They shot him. Embalmed him. Then forgot to bury him.

This week, Jamie and Leo dive into one of the strangest true crime stories in American history the bizarre afterlife of outlaw Elmer McCurdy.

After a failed robbery in early 1900s Oklahoma ended with a bullet, McCurdy’s body didn’t exactly rest in peace. Instead, he was embalmed, displayed, toured, propped up in carnivals, passed around by showmen, and eventually mistaken for a prop decades later. Yes. Mistaken. For. A. Prop.

From abandoned child to small-time outlaw… to sideshow attraction… to roller skating decoration (you read that correctly), this story spirals into one of the most disturbing and absurd chapters of outlaw history.

How did Elmer McCurdy become a mummy? How did his body end up in a funhouse? And how did it take decades for anyone to realize he was real?

This is what happens when the Wild West meets weekend at Bernie's.

Welcome to The Darkives. Dark history. Darker humor.

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Sources:

• history.com
• npr.org
• broadway.com
• newenglandhistoricalsociety.com

Theme music: Ways of the Wizard

Composed by: geoffharvey

Licensed through: Pixabay

Used with permission, Thank you Geoff!

Other music used licensed through Pixbay

• American Western Country-Tunetank
• Nightmarish Circus March-ikerregular123 (Freesound)

Other sounds used through Pixbay

used under the Pixabay Content License