News of the Weird: Sept. 23, 2020

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Awesome!

Florida real estate agent Kristen Kearney was inundated with interest in a condo she listed in Lake Worth after photos of the $100,000 property and its Budweiser beer can decor went viral. The former owner, now deceased, made it "his life's mission to wallpaper his home in beer cans, and he did it," Kearney said. "He even created a crown molding look with the cans." United Press International reported every wall and ceiling in the condo is covered with actual beer cans, except the bathroom. Kearney said the property is under contract with a backup offer.

Come Again?

A man identifying himself as Jesus Christ appeared before Rickergate court in Carlisle, England, on Sept. 15 after being arrested by British Transport Police on suspicion that he did not buy a ticket to ride a train from Edinburgh to Carlisle. When asked to state a plea, the man replied, "There is a not guilty plea; I don't need to plead," the News & Star reported. In response to a request for his address, he said: "No fixed abode, or Yellow House, Albion, Mauritius." The bearded defendant wore a hood and a green blindfold throughout his hearing; he was returned to custody as prosecutors considered his case.

The Passing Parade

Windermere, Florida, fifth-grader Ian Golba, 11, visited the principal's office on Sept. 15 after his teacher asked him to remove his Hooters face mask. "She said it was not appropriate for school and I asked her why and she said if you really want to know why go ask the principal," Ian told WESH. The principal at Sunset Park Elementary School backed up the teacher, asking Ian three times to remove the mask, which he did. But Greg Golba, Ian's dad, wants to know what the problem was. "I don't think it's offensive at all. It's just a restaurant," Greg said.

Compelling Explanation

Tarrant County, Texas, Sheriff's Deputy Jay Allen Rotter, 36, called 911 on Aug. 26 to report that his girlfriend, Leslie Lynn Hartman, 46, had shot herself in the head with his duty weapon as they shared a hug in their bedroom, telling the dispatcher "she is done" and he "would have stopped her if he could have," according to Denton police. But as police investigators analyzed physical evidence and Rotter's electronics over the following weeks, they came to identify Rotter as a suspect, leading to his arrest on Sept. 14, reported NBC5. According to the arrest affidavit, the deputy had been active in a chat room called Discord that night, where he posted that he had "just sent a 9 millie in this ... hippie," and phone and computer records showed the two had been arguing about the shooting of a milk carton in the backyard before the alleged murder. Rotter was charged with murder and tampering with evidence and is being held on $1.15 million bond in the Denton City Jail.

Inexplicable

Jimmy Senda of Racine, Wisconsin, takes a walk along the beach on Lake Michigan every morning, where he collects "sea glass and random stuff -- because I like to do artwork at home with the stuff that I find," he told FOX6. On Sept. 15, he came across a curious package, "wrapped in aluminum foil, and around it, it had a pink rubber band," he said. "Curiosity got to me, so I popped it open and it looked like a chicken breast," but on closer inspection, he determined, "it was a brain." The package also contained flowers and paper with what appear to be Mandarin characters printed on it. Senda called police, who turned the package over to the Racine County Medical Examiner's Office and later announced the brain was "not consistent with a human brain," although they were still trying to determine what kind of animal it came from.

Government in Action

Ocean Township, New Jersey, listed the home of 89-year-old Glen Kristi Goldenthal for sale on Sept. 9, foreclosing on the property because Goldenthal owed 6 cents on back taxes from 2019. The tax shortfall had accrued to more than $300, triggering the sale, which alerted Goldenthal's daughter, Lisa Suhay, in Virginia. NBC New York reported the outraged Suhay began calling everyone in the township's office to explain that her mother suffers from Alzheimer's and probably forgot about the bill. Suhay took care of the debt, but for her mother, "(T)his isn't over ... She's called me dozens of times in the last 24 hours," asking about her house and where she's going to live. Mayor Christopher Siciliano was apologetic, but Suhay remained incensed: "Shame on anybody who can't think far outside the box enough to come up with six cents in an office full of people."

Bright Idea

A commuter boarded a bus between Swinton and Manchester, England, on Sept. 14 sporting what one fellow passenger thought was a "funky mask" until it started to move. The face mask turned out to be a live snake, wrapped around the man's neck and over his nose and mouth, the BBC reported. Another passenger took photos and posted them on Twitter, commenting "each to their own and all that." "No one batted an eyelid," another rider said. Transport for Greater Manchester, however, said in a statement that "snakeskin -- especially when still attached to the snake" is not suitable for masks.

Fashion of the Times

In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, French fashion house Louis Vuitton announced it will release a protective visor Oct. 30 in its stores worldwide that Vogue reports is "the most luxurious take on a plastic face shield that we've seen to date." The LV Shield is trimmed with the designer's signature monogram and gold studs engraved with the company's logo. It doubles as a sun visor, changing from clear to tinted when exposed to sunlight, and also can be flipped up and worn as more of a cap. Although a price for the shield has not been set, Vogue estimates it to be somewhere between the cost of a typical Vuitton hat, $700, and sunglasses, $800.

Duuuude

Colin Sullivan, who grows cannabis plants outside his home in New Brunswick, Canada, caught a little thief in his garden on Sept. 8, the Daily Mail reported. Sullivan took four photos of a mouse nibbling on the stems of the plants -- then found the little rodent passed out in a pile of leaves. "He's missing an ear so it may be self-medication for his PTSD but I still think it's time for an intervention," Sullivan posted on Facebook. Sullivan re-homed the mouse to a cage, where he was weaned to just one medium leaf per day. "It's been a couple of rough days for our little baked buddy here and despite a belly ache and a wicked bad case of the munchies I think he'll make a full recovery," Sullivan wrote.

Police Report

Daytona Beach, Florida, police arrived at the home of Lovely Butts, 64, on the evening of Sept. 14, where they found a female juvenile relative standing in the front yard, smelling of bleach. The girl, who was described in the police report as Butts' "primary caregiver," told police she had argued with Butts about "the location of her medicine" and that Butts had thrown bleach at her, striking her in the face and mouth. Butts also allegedly threatened to pistol whip the girl. The Smoking Gun reported that Butts was charged with aggravated assault and child abuse; police confiscated her unloaded pistol from her nightstand.

Mark King of Wolcottville, Indiana, went to war with imaginary enemies on Sept. 13 after using methamphetamine on the previous two days, according to the LaGrange County Sheriff's Department. Deputies responding to reports of a man swinging a broom handle around and hollering in a yard, found King as he left a neighbor's garage after having thrown a gun through the building's window. Previously, police determined, King had allegedly shot up the inside of his own home, imagining that people were trying to break in and steal some of his belongings. WANE reported King was transported to a hospital and later charged with possession of meth and paraphernalia.

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