The Odd Truth

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.

Bat-Burger Makes Bad Joke

JACKSON, Tenn. — What would you like on your burger? Lettuce? Mayo? Pickles?

Perhaps some bat?

A Lexington teenager faces up to six years behind bars for placing a dead bat on a bun as a joke and giving it to a man who took a bite, thinking it was a burger, police said.

The girl, whose identity is being withheld because she is a juvenile, will be charged with violating a new law that prohibits tampering with someone's food and giving it as a gift, according to Lexington Police Investigator Donna Hetherington.

"It appears to be a practical joke that went very bad. She just wasn't using a whole lot of common sense," Hetherington said Thursday.

Timothy Gooch, 21, went to a local hospital's emergency room after biting into the bat Tuesday night. He was not injured and the bat tested negative for rabies, state Health Department spokeswoman Diane Denton said Thursday.

Hetherington said the bat had been killed when someone ran over it and that the teen had never seen one before. "She thought this would be funny, but it wasn't," Hetherington said.

Embarrassed In Embarrass

EMBARRASS, Wis. — Whoever stole the baby Jesus from a church nativity scene in this central Wisconsin community apparently was too embarrassed by news reports to keep it.

After The Post-Crescent of Appleton ran a story on the theft Tuesday and area television stations reported on it, the Waupaca County Sheriff's Department called the Rev. Todd Jerabek to say the person who took the statue wanted to return it.

The statue and attached manger, a single unit that had been screwed to the floor of the nativity set outside Zion Lutheran Church, were delivered Tuesday evening. The identity of the thief wasn't made clear.

Jerabek, pastor of Zion Lutheran, said the church did not plan to pursue the case with the sheriff's department, making any legal charges unlikely. He said the theft was "a bit disconcerting to many people."

"Some people were really disappointed," he said. "They wondered why would somebody do this, especially with Christ in front of a church."

They'll likely hear about it. When asked if the incident would be the topic for his holiday services, Jerabek smiled and said, "I don't want to give my sermon away."

Dog-Killer Sentenced To 12 Years

NEW YORK — A man who threw his girlfriend's dog off her 23rd-floor balcony was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison for animal cruelty and other charges related to stalking the woman.

John Jefferson, 43, pleaded guilty Dec. 5 to robbery, burglary, stalking, criminal contempt and animal cruelty. The judge said two of the 12 years were for the dog, Ribsy.

"I've had pets all my life," Justice James Yates said. "I was just as sickened as anyone else when I read the stories."

Jefferson tossed the 16-year-old black and white terrier-poodle mix to its death on May 26 during an argument with Miller. Ribsy landed in the concrete plaza below and died instantly.

Jefferson also barricaded himself inside the apartment and threatened Miller with a knife, police said at the time.

"I am sorry," Jefferson said in court Thursday. "I was totally messed up, emotionally disturbed. I just lost it."

Fourth-Grade Cannibal Play Halted

KENNEWICK, Wash. - The show must not go on. That's the decision of an elementary school principal in Kennewick, Washington. A fourth grade class at Cascade Elementary had been working on a musical since September. It was supposed to have been performed last night. That was until the principal found out the play was "Sweeny Todd." It's about a barber who cuts up people and makes them into stew. Parents want to know why it took so long to make the decision -- after months of preparation and expense. One father says the kids were crying when they were told there would be no show.

Pharmacist With Arm Fetish Back On The Job

NEWTON, Kan. - A Newton pharmacist with an arm fetish is cleared to practice again by the Kansas Board of Pharmacy.

Corey Penner gave up his license after being convicted in March of 16 counts of misdemeanor battery. He was placed on two years' probation after he drew blood from dozens of people for a bogus study

The renewal of his license has several conditions: He is not to practice as a pharmacist in charge, and is not allowed to do any medical work other than dispensing.

Prosecutors say Penner drew blood from about 200 people during a span of about seven years.

At first he mailed the blood to non-existent addresses in the Kansas City area. Later he simply threw the blood away.

Penner never explained why he collected the blood. Harvey County Attorney Matt Treaster has said the crimes resulted from an arm fetish.

Sex Guide For 12-15-Year-Olds Axed

MONTREAL - Officials at a Canadian teen magazine are red-faced over a blue issue. Montreal-based Adorable is pulling a sex guide, included in its latest issue, off the shelves. The guide is titled "99 Ways to Send Your Boyfriend to Seventh Heaven." It explicitly describes how to perform certain sexual acts. But the magazine targets readers just 12- to 15-years-old. A statement from the magazine says an "error in judgement was committed." And Adorable promises to "never again" expose its young readers to off-color material.

Would-Be Carjacker Pummeled

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Police don't recommend doing it -- but a Florida woman is a hero to her mother for pummeling a would-be carjacker.

It happened last week outside a Tallahassee fast-food restaurant.

Katrese Forbes was leaving the restaurant when she saw a gun-toting man with a stocking cap over his face pounding on her mother's car window, demanding that she open the door.

When the man noticed Forbes, he aimed the gun at her. Then her mother started honking the horn, and the man pointed the gun back toward the mother.

That's when Forbes balled up her fist and struck the gunman in the face. He ran, but she caught up to him and punched him some more before he got away.

A suspect was arrested later at a nearby fast-food restaurant.

Police advise against hitting an armed robber because of the potential for a violent reaction.

Debunking The Curse Of King Tut

LONDON - Don't sweat the curse of the mummy.

Those who disturbed Tutankhamun's tomb died all right, but no sooner than those who kept their distance, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

"It doesn't need to be scientifically debunked because it's rubbish really, but it's the first time I've seen it treated in this medical or scientific way," Neal Spencer, an Egyptologist at the British Museum said of the study.

When people associated with British archaeologist Howard Carter's 1922 expedition that unearthed the tomb began to die prematurely, their demise was widely attributed to the mummy's curse.

The death the following year of Lord Carnarvon, who financed the expedition, unleashed a sensation in newspapers worldwide. Carnarvon, 57, died of pneumonia and blood poisoning after a mosquito bite became infected, but the speculation was that he died because of a curse on Tutankhamun's tomb.

The study used Carter's diaries to select a group for analysis. Carter recorded the presence of 44 Westerners in Egypt at the relevant time, of whom 25 were potentially exposed to the curse.

Nelson defined exposure to the curse as those Westerners recorded in Carter's diaries as being present on any of four key occasions - at the breaking of the sacred seals in the tomb on Feb. 17, 1923, the opening of the sarcophagus on Feb. 3, 1926, the opening of the coffins on Oct. 10, 1926 and the examination of the mummy on Nov. 11, 1926.

"There was no effect on survival time for any exposure" to the curse, the study found.