Alferd Packer, American prospector (b. 1842)
Alferd Griner Packer (January 21, 1842 – April 23, 1907), also known as "The Colorado Cannibal", was an American prospector and self-proclaimed professional wilderness guide who confessed to cannibalism during the winter of 1874. He and five other men had attempted to travel through the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, during the peak of a harsh winter. When only Packer reached civilization, he said that he had been abandoned by his party, but eventually confessed that the party had resorted to forced cannibalism of dead members to stay alive when they became lost. He later recanted this story, and confessed to having singularly lived off the flesh of his companions, during his snowbound state – after they had fallen victim to party member Shannon Bell, whom Packer said he shot in self-defense. He confessed to having used their flesh to survive, while stranded and during his trek out of the mountains, nearly two and a half months later.
After Packer's story was called into question, he escaped jail and hid from justice for nine years before being tried, convicted of premeditated murder, and sentenced to death. Packer won a retrial, and was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison, on five counts of voluntary manslaughter.An almost completely fictitious biopic of his exploits, The Legend of Alfred Packer, was released in 1980. A more comedic and heavily fabricated take on the story, titled Cannibal! The Musical, was released in 1993.