Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Severed head found in airline baggage

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-11-2006, 04:57 AM:

quote: BBC News Online
US immigration officials have arrested a Haitian woman after baggage screeners found a human head in her luggage at a Florida airport. Myrlene Severe, 30, has been charged with failing to declare the head on a customs form and transporting "hazardous material".

She arrived at Florida's Fort Lauderdale airport on Thursday on a flight from Cap Haitien in north Haiti. Ms Severe said that the head was to ward off evil sprits, officials said. "Severe stated that she had obtained the package, which contained a human head, from a male in Haiti for use as part of her voodoo beliefs," the US Attorney's Office said in a statement.

A spokesman for Miami's immigration and customs agency told the AFP news agency that the head was not simply a skull. "It had teeth, hair and skin, and quite a lot of dirt," she said. Ms Severe, a US resident, appeared in court on Friday in Fort Lauderdale. She could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The practice of voodoo, an Afro-Caribbean religion whose roots go back thousands of years, is still widespread in Haiti. The Haitian government officially recognised voodoo as a religion in 2003.

It's surely a bit funny that all she appears to be charged with and investigated for is illegally transporting hazmats. The presence of a severed head would certainly raise the possibility that the individual who had been relieved of it did not die of natural causes - yet the authorities don't seem to be interested in that. I wonder if the Haitians are investigating?

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-11-2006, 06:14 AM:

So, if you want to bring your voodoo head with you, do you have to buy an extra seat for it?

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-11-2006, 10:47 AM:

Nah, I'm sure it's considered carrion.

Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 02-11-2006, 11:50 AM:

quote: Leo Enticknap
The presence of a severed head would certainly raise the possibility that the individual who had been relieved of it did not die of natural causes

But there are many ways to get ahead in life!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-11-2006, 12:00 PM:

Aha! Now at least know the whereabouts of one missing Hurricane Katrina victim!
[Wink]

Man, I'm going to hell.
Even sprinting to get there!

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 02-11-2006, 02:46 PM:

"The Haitian government officially recognised voodoo as a religion in 2003."

She'll probably claim religious interorance and get off. Then some sleaze-bag lawyer will convince her to sue for millions.

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 02-11-2006, 03:21 PM:

there's a long standing tradition in christianity to carry body parts all over the world as relics. How is this different? There isn't any indication that this fellow met a shady demise, and the report indicates that everything would be fine if she had declared the head to customs. My guess is that this isn't a religous intollerance issue because nobody is saying that she can't posess the head, just that she was trying to "smuggle" it across a border. I think 16 years is a bit steep, given the information in the report. Further, I think that the woman from Miami customs was wrong to try and insinuate that, if it had just been a skull, all would be okay. So what if it has skin and *gasp* dirt!

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-11-2006, 05:33 PM:

quote: Adam Wilbert
there's a long standing tradition in christianity to carry body parts all over the world as relics. How is this different?

It's the same. Good point.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-11-2006, 06:07 PM:

Ms. Severe was carrying a severed head? Who would'a thought.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-11-2006, 06:15 PM:

Michael, I thought you were much smarter and gave you more credit than to agree with that horseshit. Asking how it's different is akin to saying carrying a cut-off penis and balls to remind them of their husband/lover/BF is the same.

A relic is dried and ancient "keepsake" while that head is apparently relatively "fresh" with skin, hair, and dirt and probably decaying and infested with all sorts bacteria, worms, and God knows what else. (Of course I'm assuming since the article doesn't go into detail)

Bottom line: Where are the other 7 heads? [evil]

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 02-11-2006, 08:44 PM:

the head isn't just a keepsake (like an urn of ashes is a keepsake. To her, its religiously significant. Like a turban or a saints fingertip. There is no way a customs official would be okay confiscating a Christian relic without serious repercussions. But since we westerners think voodoo is bunk, its okay. Nothing in the article said anything about worms. Even mummies have skin and sometimes hair. I wouldn't bet on the forensic skills of the customs official to determine whether the head was a biological hazard. She just saw a creepy head and made some assumptions. Note that she made no mention of it smelling like decay, or anyother tell-tale sign of if not being anything other than dried out tissue and bone.

anyway. My alternative post went something like, "whats wrong with a little head every now and then?"... but there is no way i'd post that in a public place. [Big Grin]

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 02-11-2006, 10:00 PM:

quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Ms. Severe was carrying a severed head? Who would'a thought.

I was hoping I wasn't the only one who found that ironic.

I'd like to see where this case goes. Most interesting.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-12-2006, 04:51 AM:

quote: Adam Wilbert
There is no way a customs official would be okay confiscating a Christian relic without serious repercussions. But since we westerners think voodoo is bunk, its okay.

It's not because I think voodoo is bunk that this scares me a little, but rather because when you find the head of someone who obviously died not that long ago (because of the, erm, biomass still attached to it), that raises the question of how that head came to part company with the rest of the body it was once attached to. Certainly in this country, mutilating a body like that is highly illegal even if the death of its owner did not involve any foul play. If murder for religious purposes is legal in Haiti then fine, I guess - but remind me to tick that off the list of possible places to go on holiday this year!

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 02-12-2006, 01:22 PM:

quote: Adam Wilbert
there's a long standing tradition in christianity to carry body parts all over the world as relics. How is this different?

I don't they are alloud to smuggle heads either.

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 02-12-2006, 01:36 PM:

... but if it's declared at customs ... no worries, right?

Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 02-12-2006, 02:37 PM:

At least they didnt lose her luggage.

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 02-12-2006, 02:42 PM:

perhaps when she checked the bag, she told them that if they lost it "heads would roll" ?

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 02-12-2006, 09:38 PM:

If she had declared it there would then be a duty due on it. Is there an official means of placing a value on a dead head?

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-12-2006, 09:59 PM:

Yes there is... as is without rotting brains and worms: $12.59. With rotting brains and worms... and with grave-robbing: $1639.50 plus a 14-day quarantine.

BTW Jeremy: Your comment is hilarious! [beer]

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 02-12-2006, 10:00 PM:

she could claim it to customs, but state that it is of NCV (no commercial value). Because who is going to buy a stinky head? Then customs is happy, and she wouldn't owe any duties. ... Unless she was caught with a whole bunch of heads, then customs might determine that she is in posession with intent to sell.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-13-2006, 02:53 PM:

quote: Phil Hill
A relic is dried and ancient "keepsake" while that head is apparently relatively "fresh" with skin, hair, and dirt and probably decaying and infested with all sorts bacteria, worms, and God knows what else.

That is certainly true from the hygiene point of view, but I understood that Adam W. was referring not to that, but to the perceived weirdness of having a head for "religious reasons", and that it is indeed the same as the collection of and the belief in the magical powers of relics which at one time was very widespread in Christian churches (as well as many other religions).

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 02-14-2006, 07:44 PM:

quote: Adam Wilbert
the head isn't just a keepsake (like an urn of ashes is a keepsake. To her, its religiously significant. Like a turban or a saints fingertip. There is no way a customs official would be okay confiscating a Christian relic without serious repercussions. But since we westerners think voodoo is bunk, its okay. Nothing in the article said anything about worms. Even mummies have skin and sometimes hair. I wouldn't bet on the forensic skills of the customs official to determine whether the head was a biological hazard. She just saw a creepy head and made some assumptions. Note that she made no mention of it smelling like decay, or anyother tell-tale sign of if not being anything other than dried out tissue and bone.

anyway. My alternative post went something like, "whats wrong with a little head every now and then?"... but there is no way i'd post that in a public place.

You're kidding right? You can't bring back tulips from Amsterdam unless they have a specific export stamp on them. You can't bring in any produce or plants - customs agents take food away all the time. There are even some State borders where you can't bring across any produce. And I don't know if it's still the case, but it used to be that if you drove into Canada and you had a dog with you, you had to prove the dog had been vaccinated or either you had to turn around or they had some scam where they call a vet who re-vaccinates the animal for a (large) fee and then they let you in.

But it's okay to bring in a recently severed head? And people don't walk off of planes with mummies. Special hygienic transport is arranged for them.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-14-2006, 08:01 PM:

quote: Martin Brooks
if you drove into Canada and you had a dog with you, you had to prove the dog had been vaccinated or either you had to turn around or they had some scam where they call a vet who re-vaccinates the animal for a (large) fee and then they let you in.

It's not a scam, we just don't want foreign canine diseases being imported.

If you want to see a scam, try bringing frozen meat into the US in your RV for your own consumption.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-15-2006, 12:31 AM:

What about shrink heads? Can you travel with one? I mean, as a souvenir, not if you have one on your shoulders.