected from his vehicle and was in serious condition.
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Pregnant victim’s car. Images courtesy of ABC15.com.
While no one has speculated yet on what might have caused this violent and insane behavior–including police, who haven’t released information on what Brigham might have ingested beforehand–there are so many similarities to other stories around the country that I can’t help but draw on them for clues. Aside from Eugene, whose toxicology report makes him an enigma–there have now been at least five other cases where people have inexplicably stripped down before exhibiting violent behavior, and many of them include a mention of bath salts.
Luckily for the victims involved, Brigham’s behavior didn’t evolve to cannibalism. As it is, several were hospitalized and will likely require weeks, or even months, to heal.
In recent weeks, the term “bath salts” has exploded around the web as speculation about its involvement in a string of bizarre incidents leads investigators to a crack down on the synthetic drug.
It all started with the “Miami Cannibal“, Rudy Eugene, who attacked a homeless man over Memorial Day weekend in a fit of rage and chewed off 75% of his face. Police had to shoot and kill him in order to stop the attack, so finding out what caused it had to be delayed until the toxicology report came back. Until then, rumors flew as everyone tried to figure out what would make a man do what Eugene did.
The report eventually came back positive only for marijuana, but in the weeks between the attack and its release, speculation ran rampant about a drug known as bath salts. Not the scented powder used in bathwater, but a synthetic drug known to cause something of a psychosis in users, who reportedly undergo a feeling of invincibility and show signs of heightened strength. During the interim after Eugene’s attack, several cases of bath salt-induced violence were reported around the nation, many of them involving biting or tearing of the flesh. It was for that reason that the public–and officials–became certain that Eugene must have been under the influence of the drug.
The toxicology report isn’t stopping many officials from trying to ban the drug, however, and several are cracking down on those in possession of it. Until a federal law is passed, however, it’s going to be very difficult to police the drug, because it is currently still legal in several states and is sold in gas stations and head shops under inconspicuous-sounding names like “Cloud 9” and “Vanilla Sky”.
New York senator Joseph Griffo says he wants to see tougher legislation regarding the drug, calling it a “scourge on our society”.
“What we are seeing in recent days is a dramatic upsurge in incidents in which the violent, bizarre behavior of individuals who have confronted the police is being linked to their use of these drugs,” said Griffo.
Griffo was instrumental in getting a law passed banning the making and selling of bath salts last year; however, the chemists are getting around that law by simply altering the makeup of the drug and taking out key ingredients noted in the legislation.
“They are the Lex Luthors of chemistry and we need to put them out of business,” he said. “…We want to close the loopholes.”
It seems I’ve been reporting on “bath salts” and insanely violent, terrifying stories related to them for a year now. In reality, it’s only been since Memorial Day, and now it looks like that first holiday weekend story–of Rudy Eugene attacking and eating 75% of a homeless man’s face in Miami–doesn’t even have anything to do with bath salts.
The medical examiner has confirmed, after much speculation, that Eugene was definitely not high on bath salts, or any other synthetic drug, when he attacked Ronald Poppo. In fact, the only thing in his system was marijuana.
The official report says they specifically tested Eugene’s system for bath salts and found not a trace.
“The department has also sought the assistance of an outside forensic toxicology reference laboratory, which has confirmed the absence of “bath salts,” synthetic marijuana and LSD,” the report said.
Something doesn’t add up here, and since at least part of this attack was caught on surveillance camera, it’s hard to imagine that officials got their story mixed up–either purposely or on accident. Eugene reportedly displayed all the signs of being high on bath salts: violence, rage, the urge to bite and chew on human skin (although he didn’t eat any of it, but spit it out instead), and an apparent feeling of invincibility, as well as displaying an almost super-human bout of strength that made him hard to take down.
Unless the victim, Ronald Poppo–who is slowly recovering in a Florida hospital–has any more to add to the story, it’s likely we will never know what made Eugene fly into his cannibalistic rage.
The story of the Miami cannibal--32-year old Rudy Eugene–went nationwide very quickly last month after news broke that a man had eaten 75% of a homeless person’s face in a fit of naked rage. Since then, more alarming stories have cropped up, putting the entire country on edge and sending the interwebs into a flurry of rumors regarding a popular, somewhat legal synthetic stimulant called “bath salts”.
