By Emilia Randall
Copyright irishmirror
One German man met a horrific fate when his pet black widow spider bit and killed him, leaving his corpse to be consumed by his menagerie of other creatures in his zoo-like flat, including 200 insects and lizards.
His cramped apartment was forced open by police in 2004, only for officers to discover Mark Voegel deceased with a multitude of creepy crawlies devouring his remains, according to a report from The Courier Mail.
The spider bite that proved fatal came from a black widow called Bettina. The bite was roughly 15 times more potent than a rattlesnake’s and more lethal than cobra and coral snake venom.
A police spokesman said the scene was “like a horror movie.”
He added: “Giant webs draped him, spiders were all over him. They were coming out of his nose and his mouth. Larger pieces of flesh torn off by the lizards were scooped up and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders.”, reports the Mirror.
Voegel was described as a hermit, with no one ever welcomed to his Dortmund residence. This may explain why police compared the flat to a cross between botanical gardens and the butterfly breeding ground from The Silence of the Lambs.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t only spiders that Voegel housed. Alongside his eight-legged companions, Voegel maintained a boa constrictor and several other serpents, toxic South American frogs, and a gecko named Helmut.
Tragically, it is believed that Voegel died between one and two weeks before the police discovered him. Neighbours alerted authorities after noticing a foul odour emanating from Voegel’s flat.
One tarantula had reportedly built a nest the size of a swallow’s in one corner of the ceiling, according to UPI. Many of the cages and terrariums inside the flat were left open, leading to a zoo-like Armageddon scenario within the space.
The police described the flat as being “bathed in a weird green light.”
Voegel’s collection also included several thousand termites. The 30-year-old’s remains were found on a sofa, shrouded in enormous cobwebs.
“Spiders were running all over him,” a spokesperson stated. “They were coming out of his nose and mouth. Larger pieces of flesh had been torn off by the lizards and taken back to the webs of tarantulas and other bird-eating spiders.
“There were open cages and terrariums everywhere – all bathed in a weird green light. It was horrible.”
Local expert Gabi Bayer said that Voegel should never have been allowed to keep many of his pets. She added: “Some of his spiders are so aggressive they’re the equivalent of the pit-bull in the animal world.”
