abstract
| - Packer was born in Pennsylvania in 1842 to the shoe-making family of James Packer and his wife Esther Griner (or Crider). He went off to fight on the Union's side in the American Civil War as quickly as he could to avoid making shoes. He was discharged the following December because he suffered from epilepsy. He then enlisted in an Iowa Cavalry Regiment but was discharged again after an epileptic seizure. He decided he'd go West and try to find some gold. In November, 1873, Packer was with a party of 21 who left Provo, Utah, bound for the Colorado gold country around Breckenridge. On January 21, 1874 he met with Chief White Man's Friend near Montrose, Colorado. Chief White Man's Friend recommended they postpone their expedition until spring, as they were likely to encounter dangerous winter weather in the mountains. Packer and five others didn't want to follow White Man's Friend advice because they doubted how friendly he really was. I mean, this could be his way of trying to rape them. The five other men were Shannon Wilson Bell, James Humphrey, "Reddy" Miller, "Californian" Noon, and Israel the Swan. The party got "lost" in the snowy mountains, and Packer went off to look for help, while Bell viciously hacked the others to death with a hatchet. When Packer returned, found Bell roasting human flesh. He then allegedly proceeded to shoot Bell to death. After he killed Bell, Packer, saddened by the sudden death of his friends and due to great his desperation to get revenge, he ate the leftovers and went off again. After an additional month of random acts of cannibalism, Packer met up with some of the other members of the party at saloon near Gunnison. When asked where the others were at, he calmly said "Oh, I ate them." He was promptly arrested. At trial, his initial strategy of self-defense was not effective, as the judge exclaimed:
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