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Oxford Eagle, Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Area Farmer Arrested after Brandishing
Severed Hand
Whereabouts of rest of body, alive or dead, unknown
By KELLY SHACKLETON
Eagle Staff Writer
Local cotton farmer John Reagle was arrested Monday night
at Duffy's Bar and Grill after displaying what he claimed was
a human hand to other patrons. Reagle, 43, is a longtime resident
of the Oxford area and was described as "a regular"
at Duffy's.
The Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department verified Tuesday
night that they had taken Reagle into custody, but declined to
provide details on the charges. Public Information Officer Elizabeth
Jones said by telephone that the hand had been taken into evidence
for further analysis. Jones would not say whether the hand had
been confirmed as human or if it is, in fact, human, whether
investigators believe the person it belongs to is still alive
or may have been the victim of foul play.
Duffy's bartender, Patrick Mulvaney, said he contacted authorities
after observing Reagle showing the hand to several customers.
"He had it in one of those plastic containers like you keep
leftovers in," said Mulvaney. "He kept showing that
thing to people and, at first, I thought it was just a joke.
But some people were getting upset and, when I got a look at
it myself, I knew something just wasn't right."
Several Duffy's employees said Reagle had told them that the
hand belonged to his former girlfriend, who reportedly has not
been seen in Oxford since June. The same employees added that
the hand did not appear to them to be a woman's hand, but said
they did not get a close enough look to be sure because Reagle
never took the hand out of the plastic container or opened the
container to let them get a closer look. Witnesses who had seen
the hand described it as "dirty" and "a weird
color." One Duffy's customer, who spoke on the condition
of anonimity, said Reagle had opened a corner of the container
for him and "the smell was so bad, I almost [vomited] right
there on the spot."
Reagle's first court appearance is scheduled for later today. |