Now, a new story has come out of Palmetto, Florida, sending residents into a panic and a whole new set of rumors flying. 26-year old Charles Baker, under the influence of an unknown substance, went into a rage on Wednesday night and bit a chunk from another man’s arm during an altercation. Baker had gone to visit his children at their mother’s home. According to witnesses, he banged on the door, then barged in and proceeded to take his clothes off. He stormed around in a rage until Jeffery Blake, who lives at the home, tried to stop him, at which point Baker bit a chunk of flesh out of his arm. When police arrived, they used a taser on Baker to no effect. Baker actually pulled the taser prongs out of his skin and continued to rage. This happened two more times, until officers were finally able to subdue him enough to put handcuffs on him.
If you are familiar with Rudy Eugene’s story–and I’d wager that you are–you’ll recognize a lot of the above paragraph as familiar. Eugene also got naked before attacking his victim and chewed on the man’s face, although autopsy reports now show he didn’t actually ingest any of the flesh. And he also was extremely difficult to take down, charging at police officers without fear and taking several shots from them before being fatally wounded.
Toxicology reports take a while to be processed, so we’re still waiting to hear whether or not Eugene was high on “bath salts” as rumored. No word yet on what substance Baker was high on, but if it’s determined that the drug caused his rage, it could go a long way to help certain political groups in getting it banned.
Ronald Poppo, the homeless man who had 50 percent of his face savagely chewed off by Rudy Eugene, is apparently doing well, all things considered. According to CBS Miami, doctors are pleased with his progress thus far, stating that Poppo is awake, talking, and moving around with the assistance of hospital staff. He’s also taken an interest in the NBA Playoffs, and has even aligned himself with the Miami Heat.
However, despite his progress, there’s still quite a bit of struggle ahead for the guy. In addition to having his left eye gouged out during the attack, his right eye was also severely damaged. Doctors hope that he will retain a little vision after everything is said and done. Additionally, Poppo’s nose was destroyed by Eugene, and the upper half of his face is still covered in scabs and destroyed flesh.
For those with strong stomachs, a very graphic, close-up photograph of Ronald Poppo has been released to the public. You can investigate the image for yourself, which has been embedded below this article. Keep in mind, however, that the picture is extremely graphic, as it gives you a very good idea of what Rudy Eugene did to this guy during the assault. The fact that he’s alive to tell the tale is beyond amazing.
If you’re unfamiliar with this particular story, here’s what happened: Over Memorial Day weekend, Rudy Eugene, 31, was discovered chewing on Ronald Poppo’s face in Miami, an incident which was immediately reported to police. Since Rudy, who was thought to be on LCD at the time, refused to cooperate with police, he was shot on-sight. Ronald, meanwhile, was in pretty rough shape; by the time help arrived, he was already missing his lips, an eye, and an ear. Authorities rushed the butchered man to an area hospital for treatment. Since then, details surrounding the attack slowly trickled out, giving everyone a very clear picture of what transpired.
The good news, of course, is that Ronald Poppo is alive. Although he faces a number of obstacles during his recovery, the fact that he survived the ordeal is simply incredible. Doctors have described him as “very charming and positive”, which is instrumental in his recovery.
When you’re ready, the first photo of the victim since the attack has been released. As stated previously, you can find the extremely graphic image below.
Ok, by now most of us know about Rudy Eugene, the 31-year old “zombie” in Miami who ate 75% of a homeless man’s face over Memorial Day weekend. If you haven’t heard the story, check it here, and then subscribe to our blog so this won’t happen again.
Since that initial attack, more stories have poured in from all over the country involving violent murders and cannibalism that have been tied to the drug known as “bath salts” (although Eugene’s toxicology report hasn’t come back yet, leaving police to speculate on his motives based on similar behavior from known users of the drug).
Now, just when the public’s fear had begun to wane a bit, a new story comes out of Louisiana that is eerily similar to that of Eugene’s, and police believe it, too, is connected to the bath salt craze.
Carl Jacquneaux, 43-year old man from Lafayette Parish, was arrested over the weekend after he showed up at a friend’s home, argued with him briefly, then chewed off a chunk of the man’s face. Police were called regarding a “domestic dispute”, and when they arrived discovered that the victim–Todd Credeur–had fended off his attacker with a can of wasp spray. Jacquneaux was already gone by that time, hiding at another friend’s house, whom he briefly took hostage with a knife and gun. Police tracked him down and arrested him and later reported he was under the influence of bath salts. Credeur was treated at the hospital for non life-threatening injuries.
