The burglar who returned to rape his victim... and the awesome courage that saved her

Daniela Vinci was finding it hard to sleep. It had been an exceptionally difficult time for the unmarried 40-year-old, who had suffered a break-in at her three-bedroom maisonette in Slough just two nights before. Though unhurt, she had been deeply unsettled by the burglary, during which her mobile phone, laptop and bank cards had been taken while she slept. The following day Daniela, 40, had replaced her locks, but she still felt unsafe in her own home. Just after 11pm she checked that everything was secure and went to bed and, after tossing and turning, eventually fell into a deep sleep. Three hours later, she was woken by a flashlight shining in her face — and found herself plunged into a nightmare.

(...)

‘As I awoke I became aware of something on my bed. I thought it was my cat, Texas, who loved cuddling up to me,’ says Daniela. ‘Suddenly I sensed a torch shining in my face. I stretched out, still half-dreaming, to switch on my bedroom light. ‘Then I saw him. I immediately realised I was in serious danger and knew instinctively it was the same man who had stolen my belongings two days before. ‘In that awful moment, the training I had done when I began work as an airline stewardess kicked in. ‘Keeping my voice as steady as I could, I said: “What’s your name? What are you doing here?” ‘He replied: “My name is Josh and I am 19.” ’ Police would later discover that he was Joseph Innocent Mwaura — a Kenyan who had committed a violent knife crime within a year of being granted a British passport at the age of 16.

As Daniela would discover, he decided to pay her another visit when he saw her photographs on the laptop he had stolen. Daniela, who is softly spoken and slightly built, found herself in a desperate fight for survival. ‘I asked him: “What do you want?” There was a terrible pause before he replied menacingly: “I want your t**s.” ‘I knew then that this was not a simple robbery. The realisation that he planned to rape me was truly horrific. ‘I tried to stay still, desperately trying to stay calm. But I was alone in my bedroom with no one else in the house and no means of calling for help. The odds were truly against me.

‘Slowly he raised his gaze and looked me square in the eye, before saying: “I’ve been watching you.” My stomach flipped in fear and I started to shake.’ What followed was terrifying. ‘He pulled up his top, rubbed his chest and said: “Do you want some of this?” Then he lunged at me, grabbing my body and saying filthy things to me,’ says Daniela. ‘Somehow, I found the strength to push him away, frighteningly conscious I was naked under the duvet. I felt so vulnerable. ‘I began saying “No” again and again as firmly as I could. I knew that it was imperative I remained calm. ‘I had to get him out of the bedroom to give me a chance to escape or call for help, so I took a gamble and said: “You can do what you want, but let’s go downstairs.” ‘He didn’t object so, as he walked out to go down the stairs, I leapt out of bed, pulled on my pyjamas and followed him.’

Daniela thought the only chance for survival would be if she could keep him distracted, so she tried to strike up a conversation. ‘I felt physically sick. His actions were strange and detached, but I tried to talk to him. ‘I said: “The best thing you can do is to leave my property now. There’s the door.” ‘He replied: “How do I know you won’t call the police?” I said: “Take my phone and hide it.” He walked into the kitchen with my new mobile phone, but suddenly, something seemed to click. ‘His strange, almost robotic compliance ended and he wrenched open a kitchen drawer and pulled out a large, sharp knife.

‘I threw myself down the stairs. I’d managed to half-release the lock on the front door when my attacker grabbed me by the throat and pulled me back. ‘His words came spitting out. “I’m going to rape you,” he snarled. I screamed and screamed. He pushed the knife against my throat and spat: “If you do that again, I’m going to kill you.” ‘I thought I was going to die there, like that.’ Then Daniela did something extraordinarily brave.

