Slaughterhouse Employee Murdered 71 Coworkers Over 17 Years-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
A Texas slaughterhouse employee killed 71 employees over a 17-year span without being detected.
The Truth:
A fake news website is behind this hoax.
World News Daily Report started the rumor that a slaughterhouse employee had been accused of murdering 71 coworkers over a 17-year period. The fake news website reported that Jeremiah Burroughs, a 57-year-old Gulf War veteran, killed 71 coworkers because he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia:
The discovery this week of human bones in a neighboring rendering plant which recycles slaughterhouse byproducts had raised the alarm and forced local authorities to crack down on potential suspects.
Jeremiah Burroughs, who is a Gulf war veteran, is suspected of suffering from PTSD syndrome and of extreme paranoia, explains police officer Emet Rubbens.
“We have no idea why he committed these atrocious crimes, there seems to lack a motive. What is most distressing is how he got away with these atrocious crimes for such a long period of time. It seems he just processed his victims meat as he would’ve done with any other cow. His victims all disappeared somewhere in the meat packing process” he expressed with disgust.
Within days, the story had been shared 90,000 times on social media sites. Taken out of context, many readers were duped into believing that it was an actual report:
I’d like to know how the police did not find this suspicious throughout the 17 years ?? Every single person that died, worked at the same place ?? Who’s the worst police station in the entire world ?? idiots !
However, World News Daily Report is a fake news website that, according to its disclaimer, “assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content.”