Rest in Peace? Not for These 7 Unlucky Individuals

At least in death one can hope to escape life’s torments and insults. For some, however, that’s when the true indignities start. Take the macabre case of Formosus. Although he had had a turbulent history with the Roman Catholic Church—at one point he was excommunicated—in 891 he was elected pope and served until his death in 896. Some nine months later, however, Pope Stephen VI (VII) decided to place Formosus on trial for the alleged crimes that had resulted in his earlier excommunication. Stephen’s motivations aren’t entirely clear, but some speculated that he might have done so to cover his own misdeeds. Whatever the reason, what ensued was one of the most bizarre incidents in papal history. At the “Cadaver Synod,” Formosus’s exhumed corpse was propped up on a throne and subjected to a mock trial. With a deacon answering for the uncommunicative corpse, Formosus was found guilty. As a result, his election as pope was declared invalid, his fingers of consecration were cut off, and his corpse was later thrown into the Tiber River. Formosus ultimately had the last laugh, so to speak. His treatment helped cause an insurrection that resulted in Stephen’s imprisonment and subsequent death. Formosus’s ordinations were later reinstated, and he was reburied in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Next up is False Dmitry I. This odd tale begins with Dmitry Ivanovich, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible. After Ivanovich’s mysterious death at age eight in 1591, several people pretended to be him, staking claims to the throne. They became known as the False Dmitrys. The first of these was believed to be Grigory (Yury) Bogdanovich Otrepyev. Through various maneuvers, which included the aid of Polish nobles, he was declared tsar in 1605. However, he soon lost support, in part because of his preferential treatment of the Poles who accompanied him, and he was murdered the following year. That’s when things really got ugly. According to legend, his body was put on public view and endured various abuses. He was then cremated, and his ashes were reportedly placed in a cannon and fired in the direction of Poland. Years later Hunter S. Thompson would also have his ashes famously shot from a cannon, though the gonzo journalist had requested such a send-off.

There are several filmmakers whose corpses have ended up in situations made for the movies. While F.W. Murnau, director of the horror classic Nosferatu (1922), was familiar with the macabre, it’s unlikely he could have envisioned the events that would follow his own death. After being killed in a car accident in 1931, he was buried in the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery, located near Berlin. However, his grave site was vandalized on several occasions. Then, in 2015, his skull went missing. The remnants of candle residue at the grave led some to speculate that Satanists were responsible. His head remains at large.

In the theft of actor and director Charlie Chaplin’s corpse, the motive was immediately known: greed. Several months after his death, the comedic legend’s body was removed from a Swiss cemetery in 1978 and held for ransom. Chaplin’s wife, Oona, refused to pay the $600,000 the thieves demanded. Likely surprised by this response, the criminals continued to call. When another ransom demand was expected, the police undertook a massive operation to uncover the thieves. Oona’s phone was tapped, and all of the 200 phone booths in the area were watched. The mission proved successful as two mechanics were arrested, and Chaplin’s body was recovered from a grave in a cornfield.

In the 17th century Catherine of Valois might have rolled over in her grave if she had actually been in one. The widow of English King Henry V, she was embalmed and buried in a chapel of Westminster Abbey following her death in 1437. When Henry VII decided to replace that chapel, he had Catherine’s remarkably preserved body put in an open coffin next to Henry V’s tomb. Her corpse was still on display more than 200 years later when it caught the eye of English diarist Samuel Pepys, who was known for his amorous pursuits. As one of the creepiest birthday presents ever, in 1669 the just-turned 36-year-old Pepys was allowed to kiss Catherine’s corpse. His diary entry described the event: “I had the upper part of her body in my hands, and I did kiss her mouth.” Fortunately, Catherine was later saved from such indignities as she was buried in a vault and then under an altar.

Another odd case concerns musician Gram Parsons, who had performed with the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. He reportedly once told his road manager, Phil Kaufman, that he wanted to be cremated in Joshua Tree National Park. After Parsons overdosed in 1973, Kaufman sought to carry out Parsons’s wish. He and Michael Martin drove to Los Angeles International Airport in a hearse and then convinced officials that they were supposed to transport the body to a private plane at a different airport. The two were given Parsons’s body, which they then took to the park. There they set the coffin containing Parsons’s corpse on fire, but the corpse was only partially burned before law authorities arrived. Parsons was later buried in New Orleans, and Kaufman and Martins were fined.

And then there is Evita Perón. Her incredible life was followed by an unbelievable afterlife. Raised in poverty, she later married Col. Juan Perón and helped him win the Argentine presidential election in 1946. Adored by the masses, she assumed incredible political power before she died in 1952 at age 32. However, her story didn’t end there. Her husband ordered the mortician to preserve her beauty. The embalming process took some three years, during which time Juan would often put her on display to rally support from her faithful followers. After he was overthrown in 1955, military officers stole her body, which was moved throughout Buenos Aires, at times reportedly stowed in a van that was parked on various streets. Seeking a permanent solution, the military had her corpse flown to Italy in 1957, and she was buried in a Milan cemetery under the name Maria Maggi de Magistris. In 1971 the body was returned to her husband, who was then living in exile in Madrid. Rather than bury her, Juan kept her in an open coffin in the dining room. Rather surprisingly, Isabel, his current wife, was fine with this arrangement. Evita proved a good-luck charm, as Juan was reelected president of Argentina in 1973. After he died the following year, Isabel took office, and she had Evita’s body returned to Argentina. When Isabel was overthrown in 1976, Evita’s body was finally given to her sisters, who interred her in the family mausoleum. Protected in a fortified crypt, her corpse seemed to have found its final resting place.