There have been several conflicting reports as to what exactly bath salts are and what they do to the human body. While reactions depend on the specific person, they usually include a sharp spike in body temperature (which leads to the user taking their clothes off in order to cool down, something which can tip off police as to what they’re on before a chemical test is issued), a feeling of invincibility, violent rages, sudden strength, and hallucinations which some liken to LSD effects and others say are more akin to a psychosis.
Because the drug isn’t illegal everywhere–it can be found in gas stations if you know where to look–it’s still relatively easy to come by, and police in Miami say they are seeing an influx of it on the streets. Some legislators are pushing for a ban on the synthetic drug, but until then, we may hear more and more of these cannibalistic incidents.
While the story of Rudy Eugene–the 31-year old Miami man who devoured most of a homeless man’s face over Memorial Day weekend–has garnered lots of attention in the press with labels of cannibal and “zombie”, the police have a very different side to the story, one they believe is tied to a drug that’s been showing up a lot in the homeless community.
“Bath salts“–as they’re known for their crystalized appearance–are sold in some gas stations and online under euphoric-sounding names like “Ivory Wave”, “Vanilla Sky”, and “Cloud 9”. For some people, the effects of the drug reportedly range from a deep psychosis to hallucinations to a violent rage in which they feel untouchable. Most experience a sharp increase in body temperature, making them feel as though their insides are baking; these people usually remove their clothing, which is a tipoff to police.
Rudy Eugene displayed all of those traits, leading police to believe he was under the influence of the drug when he attacked 65-year old Ronald Poppo on a Miami causeway. Officers ordered him to back off, but he refused, becoming agitated and advancing on them while growling with a piece of flesh dangling from his mouth. They shot several rounds before taking him down.
Because so many people have displayed similar actions while high on bath salts, police believe it’s responsible for a wave of strange behavior in Miami recently, including a homeless man named Brandon DeLeon. DeLeon walked into a restaurant on Saturday night where two police officers were eating and began yelling obscenities at them. When he couldn’t be calmed down they took him into custody, where he allegedly banged his head against the bars of the cell, growled, and tried to bite one officer’s hand off.
The arresting officers issued a safety bulletin about the incident, warning their peers about future patrols:
“It was later discovered DeLeon had taken a synthetic drug named Cloud 9. This bears resemblance to the incident that occurred in the City of Miami last week when a male ate another man’s face. Please be careful when dealing with our homeless population during your patrols.”
DeLeon also had alcohol in his system; it is not known if the combination of bath salts and alcohol is what causes the violent reactions. DeLeon later told a judge he had no recollection of the events.
The so-called Miami cannibal–31-year old Rudy Eugene–who attacked and ate 75% of a homeless man’s face last weekend was apparently viewed by friends and family as a bible-toting regular guy who didn’t drink or do hard drugs. And although he had at least one prior arrest on his record for battery, his mother and girlfriend say he wasn’t a violent man.
His girlfriend says she thinks something supernatural made him attack 65-year old Ronald Poppo, and although she can’t say for sure what that might be, she’s leaning towards voodoo or some other curse.
“That wasn’t him, that was his body but it wasn’t his spirit. Somebody did this to him,” she said.
Eugene’s girlfriend doesn’t want to be identified, but Eugene himself was of Haitian descent. Haiti is known for tales of voodoo and zombie curses, although in reality it has gotten blown out of proportion because of elaborate Haitian funerals and rites of the dead. Eugene’s girlfriend says she doesn’t necessarily believe in voodoo, but she doesn’t know any other way to equate the man she knew to the man on the excruciating 18-minute surveillance video which captured him ripping apart Poppo’s face.
The Memorial Day weekend attack was the first in a string of bizarre and sickening incidents, including a California man who ripped another man’s heart and tongue out before burning them to expel the “demons” he saw in the man and a Canadian porn star who allegedly chopped up his roommate with an icepick, raped the corpse and then ate parts of it before dismembering the body and shipping various appendages to political offices around Canada.
If you’re easily scared, you should probably steer clear of this article. Because I, horror-movie-and-zombie-lover, am kinda starting to get freaked out by all the insane stories pouring in from around the country about people going totally bitchcakes and ripping each other apart.
Since the story of Rudy Euegene–the Miami man who ate a homeless man’s face off last weekend–broke, other tales have been popping up in different states but with surprisingly similar amounts of violence, sparking rumors that a “zombie apocalypse” is upon us. The scariest thing is not even that it is happening, but that we don’t know why it’s happening. In the movies/comic books, zombies are easily explained by an illness of some sort, or a government experiment gone wrong, or similar. But these attacks don’t seem to have a connection, other than an altered state of mind, and no visible cause.
On Sunday, New Jersey resident Wayne Carter reportedly cut off pieces of his own flesh and cut out a rope of his intestines to throw at police after barricading himself in his home. Police say Carter has had psychiatric problems in the past. He survived the incident but is in critical condition.
On Tuesday, California cage fighter Jarrod Wyatt attacked his training partner in his apartment after allegedly drinking mushroom tea and hallucinating that the man was possessed by demons. He ripped out his heart, cut out his tongue, and tore off most of his face before burning the parts in order to expel the demons. A friend found him naked (like Rudy Eugene) and covered in blood with body parts scattered around the living room.
That night, in Baltimore, 21-year old Alexander Kinyua‘s brother found a human head and hands in a washtub in the basement of their house. He alerted his father, who alerted authorities, and Kinyua later admitted to killing roommate Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie and eating his heart and brains. According to The Baltimore Sun, Kinyua had previous arrests for violence, but still…weird, no?
While one cannot immediately jump to the conclusion that these stories are in any way related, it’s just weird to see them all pop up at the same time and to involve such a heightened state of violence. Rudy Eugene, the Miami attacker, has already undergone an autopsy, which reportedly turned up normal, but officials are waiting for the toxicology results to come back to get a better understanding of what his state of mind might have been during the attack. Rumors are swirling that he may have been under the influence of “bath salts“, a legal substance that causes fits of rage, heightened strength, and a severe effect on the brain, which some say is irreversible.
As new details emerge about the horrifying attack on a homeless man in Miami last weekend, they get more and more brutal. Miami police are saying that the victim, 65-year old Ronald Poppo, had the flesh eaten off his forehead down to the bone. He is also missing an eye, his nose, and mouth. Photos of Poppo after the attack shows only a bloody mess above a beard (WARNING: Extremely graphic. View at your own risk).
Poppo is expected to survive, although he is in critical condition. The major danger for him now is infection from Rudy Eugene’s saliva, as the human mouth carries so many germs.
Because Eugene was shot and killed by police during the attack, it will be difficult to determine the motivation behind it, although the ongoing theory by investigators is that it was drug-fueled. A rumor is going around the internet now about Eugene suffering from a virus, which may actually be scarier. Nothing has been confirmed yet, although an autopsy performed on Eugene reportedly showed nothing unusual. A toxicology screen takes much longer; no word yet on when results are expected.
Given the extremely horrifying circumstances of the “Miami cannibal” story, one of the questions on everyone’s mind is, “Why?” Why did Rudy Eugene suddenly decide to attack a homeless man and eat his face?
Answers aren’t immediately forthcoming, but Miami police think they’ve pieced together at least a little more of the puzzle after investigating Eugene’s whereabouts earlier on the day of the attack. Using witness accounts and running into a bit of luck, they’ve managed to shed light on what Eugene was doing that afternoon before he changed one man’s life forever and lost his own in the process.
According to Eugene’s girlfriend, he was at her house at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, rifling through clothes and acting erratic. He left abruptly and drove to a friend’s house across town, where he tried to recruit said friend into going to Miami Beach for Urban Beach Weekend, a huge event in the city for Memorial Day. The friend said he was unable to go because he had to work, and Eugene said he would go on his own. He was at the friend’s house until at least six a.m.
Eugene later parked his car around Tenth Street and was apparently unable to get it started again, so he abandoned it; since it was parked illegally, it was later towed. At this point, there are no witnesses to shed light on Eugene’s whereabouts or how long it took him to reach the causeway; police believe he was walking there in order to get back home, which was three miles away. They later found his driver’s license and clothing strewn between the beach and the site of the attack, which was a key component in their belief that he was high on “bath salts”, a dangerous LSD-like drug that causes internal body temperatures to rise and causes delirium.
By the time he reached a sleeping Robert Poppo, the homeless victim, he was fully nude. Surveillance video caught images of Eugene stripping Poppo’s pants off before he attacked his face–decimating at least 75% of it–which may be a clue that he intended to eat more of his victim than he did. By the time a bicyclist noticed the attack and alerted police, Eugene’s damage was mostly done. He ignored the officer’s cries to get off Poppo and was shot several times before being taken down.
