Grady Franklin Stiles Jr. (June 26, 1937 – November 29, 1992) was an American

freak show A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...

performer and murderer. His

deformity A deformity, dysmorphism, or dysmorphic feature is a major abnormality of an organism that makes a part of the body appear or function differently than how it is supposed to. Causes Deformity can be caused by a variety of factors: * Arthritis a ...

was the genetic condition

ectrodactyly Ectrodactyly, split hand, or cleft hand (derived from Greek ''ektroma'' 'abortion' and ''daktylos'' 'finger') involves the deficiency or absence of one or more central digits of the hand or foot and is also known as split hand/split foot malformat ...

, in which the fingers and toes are fused together to form claw-like extremities. Because of this, Stiles performed under the stage name "Lobster Boy".

Family history

According to Grady's father, the Stiles family had a long history of

, dating back to 1840. Grady Stiles Jr. was the fourth child of Grady F. Stiles Sr. and his wife Edna. Capitalizing on his deformity, Grady Stiles Sr. was a sideshow attraction in a

traveling carnival A traveling carnival (US English), usually simply called a carnival, or travelling funfair (UK English), is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, ...

. After Grady Jr. was born he was folded into his father's sideshow act at the age of seven. Stiles married twice and had four children, two of whom also had ectrodactyly. Stiles and his two children toured together as The Lobster Family. When not traveling with the carnival, the Stiles family lived in Gibsonton, Florida, where many other carnival performers lived during the winter season.

Murder

Stiles was an alcoholic and was abusive to his family. Due to his ectrodactyly, he was unable to walk. While he sometimes used a wheelchair, he most commonly used his hands and arms for locomotion. He developed substantial upper body strength that, when combined with his bad temper and alcoholism, made him dangerous to others. In 1978 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, Pennsylvania, Stiles shot and killed his oldest daughter's fiancé on the eve of their wedding. He was brought to trial, where he openly confessed to killing the man and was convicted of

third-degree murder In the United States, the law for murder varies by jurisdiction. In many US jurisdictions there is a hierarchy of acts, known collectively as homicide, of which first-degree murder and felony murder are the most serious, followed by second-deg ...

. He was not sent to prison as no state institution was equipped to care for an inmate with ectrodactyly. Stiles was instead sentenced to house arrest and fifteen years

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

. Stiles stopped drinking thereafter, and during this period remarried his first wife, Mary Teresa. However, he soon began drinking again and his family claimed that he became even more abusive. In 1992, Teresa, together with her son from a previous marriage, Harry Glenn Newman Jr., hired a seventeen-year-old sideshow performer named Chris Wyant to kill Stiles for $1500 dollars . Wyant was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Harry Newman was given life in prison for his role as the mastermind and Teresa was given 43 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder.

Further information

Stiles' son, Grady Stiles III, disputes the claim that Teresa had him murdered. According to him, his mother, Teresa, and father were arguing. Teresa had said 'Something needs to be done.' Teresa's son overheard this, and went to a neighbor and repeated those words. Shortly after this happened, as Stiles smoked a cigarette while watching television on the sofa, the neighbor entered his home with a semi-automatic pistol and shot him in the head twice, killing him. Stiles was reportedly widely disliked in his community, so much so that only 10 people came to his funeral, and nobody volunteered as a

pallbearer A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person. Some traditions distinguish between the roles o ...

to carry his coffin.

Media

Fred Rosen wrote a book on the case called ''Lobster Boy: The Bizarre Life and Brutal Death of Grady Stiles Jr.'', and E! made a ''

True Hollywood Story ''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E! that pulls back the curtain and highlights some of pop culture's most fascinating people, moments and trends. The series offers exclusive interviews with new insigh ...

'' episode based on the case titled "The Murder of Lobster Boy". A&E Network also made a ''

City Confidential ''City Confidential'' is an American documentary television show, originally transmitted on the A&E Network, which singled out a community during each episode and investigated a crime that had occurred there. Rather than being a straightforward ...

'' episode based on the case called "Gibsonton: The Last Side Show". Stiles' likeness appears on the album cover for

Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got their big bre ...

's ''

Freak Show A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...

''. A person like Grady, going by the name of "Lobster Boy", appears in a

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...

comic. Deadpool was hired to assassinate him, but fails when he figures out he is possessed by Xaphan, a fallen angel, and starts possessing the souls. He was later saved by the two

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

s, but at the end is shot again in the head by Deadpool for being cruel to other freaks. On HBO's '' Carnivàle'', set on a

during the Great Depression, the central character, Ben Hawkins, is sent out by his employers to investigate rumors of a "Scorpion Boy" in a nearby town in the episode " Lonnigan, Texas". ''American Freakshow: The Terrible Tale of Sloth Boy,'' a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

published by IDW Publishing, tells the tale of Dante Browning, a carnival sideshow performer with clawed hands who, because of his abuse and cruelty to his family, is shot to death by a hit man hired by his wife and stepson while in his home in Gibsonton, Florida. '' American Horror Story: Freak Show'' has a Lobster Boy character. It also includes a small statue in the likeness of Stiles in the opening credits. In addition, a snapshot of Stiles is briefly seen at the American Morbidity Museum in the third episode (" Edward Mordrake, Part I"). John Strohm wrote "Ballad of Lobster Boy," inspired by Grady Stiles and recorded the song for his 1999 album ''Vestavia''. In his memoir ''Tibetan Peach Pie'', author

Tom Robbins Thomas Eugene Robbins (born July 22, 1932) is a best-selling and prolific American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy drama"), such as ''Even Cowgirls Get the Blues''. Tom Robbins has lived in La Conner ...

refers to Stiles' life and death. American History comedy Podcast, The Dollop, did an episode in 2014 discussing Grady Stiles. * On October 23, 2021, Investigation Discovery aired an episode of True Nightmares: Tales Of Terror called "Hate The Game." The murder of Grady Stiles was the first story recounted in this episode.

References

External links

Interview with Fred Rosen

Grady Stiles – Murderous Lobster Boy
*
Murder in the Tropics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiles, Grady 1937 births 1992 deaths 1978 murders in the United States 1992 murders in the United States American murder victims American people convicted of murder American people with disabilities Deaths by firearm in Florida People convicted of murder by Pennsylvania People murdered in Florida Male murder victims Sideshow performers People from Gibsonton, Florida People from Pittsburgh