Episode 386:

FOMO is Ancient

The "Paper Bag Killer"

Karen

The Dancing Plague of 1518

Georgia

Episode 386: FOMO is Ancient

This week, Karen and Georgia cover the "Paper Bag Killer" and the Dancing Plague of 1518.

The "Paper Bag Killer"

The "Paper Bag Killer" Notes:

Header Image Source: Photo by Eva Bocek/Alamy

Other Images:

1. Detectives Frank Falzon and Jack Cleary (AP)

"The 24 year old son of a noted San Francisco psychiatrist has been arrested as the suspected "Paper Bag Killer" in two recent apparently motiveless murders here.

William P Hanson was arrested late Saturday in the Forest Hill home of his parents on warrants charging him with the Dec. 20 murder of Ara Kuznezow, 54, and the Oct. 16 slaying of Lorenzo Carniglia, 70.

The charges brought new tragedy to the parents, Dr. and Mrs. Karl Hanson. A son Melvin , a promising young artist, died [when] he was stuck by a car in 1962. A Daughter, Karmalee, 26, committed suicide in Los Angeles in 1967.

Their son William is accused of slaying apparent strangers. The killer had concealed the murder weapons in paper bags and fled in a white van.

The suspect worked as a driver for a local delivery service. He was tracked down by police who had checked out virtually all vans in the area and questioned some 50 persons who drove them, according to the report by homicide inspectors Jack Cleary and Frank Flazon.

The inspectors' report also noted they had received "information from a confidential source" that Hanson had admitted the two killings.

Numerous weapons and clothing found in the home on a search warrant tied young Hanson in with the murder, the report said..."

Source: “Psychiatrist’s son held as the ‘paper bag killer’” by Frank O’Mea (San Francisco Examiner) 1974

The Dancing Plague of 1518

The Dancing Plague of 1518 Notes:

Other Images:

1. Painting depiction of musicians accompanying people who are suffering from the dancing plague (Alamy)

"On a hastily built stage before the busy horse market of Strasbourg, scores of people dance to pipes, drums, and horns. The July sun beats down upon them as they hop from leg to leg, spin in circles and whoop loudly. From a distance they might be carnival revellers. But closer inspection reveals a more disquieting scene. Their arms are flailing and their bodies are convulsing spasmodically. Ragged clothes and pinched faces are saturated in sweat. Their eyes are glassy, distant. Blood seeps from swollen feet into leather boots and wooden clogs. These are not revellers but “choreomaniacs”, entirely possessed by the mania of the dance..."

Source: “The Dancing Plague of 1518” by Ned Pennant-Rea (Public Domain Review)