Some years ago, I wrote about the very curious death of Henry Stiles, who was found impaled on a forklift in the Purex factory where he worked in north Memphis. The unusual (and yes, gruesome) manner of his demise made newspaper headlines for days, and nobody ever determined whether it was a murder, a suicide, or an accident.
Even so, it became known as the "Forklift Murder Mystery."
Awhile back, I went to the trouble to locate Stiles' gravestone in Forest Hill Cemetery in Midtown, and while I was taking the picture, thought, "This is one of those humble little markers that has a very unusual story behind it."
His full name was Charles Henry Stiles, in case you are wondering why the name here doesn't match the name in the newspaper stories.
I thought I'd also share just one of the many newspaper articles about the incident. This one sums it up pretty well.
