THE ADVERTISER (Adelaide, Australia) 02 May 05 Pet python kills owner
Police suspect a pet snake is responsible for the death of a man found yesterday in his Tanunda home.
The body of professional snake handler Erik Attmarsson was discovered at his Mattiske Rd property by a work colleague from nearby Venom Supplies.
Police said marks on the face of the 28-year-old, from Sweden, could be consistent with being crushed to death by a snake he kept in an enclosure at the property.
Officers were searching for his pet Queensland native scrub python, which can grow to an average of about 5m, because it had disappeared from its secure enclosure.
Police said they would not reveal any more details before an autopsy was conducted at the Forensic Science Centre in Adelaide today to determine the cause of death.
While it is believed Mr Attmarrsson did not have any pre-existing medical conditions, it is understood he had consumed a large amount of alcohol before his death. Police last night would not comment on if this may have contributed to his death.
Mr Attmarrsson last June beat 150 applicants for the exotic snake curator's position at the Tanunda-based anti-venene business.
It is believed he lived alone near his work place, home to hundreds of venomous snakes milked for anti-venene production.
Police were called to the Mattiske Rd property about 1.15pm yesterday. It is believed he died sometime between Friday night and yesterday when he was found.
Nuriootpa CIB detectives could not find a Queensland Native Scrub Python he is believed to have kept as a pet. The snakes grow to an average of about 5m, but have been recorded at up to 8.5m in length in Australia.
Mr Attmarrsson, when he began work with Venom Supplies, said he had kept non-venomous snakes since he was 10.
"I had to nag my parents for a while to get a snake," said.
"I'm happy they let me get one because they are fascinating animals to watch."
Police said there were several snake enclosures inside and outside Mr Attmarrsson's home and snakes were free inside the property.
Director of the Australian Reptile Park, John Wiegel, said he had not heard of anyone in Australia being crushed to death by a snake but said it did happen overseas where the pythons were much bigger.
"There have been a number of incidences overseas where a snake has got confused and the person is asphyxiated and has died, but we've never come close to that in Australia," he said.
"This species does get pretty confused sometimes."
Pet python kills owner
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AUS Press: Pet python kills owner
Replies (3)
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION 02 May 05 Police dispute killer python report
(AAP) : A snake handler from Sweden has been found dead at his South Australian home, but police have disputed reports he might have been crushed to death by his pet python.
The body of the 28-year-old professional snake handler was found at his home in the Barossa Valley, north of Adelaide, yesterday.
The Advertiser reported marks on the face of Erik Attmarsson were consistent with him being crushed to death by a snake.
"The man kept a snake in the house, but at this time there is no evidence to show that the snake was involved in the man's death," a police spokesman said this morning.
Wildlife experts said there had been no confirmed cases of pythons crushing a person to death in Australia.
However, they said such deaths had occurred in other countries where pythons grew much bigger.
Police also rejected further media reports that Mr Attmarsson's five-metre Queensland Native Scrub Python was missing from its enclosure.
The spokesman said the python was located inside the house.
Last year, Mr Attmarsson beat about 150 applicants for the position of exotic snake curator at a Tanunda-based venom supplies business.
The business is involved in milking hundreds of venomous snakes for the production of anti-venin.
A post mortem examination will be conducted today.
Police dispute killer python report
Erik - We miss you already.
I'm reposting this email from the Aussie site:
The Death of Erik Attmarsson
We have been advised by the Nuriootpa police (Sgt. Bernadette Zimmermann),
that we will not be furnished with any information from the coroner's report
which means we will not learn the cause of death for some time, if ever.
We would like to correct some issues distributed by the media.
1. Generally pythons do not crush their victims as claimed in the Advertiser
2/05/05. This sensational reporting is highly misleading and unwarranted.
Pythons generally constrict their prey causing asphyxiation. Only in the
case of large pythons and very small prey items do any broken bones occur.
2. Snakes were never located outside Erik's place. There was an empty
aquarium on the veranda at some stage which was awaiting transfer elsewhere.
3. There were only 3 snakes kept by Erik. All were non-venomous. They
were 2 scrub pythons and 1 file snake.
4. As far as I know, snakes were never allowed free range of the house.
5. At times snakes had to be removed from their cages for management
reasons.
6. The incident was not a Venom Supplies Pty Ltd matter. Linking Venom
Supplies Pty Ltd by association is both misleading, mischievous and
unsympathetic to a small business that has spent years developing a good
reputation in a difficult field. At the time, we requested all media to
limit our exposure but it was not observed.
7. Efforts to film parts of our business from adjacent private properties
and from the front of our block were without any concern of the hurtfulness
it could cause in spite of our objection to it. The use of file footage,
photographs and statements linking our business was not authorized and was
without due concern for the hurt or damage it could do to our business.
8. Efforts to taint Erik's character by all Adelaide media was despicable.
Erik was a model employee with incredible knowledge. He was responsible in
all aspects of his work. He was a totally safe worker. He was highly
regarded at work and outside work and as a supervisor. He was
scientifically motivated. What he did in private was exactly that -
private.
9. At least one section of the media illegally broke into his house and
filmed within his house. They moved items around to suit their script. It
was a case of manufactured evidence.
10. It was myself and my wife who discovered the body after he failed to
arrive at work on Sunday. My wife became distraught and required
hospitalization. Our staff have been devastated by the matter and one has
required stress leave and medical supervision. The media did not respect
this and hounded us intensely on Sunday night and Monday.
11. A scrub python was noticed in the room just after the police arrived
and it was immediately placed back in its cage and later transferred to the
National Parks in the afternoon. There was never any threat of snakes loose
in the surrounding area. The Advertiser unnecessarily caused community
alarm in this regard. We had members of the local community ringing us
concerned that there was a large python on the loose.
12. At the point of writing this response, I still am unaware of the
official cause of death. All the media focus has been totally absorbed in
the python as the cause. It may well be the cause but surely waiting for
some official finding would have been prudent. In the absence of an
official finding is no excuse to manufacture a case.
13. The media always claim they have a responsibility to the public to
inform them. I have no problem with that. I believe they also have a
responsibility to be accurate and truthful and in this case it appears
little attempt was made to observe this principle.
14. I hope that there is some national media body that can investigate this
matter and take some action to limit the actions of the media in the future
to ensure they do not repeat such behavior. I also hope the media have a
long hard look at themselves and take some responsible action to achieve
more responsible reporting and behaviour.
Peter Mirtschin
Tanunda
South Australia
