Up Close & Peculiar
More than 100 years ago, the globetrotting Robert Ripley began collecting artifacts from his journeys around the world, which today form the heart of the greatest collection of oddities ever assembled. Up Close & Peculiar brings the curious history of these pieces to a personal level as our very own, Allyson Iovino, explores the strange relics that lie within our Warehouse walls! Become a part of the story as we share pieces for every history buff, pop culture junkie, and oddities collector alike.
Today: Alfred Packer's Mummified Head
Alfred Packer is one of the most notorious alleged killers in history. Let’s go inside the mind (literally!) of the Colorado Cannibal.
In November 1873, a group of twenty-one hopefuls set out from Utah to Colorado in search of gold. Along the way, they met Alfred Packer, who claimed to be a guide. Desperate for help, they accepted him into their group, but unfortunately, Packer had no idea where he was going and led the group to disaster.
After they made it about halfway through their treacherous journey, they had run out of food and were starving. Luckily they found a Native American tribe that offered them food and shelter but by February they were still eager to find gold, so they split the group, leaving some with the tribe while six, including Packer, pressed on.
Months later, Packer eventually stumbled into an agency, looking surprisingly well-fed despite claiming to have barely survived. Suspicion grew as he spent a ton of money on alcohol and gambling at a nearby settlement, as well as flaunting the possessions that once belonged to the men he traveled with. Eventually, people started questioning him, and his stories didn’t add up.
Packer initially claimed that he stayed by the fire while others searched for food and never returned. Then he changed his story and claimed the group ran out of food, and one by one, as they died, they were eaten. He even reportedly said, “It would not be the first time that people were obliged to eat each other when they were hungry!”
Packer was arrested for manslaughter and imprisoned, but soon after escaped jail and disappeared for nine years. Months after his escape, an illustrator discovered the bodies of Packer's companions, all with wounds that suggested they were murdered.
Eventually, Packer was recognized by a former party member and was immediately sent back to Colorado to be sentenced for his crimes. Packer changed his story again, saying that one member killed all of the men until Packer killed him and proceeded to eat the meat off the already-dead members. Despite, or probably because of, all of this back and forth, he was eventually convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to death.
However, Packer’s conviction was overturned because Colorado wasn’t yet a state at the time of the murders, but he was tried under state law. He was retried for manslaughter years later and sentenced to 40 years.
In prison, Packer spent his time making dollhouses and playing nice, while on the outside his story caught the attention of one of the first true crime fangirls, journalist Polly Pry, who campaigned for his release.
Believe It or Not!, Polly’s efforts paid off. Packer was paroled in 1901 after serving less than half his sentence. He lived out his final years as a seemingly changed man, even reportedly becoming a vegetarian.
If YOU want to get Up Close with Alfred Packer's mummified head, pop over to Ripley's Believe It or Not! San Antonio to see the Colorado Cannibal yourself!
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