A man from Germany tragically met his demise after being bitten and killed by his pet black widow spider, leading to his body being consumed by his collection of over 200 insects, lizards, and other pets in his home resembling a zoo. Police discovered the deceased individual, Mark Voegel, in his small apartment in 2004, surrounded by a variety of creepy crawlies feasting on him.
The fatal bite was inflicted by a black widow spider named Bettina, whose venom was found to be significantly more potent than that of a rattlesnake, cobra, or coral snake. Upon entering the scene, police described it as reminiscent of a horror movie, with giant webs covering Voegel, spiders crawling all over him, and pieces of his flesh being devoured by lizards and carried back to the webs of tarantulas and other predatory spiders.
Voegel, known as a recluse, rarely had visitors at his home in Dortmund, which police likened to a mix of botanical gardens and the eerie environment from The Silence of the Lambs. Apart from spiders, Voegel also kept a boa constrictor, various snakes, poisonous frogs, and a gecko named Helmut.
Authorities speculated that Voegel had passed away one to two weeks before being discovered, as neighbors had reported a foul odor emanating from his apartment. The investigation revealed that several cages and terrariums were left open, leading to a chaotic situation akin to a zoo Armageddon within the living space.
The apartment was described as illuminated by a strange green light, with thousands of termites found alongside Voegel’s remains, covered in large cobwebs. Experts criticized Voegel for keeping aggressive spiders and suggested that he should not have possessed many of his pets due to their dangerous nature.
