Brief Reports in Chronological Order
Date of Event is Unknown or Unsure
Previous Report <- Return to the SHC Chronology Page -> Next Report
Disclaimer
Marie Bally's Fiery Death
The Legend:
On a December morning at eight o'clock sometime previous to 1852 (when it was reported by M. Devergie), 50-year-old washer woman Marie Jeanne Antoinette Bally was found burnt to death in an unusual way. Her room was bare of furniture except curtains, a chest, and a chair, and it was the latter she was found sitting in; while her torso was burnt and her arms reduced to bone, her head, hair, the upper portions of her shoulders, and her stockinged legs were were unharmed.
Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, presents an account of this event from Lester Adelson's Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science (March-April, 1952), I will attempt to locate a copy. Nickell describes her the burned areas of Bally's torso as "the skin and muscles of her back, as well as the sides and anterior portion of the trunk." The curious burning pattern of Bally's body is not so curious once Nickell points out that underneath the woman was "an earthen pot such as is used by the poor to hold a few coals to warm their feet." Add to this that Bally had returned to her lodging the previous evening "in a state of drunkenness," and a clear possibility of Bally having her clothes accidently catch fire while she was in a deep sleep appears.
Sources:
- Now available on Request.
See Also:
