10. Alferd Packer ate five of his companions in the Colorado Mountains during the Winter of 1874
Alferd Packer was an American prospector who confessed to resorting to cannibalism during the winter of 1874 whilst trapped in the Colorado mountains. Born 1842, Packer twice enlisted to serve in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Both times, in late-1862 and April 1864, Packer was honorably discharged due to epilepsy, after which time he journeyed to the Rocky Mountains to seek mining work. In November 1873, Packer signed on with an expedition of 21 men traveling to gold-rich areas near Breckenridge, Colorado. Despite the recommendations and offer of shelter from the Ute people in January 1874, several members sought to gain a head-start and Packer, along with five others, left the Ute encampment on February 9. Arriving at the Los Pinos Indian Agency on April 16, 1874, Packer was alone; when questioned regarding the fate of his companions, Packer claimed they had abandoned him due to the weather. However, during his attempts to flee to Pennsylvania a member of the original group identified a knife in his possession as belonging to one of the lost companions: Frank “Reddy” Miller.
Packer was detained and questioned by General Adams, whereupon he signed his first confession claiming that as members of the party died due to the harsh conditions the declining remnants of the small group butchered them for meat in order to survive. When asked to take Adams to the campsite this transpired, Packer attempted to escape and was arrested. His detention did not last long, and after being given a makeshift key Packer escaped his jail. Packer would not be recaptured under March 11, 1883, when he was discovered living under the alias “John Schwartze” in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Signing his second confession, Packer this time claimed that Shannon Bell had killed the others whilst he was away scouting. Unconvinced, Packer was charged with and found guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced to hang. Following an appeal, Packer was retried and convicted on five counts of manslaughter and sentenced to 40 years imprisonment. It is believed that prior to his death in 1907, Packer became a committed vegetarian.