“Cannibal” Bites Off Mother’s Thumb in Upper Darby


Case study: A 21 year-old girl attacks her mother while she’s bathing, biting her on her hand and legs. Part of the mother’s thumb is missing and can’t be found. Cannibalism? Yes, according to Upper Darby police Superintendent Michael Chitwood, who added pseudoscientific gloss to the incident by terming it “domestic cannibalism.” Cannibalism, as anyone knows, and as Merriam-Webster defines it, is the “ritualistic eating of human flesh by a human being.” There’s no evidence this angry, violent woman swallowed anything at all, or even meant to. Added Chitwood, that keen observer of criminal pathology, “She almost took off the thumb. Nasty.” [Daily News]