TV Judge Rules Man Can't Keep
Amputated Leg He Found in Barbecue

By The Associated Press
New York Lawyer
November 2, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. Nobody needs two left feet.

Even though a North Carolina man found an amputated human leg inside a smoker he bought at auction, he can't keep it, Judge Greg Mathis ruled on his television show in an episode that aired Thursday.

Shannon Whisnant had refused to return the leg to its owner, telling the judge he wanted to build a museum and charge people $10 to look at the limb, which had been cut off 2 to 3 inches above the knee.

"You're not getting that leg. I'm not giving you the man's leg," Mathis told Whisnant.

John Wood, whose left leg was amputated after a 2004 plane crash, joked to the judge about losing his leg twice. He had kept the leg and the cooker inside a rented storage space. When the South Carolina man couldn't pay the bill, the items were auctioned.

He said he wanted his severed leg so that it could be cremated with him when he dies.

The judge dismissed Wood's claim for emotional distress caused by media coverage of the case and ordered him to reimburse Whisnant $5,000.

The men had agreed to have their case settled by Mathis, and they signed papers that his decision was legally binding.

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