‘I smelt the sickening sweet smell of marijuana on his breath and felt anger surge through my body. I thought: “I can fight him — he’s under the influence of drugs.” I rolled on top of him and grabbed the knife. ‘I acted so quickly it took him by surprise. I put it to his throat and screamed “Get out — now,” kicking the door open with my foot. ‘He shouted “Bitch!” and punched me hard in my left eye. But then he grabbed the knife and ran. ‘Though my head was swirling from the force of the blow, I managed to slam the door shut after him. I half-ran, half-crawled upstairs and rang 999.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2529249/The-burglar-returned-rape-victim-awesome-courage-saved-her.html

Man seeking warmth killed in car fire

TORONTO - A 54-year-old Scarborough man died in a car fire early Wednesday morning — an apparently indirect victim of the ice storm. The victim was found by crews responding to a 911 call for a vehicle fire at the rear of 2424 Kingston Rd., just west of Midland Ave., shortly after 2 a.m., the Toronto Fire Service said. “When Firefighters arrived on the scene the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames,” Capt. David Eckerman said. “Once the fire was out they realized there was an occupant inside.” The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released. Those who knew the victim said his apartment was among the 70,000 or so homes in the city that were still without power on Christmas Day. “He was in his truck trying to keep warm because it was so cold where he lived,” said Pauline Soule, an area resident who knew the man. The hydro was knocked out at her home as well and she decided to spend Christmas Eve at a friend’s place rather than shiver in her apartment. So Soule said she could understand why the man would have hopped into his vehicle to warm up. “It’s sad,” she said of the tragedy. “Especially because he was such a nice guy.”

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/12/25/man-seeking-warmth-killed-in-car-fire

RSPCA inspector's horror as he finds rotting corpses of eight puppies in family home: Dogs were locked in kitchen, starved and tried to eat each to survive

Eight puppies were forced to eat each other to try to survive after their owners locked them in a kitchen where they starved to death. Despite the appalling case of animal cruelty Sam Hessin, 39, and her two children, Damon, 22, and Hazel, 18, were spared jail. Pictures released by the RSPCA show the dogs' rotting remains in the house in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, lying in their own faeces. The Hessin family barricaded the eight pets - which were around six months old - into the downstairs room because they were biting them and did not know what else to do.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2518074/RSPCA-inspectors-horror-family-SPARED-jail-leaving-8-puppies-starve-death.html

Man eats beloved dog to stay alive in Canadian wilderness

Marco Lavoie, 44, was clinging to life when he was rescued after being stranded in northwest Quebec for three months. A bear attack left him without food and equipment, and the camper reportedly ate his beloved German shepherd to survive.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/man-eats-dog-stay-alive-wilderness-article-1.1504703

Chinese villager amputates own leg with fruit knife and saw

A Chinese villager with no medical background reportedly amputated his own leg using nothing but a fruit knife, a hacksaw and a wooden back scratcher after a mysterious infection took hold of one of his limbs and doctors gave him just a month to live. Until last year, Zheng Yanliang, 47 from a village in the northern province of Hebei, was known as the local “tough guy”, according to a report in the Shijiazhuang Daily newspaper. But early one morning in January 2012, Mr Zheng woke at his home in Dongzang to sharp pains in his belly and legs. He headed straight to the local surgery where GPs puzzled over his condition and administered a painkilling injection. Baffled by Mr Zheng’s complaint, they packed him off on a lonely and ultimately futile traipse through China’s chronically underfunded healthcare system, first in the nearby city of Baoding and then in Beijing. In the Chinese capital, hospital doctors diagnosed him with a rare and apparently incurable disease that had taken hold of his lower limbs for “an unknown reason,” the newspaper claimed.

They concluded Mr Zheng would be dead within the month, handed his family a hefty medical bill and sent the now penniless farmer back home to die. Three months on, however, and Mr Zheng was still very much alive albeit unable to sleep and surviving on a diet of prescription drugs. At night his ghoulish howls kept Dongzang awake, the newspaper claimed, and soon his condition deteriorated further: purple spots began to appear on his right leg and the skin turned black. Mr Zheng's impoverished family had no money to pay for surgery and when he implored the village doctor to amputate the limb he was rebuffed. “The doctor dared not do so,” his wife, Shen Zhonghong, told the Shijiazhuang Daily. It was then that a desperate Mr Zheng decided to take his fate, quite literally, into his own hands.