Now, the only two people who could shed any light on the tragedy are unable to. Eugene is dead and Poppo is in critical condition with much of his face missing; it’s not known whether he will survive the attack. The questions that remain are haunting ones, and more importantly, may never be answered. Was Eugene indeed on drugs when he attacked Poppo? In the time between abandoning his car and arriving at the causeway, did he ingest “bath salts” in anticipation of the beach party and lose his mind to an LSD-fueled delirium?
As the story of Rudy Eugene–the man who attacked and cannibalized a homeless man in Miami over Memorial Day weekend–makes its rounds across the web, many have been left wondering about the unfortunate victim, who had most of his face decimated in the attack.
Now, the man has been identified as 65-year old Ronald Poppo, a homeless man with a long criminal record. He remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital. There’s been no word yet on the details of his condition, although early reports said he was missing his lips, an ear, and one eye. The muscular tissue is fully exposed on much of his face. It’s not known if he has family or anyone to be at his side at this time.
Details of the story are still few and far between, even though surveillance cameras caught most of the attack. The video shows Eugene and Poppo both nude as Eugene chews the flesh off of Poppo’s face, and police are speculating that Eugene was high on “bath salts”, which can cause delirium, fits of rage, and almost super-human strength. They also believe that Poppo, who was apparently asleep on the causeway where the attack happened, was an easy target for Eugene and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It took police several tries to gun down Eugene, who reportedly stood up and growled at them with his mouth full of flesh before they opened fire.
Gawker has released a link to a photo of Poppo’s face after the attack, and after viewing it, I don’t feel it’s appropriate to include here. If morbid curiosity overcomes you, head over to their page and take a look.
The past month has been rife with horrifying stories focused in the American South; first, the tale of college student Aimee Copeland, who lost her leg, foot, and both hands after cutting her leg in a zip-line accident and being exposed to bacteria-laden river water in Georgia. Soon after, three more stories surfaced of the so-called “flesh-eating disease”, which is a form of the common bacteria that causes strep: new mom Lana Kuykendall from South Carolina, who was rushed back to the hospital after giving birth to twins and complaining of severe pain in her leg. Soon after, Georgia resident Robert Vaughn–who coincidentally stayed just a couple of beds away from Aimee Copeland in the hospital–was told he had contracted the bacteria as well and had 2 1/2 pounds of dead flesh removed from his leg. Vaughn says he was nowhere near the water, but believes he might have picked it up from the brush while doing a landscaping job. Now, a fourth victim has come forward: Paul Bales, a Georgia grandfather who slipped and fell off a boat ramp in early May and cut his leg. Although he was exposed to a different water source than Copeland, the connection is worrisome for Georgia residents. Bales’ son says the antibiotics have stopped working to fight the disease and that he is scheduled to have one leg amputated below the knee.
Over Memorial Day weekend, a Miami man, Rudy Eugene, attacked and cannibalized a homeless man on a causeway, devouring most of his face in what police speculate was a drug-fueled rage. He ignored their cries for him to get off the victim and stood up growling, nude, and covered in blood with flesh dangling from his mouth before being shot at several times. Police say it took more than one shot to take him down; they believe he was under the influence of a new drug called “bath salts”, which causes the body temperature to skyrocket and leads to severe delirium, similar to the effects of LSD but much more powerful. The drug has been known to give users almost super-human strength and rage, making them dangerous to the public, themselves, and police.
Taken separately, these stories would be enough to make anyone want to lock themselves inside the safety of their own homes forever. But together, they are causing rumors about a zombie apocalypse, the end of the world, and conspiracy-theories involving the government. Given the fact that zombies have seen a rush of popularity in recent years, particularly after the sudden and enormous success of the AMC show “The Walking Dead” (based on the comic books of the same name), it’s not hard to see why people are scared.
When the Center For Disease Control released a blog post titled “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocolypse” earlier this month, it was mostly viewed as a joke; but in light of recent events, it seems strange that the CDC–which is located in Atlanta, Georgia–would view preparedness for disaster as a laughing matter. People are scared and are looking for answers and comfort, and when they don’t get it, rumors begin flying.
While it seems clear that no answers are immediately forthcoming, the one thing we can be sure of is that, so far at least, it seems some of these things can be prevented. If you live near a warm water source–especially in the South–whether it be a lake, river, or pond, take care not to expose even the shallowest cut to it. Clean all wounds immediately, even if they aren’t bad enough to require a doctor’s attention. At the first sign of severe pain in a limb, go to the hospital at once.
Until an autopsy is performed on Rudy Eugene, we won’t know exactly what caused his horrific attack; not much has been released to the public about his victim, although he is alive and in critical condition.
