Here's the story.
From the time we were kids, Mom has always put up this stuffed Rudolph head as a decoration for Christmas. I, personally, never thought much of it. But when Ilene was a kid, her dad was a fan of mounting actual deer heads (taxodermically treated, of course), so she's always found that stuffed Rudolph to be a little morbid. She was commenting on that a couple of months ago when it hit me: what if someone were to have hunted down Santa's reindeer and then mounted them on their wall? And what if that someone were Dad?
It wasn't a large leap, but there was a lot of effort involved. Thanks to Cindy and Ilene who did the bulk of the cutting/sewing, etc. to get the heads together. Thanks to Tanya for writing the very well crafted articles (text below).
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Fernley Leader-Courier
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Monday, December 30, 1996 __________________________________________________________________________
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Monday, December 30, 1996 __________________________________________________________________________
Arctic Dignitary Sought in Homicide Investigation
The body of Utah
resident Hortense McEwen was discovered the morning of December 25th near
Highway 95. McEwen was in town visiting relatives for the holiday, and had left
a Christmas party at her grandson’s house as it was beginning to wind down.
“She was still
caught up in the spirit of the holiday,” explained her grandson’s wife, Linda
Platt, a long-time Fernley resident. “She got a little carried away and decided
to do some impromptu Christmas caroling.” Judy Pannell, who also attended the
party, added, “We thought she’d be fine. Sure, she may have overindulged in the
egg nog a little, but there wasn’t even any alcohol in it.”
According to
police officials, the primary person of interest in this investigation is Kris
Kringle, a man known to make annual holiday visits to the city of Fernley. “We
aren’t ready to make any accusations yet,” said Officer Dan Castle, “but the
evidence is piling up. The hoof prints found on the victim’s forehead alone are
noteworthy when you’re looking at an area like this with no significant deer
traffic. But the autopsy also turned up evidence of Claus marks on McEwen’s
back. That’s incriminating, to say the least.”
Anyone with
information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Fernley Police
Department.
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Reno Gazette-Journal
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Wednesday, December 10, 1997 __________________________________________________________________________
Local Man Swears Vengeance for Death of Grandmother
Marlan Platt, an accountant residing in
Fernley, Nevada, has declared his intention to bring the murderers of his
grandmother to justice. Hortense McEwen was killed last year, a crime
originally blamed on foreign dignitary and prominent member of the League of
Legends, Kris Kringle. Kringle has formerly been accused of drag racing
and speed limit infractions, as well as violations of no-fly zones, but
has evaded charges because of his diplomatic immunity.
Kringle,
however, denied that he had any connection to the incident in Fernley last
year, instead suggesting that his reindeer may have been incited to exercise
poor judgment by what he called the “stimulating Nevada atmosphere.” The
reindeer have since been ruled unfit to stand trial, and no one was ever
charged with McEwen’s murder.
“If the courts
won’t act, I will,” Platt allegedly told Fernley official Judge Lehman during a
heated altercation over the decision not to try the reindeer. When the
judge tried to warn Platt off of his vigilante ambitions, Platt respond- ed,
“I’m just going hunting. There’s nothing illegal about going hunting.”
Platt’s decision has sparked
controversy, given Kringle’s recent popularity among children and mythical
beings. Many claim he is harmless, even going so far as to call him
jolly, but Platt disagrees. “Don’t be fooled,” he told reporters.
“Kringle is no saint, and those reindeer of his are animals.”
