Cannibal: Alferd Packer Grave

Littleton, Colorado

In the winter of 1874, Alferd Packer made a decision that guaranteed him fame far beyond his lifetime, his name remembered in history books and whispered by Colorado school children. That tough winter, in the Colorado Rockies, Alferd Packer decided to eat his friends.

Packer was eventually put on trial and found guilty of murder, but his death sentence was overturned when it was discovered it didn't apply to murders committed prior to statehood. Packer was again tried in 1886 and this time was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He was pardoned after only 15 years by Colorado governor Charles Thomas, who explained to an incredulous public that since the murders had been committed on what was then a Ute Indian Reservation, Packer's crimes were not subject to the laws of Colorado (Thomas went on to become a U.S. Senator).

Packer, who had made a modest living in prison by selling autographed photos of himself, became a vegetarian. He retired to Littleton, where he was often seen passing out nickel bags of candy to school children. He died after suffering a stroke in 1907.

You can visit Alferd Packer's grave, complete with its original, tiny tombstone, in Littleton Cemetery. His headstone and subsequent spellings of his first name have settled on "Alfred" rather than "Alferd."