Read on! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10369723/Chinese-villager-amputates-own-leg-with-fruit-knife-and-saw.html

'All I have left of the man I loved is a foot, a finger and the back of his skull', says widow whose husband was eaten by cannibals

-Alexander Abdullaev, 37, and Alexei Gorulenko, 35, ate Olga Kurochkin's husband Andrei
-Pair were forced to turn to cannibalism to stay alive after Siberian fishing trip went terribly wrong
-Fishermen had been lost for two months and were eating sawdust
-Andrei had frozen to death in sub-zero conditions before pair ate him
-Widow says her life has been totally ruined by revelation

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2303890/Widow-Andrei-Kurochkin-eaten-cannibals-All-I-left-foot-finger-skull.html

Woman stabbed FORTY times by stranger... then survives! Amazing recovery of Alyssa, 35, who was knifed in the heart with a rusty blade after man followed her into her apartment block

A woman stabbed 40 times by a stranger on the staircase of her apartment building miraculously survived - despite the blade piercing her heart. Alyssa Wilcynski from the Bronx, New York, was attacked by an unknown man wielding a rusty steak knife as she climbed the stairs in her Mott Haven block of flats. The 35-year-old only survived the apparently random butchery after emergency open-heart surgery, as well as operations to repair her ravaged stomach and kidneys. Her husband Patrick Sotomayor, 38, yesterday called for the capture of the attacker, telling the New York Post: 'I want him off the street - he's an animal.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2303392/Alyssa-Wilcynski-Miraculous-survival-woman-stabbed-FORTY-times-Bronxs-Mott-Haven-block.html

New reports of starving North Koreans resorting to cannibalism come amid renewed tensions between Pyongyang and Washington

A North Korean man suffering starvation was put to death after it was learned he ate two of his children, a new report claims. While the man’s wife was away, he reportedly killed his eldest daughter and then his son after he had witnessed the murder. ‘We have meat,’ he told his wife on her return.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/report-starving-north-korean-father-resorts-cannibalism-article-1.1250773

Yes, we hacked off his frozen flesh with an axe and ate it - but we DIDN'T kill our friend: Tale of cannibalism after four men disappeared on trip to Siberian wilderness

Baldly, the facts are these: Two of the men returned alive, one is still missing, while the fourth man – 44-year-old Andrei Kurochina – was found dead in strange circumstances. At first it was assumed he had simply perished in the extreme cold. But then the shocking truth began to emerge. Police discovered he had been cannibalised and that his flesh quite possibly was eaten by his best friend, Alexei Gorulenko, and fellow adventurer Alexander Abdullayev, to keep themselves alive. Abdullayev, 37, insists they ate Kurochina only after he died from natural causes. But the police suspect otherwise and have launched a murder investigation.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2252234/Horrific-tale-cannibalism-men-disappeared-trip-Siberian-wilderness.html

Two men suspected of killing friend and resorting to cannibalism after getting lost for three months on fishing trip to Siberia

Two fishermen lost in Siberia are suspected of killing and eating their friend in order to survive, it was claimed last night. A fourth man is also missing, leading to fears that he, too, was murdered and cannibalised. Alexander Abdullaev, 37, and Alexei Gradulenko, 35, were plucked to safety by a rescue helicopter having survived temperatures lower than minus 30C three months after embarking on their fishing trip.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243169/Two-fishermen-suspected-resorting-cannibalism-getting-lost-trip-Siberia.html

Nepalese farmer bitten by cobra chases snake to exact deadly revenge

A Nepalese farmer who was bitten by a venomous snake took revenge by sinking his teeth into the reptile and killing it. Mohamed Salmo Miya was farming near his village southeast of Kathmandu when he encountered the deadly common cobra, said district police chief Uma Prasad Chatrubedi.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192608/That-s-bite--THIS-bite-Nepalese-farmer-bitten-Cobra-chases-snake-exact-deadly-revenge.html

Florida teen in grip of savage alligator gave up his arm to save his own life and joked about it later

Trapped in the vise-like jaws of an alligator, a Florida teenager faced a stark choice — give up his life, or give up his arm. Kaleb Langdale chose to live. “He knew he was losing (his arm),” his sister, Rebecca Langdale, said. “If it would have grabbed his body ... he would have drowned.” “So he just took his feet, buried his feet in the alligator’s head and just pushed so that he could get it free.” “Once it popped loose,” Langdale swam to the dock where his pals pulled him ashore and tended to him before paramedics arrived, she said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/florida-teen-grip-savage-alligator-gave-arm-save-life-joked-article-1.1111156

Bear who ate dead con in car killed

VANCOUVER - Conservation officers in Kamloops have reportedly euthanized a black bear responsible for feeding on the corpse of a convicted killer.

