BBC NEWS | Americas | North Carolina pair feud over leg
BBC NEWS | Americas | North Carolina pair feud over leg
A US man who stored his amputated leg in a barbecue smoker that was later auctioned off is locked in a custody dispute with the man who bought it.
John Wood’s smoker was sold to Shannon Whisnant last week after he fell behind on payments at the storage facility in North Carolina where it was kept.
He wants his leg back but Mr Whisnant says he has a receipt for the smoker’s contents and wants to share ownership.
Signs of insanity: You ask yourself who has property in the leg. Can a body part be a property and does the buyer obtain good title? Is there an action in conversion? Is there a bailment relationship between the storage facility and Mr Wood? And if so, by seizing the smoker including the leg, has the facility commited conversion against Wood?
Still, this would make a good, albeit macabre, hypo.
