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Lilly Gray's unusual grave epitaph.
Lilly Gray's unusual grave epitaph.

Lilly Gray, Victim of The Beast

Field review by the editors.

Salt Lake City, Utah

The secret behind the cryptic epitaph of Lilly Gray, "Victim of the Beast 666," rests with her apparently nutcase husband Elmer. In an appeal to the Board of Pardons at Utah State Prison -- Elmer was locked up at the time -- he claimed that his parents "died of grief when kidnappers murdered my wife." That's his previous wife. He married Lilly three years later; she died eight years after that.

According to the Utah State Historical Society, which fields frequent questions about Lilly, she died of natural causes (she was 77), but Elmer blamed her death on the "Beast 666" of government, and particularly Democrats. The company that made the headstone recalls that Lilly's family hated Elmer, and when he died in 1964 he was buried in the same cemetery but as far from Lilly as possible.

Lilly Gray, Victim of The Beast

Salt Lake City Cemetery

Address:
355 N, Salt Lake City, UT
Directions:
Salt Lake City Cemetery. From 4th Ave./205 N enter the cemetery by turning north onto Center St. Turn right when you reach 330 N. Drive east until you reach Cypress Ave. and turn left. Drive north one block and turn right onto 355 N. Drive east until the street ends at 1200 E. The gravestone is on the right, level with the ground, about a dozen rows before you reach 1200 E. and about ten graves in from 355 N.
Hours:
Gates open M-F 8-4:30 Local health policies may affect hours and access.
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