The Cannibal Of Bloomington
Published on June 16, 2016
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It Bothered a Lot of People Who Watched the Animal Planet "Documentary" on Ornithologist and Convicted Murderer and Cannibal, Dr. Timothy Darrow, To Learn That Tim Darrow Never Actually Existed!
That Part Didn't Really Bother Me.
It Was Still a Cool Story, Real or Not.
What Bothered Me Was That the Animal Planet Writers Chose Bloomington, Illinois as the Hometown of the Fictional Cannibal Scientist, Who Purportedly Killed and Ate His Colleagues During an Indonesian Jungle Excursion.
Bloomington, Illinois, You See, is a Twin City With Normal, Illinois, Which is My Home Town!
They are Not Twin Cities 10 Miles Apart, Mind You, or 5 Miles, or 2 Miles Apart. The Two Towns are Not Even Separated by the Width of a Bob's Big Boy...One Town Runs Right Into the Other.
This isn't the First Such Blotch on Bloomington's Reputation, Either, Real or Otherwise.
The Book, "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt," Tells the True Crime Story of Bloomington, Illinois Orthotist, David Hendricks, Who, in 1984, Was Convicted of Murdering His Wife and Three Kids With an Axe and a Butcher Knife.
What is it: Something in the Water?
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I Had Even Wondered, Before Discovering That the Jungle Story was Fiction Masquerading as Real Life, if Little Timmy Darrow had Perhaps Lived in My Home Town as a Child?
Perhaps Just a Couple Blocks Away From Me?
Maybe, I Reasoned, Our Families Had Known Each Other!
Perhaps, Just Perhaps, My Mom Used Little Timmy as Motivation for Me to Clean My Plate at Dinner...
Something Like: "I'll Bet Little Timmy Darrow Down the Street Eats All His Lima Beans! Such a Good Boy. He'll Probably Grow Up To Be a Doctor or a Famous Scientist."
"Yeah, Mom...Or a CANNIBAL!"
(I Hate Lima Beans!)
But, I Digress.
Timothy Darrow was a Figment of some Writer's Imagination, and Even Alleged Real Life Murderer, David Hendricks, Was Acquitted in a Retrial in 1991.
He's Free, and Living in Orlando, Florida.
Sleep Tight, Mickey Mouse!
Normal, Illinois, by the way, has a Different Source of Water From Bloomington, so, No, it's Not Something in the Water, at Least Not for Normalites.
Maybe for Bloomingtonians.
Sometimes I Kinda Feel Like Normal Should Put Up Some Kinda "Great Wall of China" Between the Two Towns!
Normal is Such a Nice Town.
Really!
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