Oct 8, 2009 10:46 am US/Eastern
Author Alleges Williams' Head Stuck To Tuna Can
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
-
-
Ted Williams (1955 file photo)
Getty Images
The former chief operating officer at the country's largest cryonics center revealed more details Thursday about the alleged abuse of Ted Williams' frozen head.
Larry Johnson wrote a book about his tenure at Alcor, called "Frozen: My Journey Into The World of Cryonics, Deception, and Death."
He told Harry Smith of The Early Show on CBS that he saw several bizarre and unconscionable acts while working there.
The most notable was the gross mistreatment of Williams' body.
Cryonics is a science involving freezing human remains. Believers hope that one day they'll be bought back to life. In some cases the entire body is frozen, while in others, it's just the head that's preserved.
In Williams' case his head had been removed from his body.
Johnson said he went to work at the facility in Scottsdale, Arizona about six months after Williams was brought there.
One day the freezer holding Williams' head malfunctioned.
"They were going to move his head into another vessel to lower the temperature of his head to minus 321 Fahrenheit," Johnson told Smith.
"They went to put his head into that vessel. What you have to do is, obviously the head is round, it's not going to sit upright, so they got a tuna fish can, they put it at the bottom of that vessel, they set the head on top of the can and filled the vessel with liquid nitrogen."
"Well obviously after two or three days of being in that state when they pull you out, the can is stuck to the top of the head."
In Williams' case that's exactly what happened, Johnson said.
"They pulled him out, the tuna can was stuck to the top of his head. A technician grabbed a wrench, a monkey wrench, took a swing at the can, missed it, hit the head, dropped back again, (took) a second swing, hit the can, sent it flying across the room."
Johnson claims he went to police and talked to them about what he called "some questionable deaths" at Alcor, but he said investigators were more worried about "the homicides that happened last night."
Alcor blasted Johnson in a statement:
"Alcor condemns the gross insensitivity of news media in presenting Johnson's stories as newsworthy, desecrating the memory of Ted Williams to the great upset of his family, who were devastated in a New York courtroom on Monday when learning sales of Johnson's book would go forward."
Johnson says Alcor has "an awful lot to hide." He claims said he's been the target of death threats.
Ted Williams died in July 2002. At the direction of his son, John Henry Williams, his remains were flown from Florida to Arizona.
John Henry Williams died of leukemia at age 35 in 2004 after a bitter court fight against Williams' daughter, Bobby-Jo, who contended the wishes expressed in her father's will should have been followed. In the will, Ted Williams said he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered at sea.
She eventually abandoned the legal battle, citing lack of funds.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments