Grady Stiles Jr. "The Lobster Boy"

This is case is odd in many ways. First, the name in the title, Grady Stiles Jr., is the name of a murderer as well as a murder victim. Secondly, it took an extreme amount of digging to clear up some thing from my research which is odd considering this case is not a very old one compared to many I have done that have required more research. In fact, I started putting this one together with all of my questions and decided to Google one more thing and in the process I answered at least some of my questions.

Grady Stiles Jr. was born in 1937 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He was born with a deformity called ectrodactyly. Ectrodactyly is a rare hereditary “disease” that causes the hands to look like claws. The middle fingers are either missing or fused to another finger leaving an open space in the middle of the hand. This deformity was said to have afflicted the Stiles family for more than a century. But, Grady's deformities did not stop there. His legs were also deformed but in a bit of a different way. Just below the knee, his calves and feet were more like “flippers.” Grady's father also had ectrodactyly and was involved in the carnival circuit or the “freakshow” as it was often called. He was known as “Lobster Man.” Not all descendants are afflicted with ectrodactyly but when one of Grady Sr.'s children were afflicted he would add them into his act when they were fairly young. It was said that Grady was working with his dad at least by the age of seven and was known as “Lobster Boy,” a name he would keep his entire life. Because of the condition of his feet Grady was unable to walk. He learned to walk and do everything with his upper body which made him extremely strong. He also learned how to shoot a gun, even with his deformed hands. During carnival season everyone lived in Pittsburgh but on the off season most of the carnival families lived in Gibsonton Florida.

Mary Teresa Herzog was also involved in the carnival at an early age Mary Teresa did not have a deformity so she did different things over the years to participate. It was here that she met Grady Stiles. They would marry in 1958 and have two daughters, Donna and Cathy. Donna would not be afflicted with ectrodactyly but Cathy would. Over the years Grady had become more of a tyrant it seems. Mary Teresa would be known to say that Grady was a wonderful person when he did not drink, but as time went on he drank more and more. It was said that Grady was abusive to his wife and children. By 1973 Mary Teresa had decided to leave Grady. It was said she had met Harry Glenn Newman who was known as the “Worlds Smallest Man.” It was said that Mary Teresa did not show up for a divorce hearing and that meant that Grady got custody of their children.

While Mary Teresa went on to marry Harry Newman Jr. and have another child, Harry Glenn Newman III, Grady would remarry a woman named Barbara Browning. It was said that Grady and Barbara would have two children together also but while one was named Grady III I could never find the name of the other child. Grady III would also be afflicted with ectrodactyly. Grady Jr. continued his carnival act and insisted that his children, Cathy and Grady joined in just as he had done when he was a child. All of his children have stated that he was a horrible, horrible person but it appears that many of the people who worked with Grady Jr. did not feel the same. Then again, as the saying goes no one truly knows what goes on behind closed doors. My research indicates that Grady, Barbara and the children were living in Pittsburgh most of the time and while it was said Mary and her husband, Harry, were still involved in the carnival they were also living in Florida.

In 1978 Grady's oldest daughter, Donna wanted to get married to a boy named Jack Layne. Some reports say she was fifteen at the time while others say she was seventeen. Regardless to do so she would need her father's permission to do so and he was refusing. In fact, he had threatened to kill Jack. Donna ran away to Jack's sister and was gone for about six days. She called her father who still refused until she threatened to simply live with Jack. The wedding was planned for September 28^th. The day before Donna, Jack and Barbara went out shopping for a dress and returned home. Grady was home and at some point Jack and the two women were headed outside and just as they did Grady called Jack back. As the women were outside they heard two shots. Grady had shot Jack first in his stomach and then as he turned to leave Grady shot again, hitting Jack in the back. Jack made it to the porch and it was said that he died in Donna's arms. She would tell authorities that after the shooting she saw her father standing in the window smiling and heard him say “I told you I would kill him.”

The authorities were called and Grady openly admitted what he did. At first however they did not believe him. They did not believe that Grady would have been able to shoot the gun considering his hands were like claws. It is unclear exactly what kind of defense was offered to the court but in the end he was convicted of third degree murder. But, the courts and prisons did not know what they would or could do with him. Aside from his ectrodactyly, Grady also had cirrhosis of the liver from his drinking, kidney issues and emphysema (now commonly known as COPD) from his smoking. To everyone's surprise the judge sentenced him to fifteen years.... probation.

In the meantime Donna had refused to continue living with him and had gone to live with her mother in Florida. It is not like she got very far from her dad though considering that once he was released from jail he too headed to Gibsonton. It seems as if he was all but alone considering that Barbara had now divorced him. But it seems that once again he got the children, or at least Grady III. By 1989 Mary Teresa had divorced Harry Newman and she and Grady actually remarried. This time she brought her teenage son, Harry Newman III., who himself had began participating in the carnival life. He was known as the “Human Blockhead” for his “ability” to hammer nails into his nostrils. Some believe that Mary Teresa's abusive childhood is what helped draw her back to Grady. The thing that made the fact that she remarried him most surprising is that since he had “gotten away” with killing Jack Layne his family claims his abuse, and drinking were worse than ever. They said he would say “I killed before and got away with it. I can do it again.” They claim that he now thought he was invincible.

The one thing not in dispute about what would happen in 1992 is that on November 29^th neighbor Christopher Wyant entered Grady's trailer in Gibsonton and shot him three times in the back of the head. Authorities would say that Mary Teresa had told her son, Harry Newman III to find someone to kill Grady, and he had gone to Wyant. They also say that Mary Teresa gave Wyant $1,500 to do the deed. Grady III says that is not how things happened. He claims that after a fight between Grady Jr. and Mary Teresa she had said “Something needs to be done.” Grady III says she did not say this specifically to Harry but that he heard it and that when Harry Jr. went to Wyant and spoke to him it was to have Grady Jr. beaten up or at least scared, not murdered. This is kind of in dispute to what would be claimed at Mary Teresa's trial. Grady III's interview had helped lead to confusion for me as he referred to Mary Teresa as his mother and Harry as his brother. But, despite the fact the couple only remarried in 1989 it seems that she was likely involved and around the ten years prior helping raise him. It had actually taken a lot of digging to even find Barbara's name to begin with so it is unclear whatever happened to her.

It was not completely clear exactly how authorities were led to Wyant, Newman and Mary Teresa but they were all arrested and charged with murder. While it seems that they did not argue that Mary Teresa paid Wyant for the murder, they also portrayed Newman as the “mastermind.” In fairness seeing all of the cases that I have and dealing with attorney's in my real life and seeing how prosecutors often claim that the defendant they have charged is the “worse” ever and a danger to society, I am unsure that they really felt this way about Newman. Most reports claim that Newman had an IQ of 79, making him borderline intellectually disabled. I can say that Mary Teresa received a trial but whether the others did also, or was in conjunction with hers is not completely clear. It appears however that Wyant may have taken a plea deal. He would be convicted of second degree murder and receive a sentence of twenty-seven years. He would be released in 2009. Harry Newman Jr. would be convicted of first degree murder and receive a life sentence. He would die in prison in 2014 but I could not discover his cause of death.

As I said, Mary Teresa went to trial. She argued “battered woman's syndrome” and always maintained that she did what she had to do to protect herself and her family. It was said that members of the carnival testified at least against her, if not others, claiming that Grady Jr. had been a good natured man and he would always help those in need. However in an interview Grady III would say that he was so hated in the community that no-one was willing to be his pallbearer. I wonder if this is because the ones who testified against Mary Teresa possibly had physical issues that would have prevented their ability to do so and they simply could not find an “able” body person to carry his casket. Mary Teresa's jury took eleven hours to deliberate her fate. In the end it seems they compromised on a manslaughter charge and she was given a twelve year sentence. She was released in 2000. Many have said that Mary may have been able to avoid prison if she had actually pulled the trigger herself.

Not a lot has been heard from the family over the year except a little from Cathy and Grady III. Both Cathy and Grady III have daughters, while Grady's daughter is not afflicted with ectrodactyly, Cathy's daughter is. Cathy has taken up acting and appeared in the movie Big Fish. It appears that both Cathy and Grady III appeared in American Horror Story “Freakshow.”