The dismembered and partially consumed remains of 53-year-old Rory Nelson Wagner of Kamloops, B.C., were found last Wednesday on a remote logging road between Merritt and Kamloops.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/04/bear-killed-that-ate-dead-con-in-car

I was terrified he was going to behead me: Grandfather who killed machete burglar tells how fear drove him

A householder who stabbed a machete-wielding burglar to death told yesterday how he feared he was about to be beheaded like Iraq hostage Ken Bigley.

Grandfather Peter Flanagan, 59, who is partially deaf, grabbed a carving knife in self-defence after being confronted by intruder John Bennell, 27, in his hallway.

During a violent struggle the HGV driver, who was dressed only in his underpants, stabbed and killed Bennell, who was high on cocaine – and on bail for an earlier burglary.

Mr Flanagan was arrested on suspicion of murder and spent three days in police custody, but the Crown Prosecution Service ruled he should face no charges because he had acted reasonably to defend himself.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139020/Grandfather-59-stabbed-machete-wielding-intruder-death-terrified-beheaded-like-Ken-Bigley.html

Cave in the Utah desert where man who has given up money lives

Footage has revealed the sparse and yet contented life of Daniel Suelo - the man who has chosen to live without money for the past 12 years.

Suelo, now 51, renounced money in 2000, left his last $30 dollars in a phone booth and walked into the desert to start a new life in Moab, Utah.

His way of life has become an inspiration to thousands of Americans who have suffered in the economic crash and activists like the Occupy movement, disillusioned with a society consumed by avarice and greed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138738/Daniel-Suelo-voluntarily-lives-NO-money-decade-slept-cave-years.html

Deadly stand-off as police surround booby-trapped bunker of survivalist father who 'shot wife, daughter and pets'

Authorities have surrounded an elaborate, underground bunker believed to be that of a gun-toting survivalist suspected of killing his wife and daughter nearly a week ago and then holing up in the woods of Washington state.

They pumped tear gas into the structure in the Cascade foothills east of Seattle and saw movement inside, but the dozens of officers would not entering the bunker because they believed its occupant was heavily armed, and that it might be booby-trapped.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2136478/Police-surround-secret-bunker-gun-toting-survivalist-shot-wife-daughter-pets-going-grid.html

Toddler, 2, survived on Easter eggs for up to five days as mother lay dead in their home

A two-year-old girl is believed to have survived on chocolate Easter eggs for up to five days after her mother died in their home.

The child was found near the body of her mother - aged in her early 30s - after neighbours in Wagga Wagga, Australia, raised the alarm.

Ambulance officers are believed to have found Easter wrappings in the house, leaving them to believe that the youngster had survived on chocolate during the days she was alone with her mother's body.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2130429/Toddler-2-survived-Easter-eggs-days-mother-dies.html

Man, 76, survives 10 days in the desert using 'Boy Scout' skills

A 76-year-old diabetic man survived 10 days in the remote Nevada desert by melting snow and using skills he learned as a Boy Scout, but a friend who was with him and ventured away to get help died.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9175145/Man-76-survives-10-days-in-the-desert-using-Boy-Scout-skills.html

Man stranded in snow for three days survives on FROZEN BEER

A driver stranded in snow for three days at temperatures of minus 17 has survived by eating frozen beer.

Clifton Vial, 52, became stranded in his Toyota Tacoma 40 miles outside Nome, Alaska after plunging in a snow drift.

Uncharacteristically unprepared for the situation, he was wearing jeans and a thin coat – not protective enough to dig himself out of the snow without getting frostbite.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2069735/Man-stranded-snow-days-survives-FROZEN-BEER.html

Hungry villagers kill hundreds of orangutans for food

Hundreds of orangutans have been killed for food by villagers in Borneo as man and beast struggle for survival, a shock report revealed today.

Almost 700 of the great apes - whose name means man of the forest - have been slaughtered in the rainforests by hungry villagers, while starving animals have moved in the other direction, encroaching onto farmland looking for food.

A survey by a nature group in Indonesia - which shares occupation of Borneo with Malaysia - reveals that 691 orangutans were slaughtered in Kalimatan, Indonesia's larger portion of the island.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057035/Hungry-villagers-killing-hundreds-orangutans-food-Borneo.html