Buried over 60 years after his death, he had made more money (for other people, of course) when dead than in his rather unsuccessful life. Because of the method of burial, it would be quite difficult to put him to 'work' again. He did manage a successful prediction in his last words, however. Who was he, and why was a large sum of money involved in his eventual discovery and final 'retirement'?

queproblema

This sounds like a person whose body was displayed, but I can't come up with the right answer. Padre Pio, fairly recently in the news, doesn't fit, though, and Jeremy Bentham's body is still on display. http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=6109 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham#Auto-icon Knowing Baloo, I would wonder if he refers to someone or something not human, but this one had "last words." Could be a recording machine! Jul 22 08, 8:44 AM

Baloo55th

Definitely human. Equally definitely no padre. The 'money' involved was/is a quite well-known sum. He achieved a certain notoriety. Partly for what he did, and partly for how badly he did it. The sum of money referred to is of the order of those in Nigerian scams, and it's only ever referred to, not seen. The somewhat incompetent villain doesn't seem to have even made it into three figures. Jul 22 08, 10:09 AM

peasypod

This has been driving peasy nuts for days but she is PETRIFIED to post it totally in case she may be calling Baloo's hoax... Jul 24 08, 4:00 AM

queproblema

When Qp is petrified she goes mum. The bungling train robber, Elmer McCurdy, uttered, "You'll never take me alive!" just before being shot to death. No one claimed his body, so an undertaker mummified it and displayed it as "The Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up," collecting nickels viewers placed in the mummy's mouth. Eventually someone claiming to be his brother relieved the undertaker of his sideshow and put poor Elmer on display himself. After a sixty-year career full of many adventures and misadventures, he was discovered by the filming crew of "The Six Million Dollar Man" and buried in Boot Hill with enough concrete poured over his casket to eliminate the likelihood of disinterrment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_McCurdy Jul 24 08, 7:11 AM

Baloo55th

Yays! all round! McCurdy's inefficiency as a bandit is exemplified by the take from a train robbery - $46 and a few jugs of whiskey. The train they should have robbed was running late. His body was actually hanging up in a Florida amusement place, and was thought to be a dummy until someone tried to move it during filming, and an arm came off! Honestly, the McCurdy story would be thought too far-fetched for even Hollywood to have bought as an idea for a movie. Jul 24 08, 1:03 PM