Mr.Answer
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http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=83349§ion=news
David Strom may have cut off part of his own tongue and set himself on fire in a bizarre homage to "Fight Club," a movie in which the main character leads a double life and attempts suicide.
That's the conclusion reached by state investigators and the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Brian Schlueter said Monday.
Strom, 33, was hospitalized Oct. 19 after paramedics discovered him in the farmhouse he shared with his grandmother, Dorothy Peterson near Underwood, Minn.
Strom was found handcuffed and suffering from severe burns from head to toe. The tip of his tongue had also been cut off.
After coming out of a drug-induced coma in December, Strom told his mother, Mary Olson of St. Paul, that three masked intruders attacked him in a pole barn near the farmhouse and mutilated his tongue before setting him on fire.
Was found Oct. 19 handcuffed and suffering from severe burns from head to toe after setting himself on fire
After extinguishing the flames, he was able to walk 200 yards to the farmhouse, where he dialed 911, he told his mother.
On Friday, investigators spoke to Strom for the first time since the incident and came away convinced his injuries were self- inflicted, Schlueter said.
"He (Strom) indicated he goes by two names, one of them is 'Tyler,' '' Schlueter said.
Strom told investigators he was alone at the farm and "it was Tyler who did this to him," Schlueter said.
Tyler is the name of the dark alter ego of the protagonist in the 1999 film, "Fight Club," a movie Schlueter said Strom "had more than an average interest in."
In addition to Strom's statement, evidence collected at the scene indicated no one but Strom was in the pole barn that evening, Schlueter said.
Using DNA analysis, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension recently determined latex gloves, a hat and a pop can found in the pole barn belonged to Strom.
In addition, the handcuffs involved and the knife used to cut off part of Strom's tongue belonged to Strom.
That evidence and the fact the dirt floor of the barn revealed no signs of a struggle helped convince investigators that Strom burned and mutilated himself, Schlueter said.
"It (Strom's story) didn't make sense from the start," the sheriff said.
Strom is recovering in a Twin Cities hospital, where he may have to stay for two years, his mother said in a recent interview.
Efforts to reach Olson Monday by phone and by e-mail were unsuccessful.
In the earlier interview, Olson said her son's survival was a miracle.
"There's no way he should have lived," said Olson, who started an Internet prayer circle.
She said her son has a bi-polar condition and moved to the farmstead late last summer to help his grandmother remodel the house.
The move was also an effort by Strom to re-evaluate his life and distance himself from harmful cycles in his past, his mother said.
David Strom may have cut off part of his own tongue and set himself on fire in a bizarre homage to "Fight Club," a movie in which the main character leads a double life and attempts suicide.
That's the conclusion reached by state investigators and the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Brian Schlueter said Monday.
Strom, 33, was hospitalized Oct. 19 after paramedics discovered him in the farmhouse he shared with his grandmother, Dorothy Peterson near Underwood, Minn.
Strom was found handcuffed and suffering from severe burns from head to toe. The tip of his tongue had also been cut off.
After coming out of a drug-induced coma in December, Strom told his mother, Mary Olson of St. Paul, that three masked intruders attacked him in a pole barn near the farmhouse and mutilated his tongue before setting him on fire.
Was found Oct. 19 handcuffed and suffering from severe burns from head to toe after setting himself on fire
After extinguishing the flames, he was able to walk 200 yards to the farmhouse, where he dialed 911, he told his mother.
On Friday, investigators spoke to Strom for the first time since the incident and came away convinced his injuries were self- inflicted, Schlueter said.
"He (Strom) indicated he goes by two names, one of them is 'Tyler,' '' Schlueter said.
Strom told investigators he was alone at the farm and "it was Tyler who did this to him," Schlueter said.
Tyler is the name of the dark alter ego of the protagonist in the 1999 film, "Fight Club," a movie Schlueter said Strom "had more than an average interest in."
In addition to Strom's statement, evidence collected at the scene indicated no one but Strom was in the pole barn that evening, Schlueter said.
Using DNA analysis, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension recently determined latex gloves, a hat and a pop can found in the pole barn belonged to Strom.
In addition, the handcuffs involved and the knife used to cut off part of Strom's tongue belonged to Strom.
That evidence and the fact the dirt floor of the barn revealed no signs of a struggle helped convince investigators that Strom burned and mutilated himself, Schlueter said.
"It (Strom's story) didn't make sense from the start," the sheriff said.
Strom is recovering in a Twin Cities hospital, where he may have to stay for two years, his mother said in a recent interview.
Efforts to reach Olson Monday by phone and by e-mail were unsuccessful.
In the earlier interview, Olson said her son's survival was a miracle.
"There's no way he should have lived," said Olson, who started an Internet prayer circle.
She said her son has a bi-polar condition and moved to the farmstead late last summer to help his grandmother remodel the house.
The move was also an effort by Strom to re-evaluate his life and distance himself from harmful cycles in his past, his mother said.
