Scrooge McDuck Helps Crack Murder Case

In life, Miguel Rodriguez was apparently a big fan of Scrooge McDuck. In death, the cartoon character may have helped catch his killers. The Hartford Courant explains the weird case: The 25-year-old Rodriguez was shot to death on a city street this summer, and his killers stole a custom-made gold chain from around his neck that featured the famous duck. His fandom (no explanation offered) and a new state law requiring more thorough records at pawn shops combined to break the case.

Police kept scouring the records of local shops after the killing, and, voila, the McDuck necklace finally turned up, along with the name and photo of the person who sold it. As a result, Tyquan Turner, 21, and Lorenza Christian, 22, were charged in the case. Selling such a distinctive piece of jewelry to a local shop so soon after a murder? Slate assesses the case and awards Christian a 5.5 out of 10 on its dumb-criminal scale. (More Hartford stories.)