Spontaneous Combustion: 5 Most Intriguing Cases in History

All over the world, many cases of death intrigue police and society - whether because of their complexity, cruelty or even the mystery surrounding them.

One of the things that most embarrass investigators out there is spontaneous combustion, that is, when a body catches fire “out of nowhere” for no apparent cause; however, things get more serious when it happens in humans.

The phenomenon is old, several books have been written about it, including De Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis, by Jonas Dupont, and Historiarum Anatomicarum Rariorum, by Thomas Bartholin. So we brought five cases in which a human being went on fire without a plausible explanation:

1 - Polonus Vorstius

Polonus lived in Italy and, after drinking very strong wine in the year 1470, began to vomit fire and suddenly found himself engulfed in flames that claimed his own. This was recorded by physician Thomas Bartholin, who in turn was fond of bizarre and extraordinary cases.

The scene was described in his Historiarum Anatomicarum Rariorum - which in free translation would be: "Rare Anatomical Stories". This story was published in 1641 and is considered the first about spontaneous combustion.

2 - The Countess Cornelia di Brandi

Countess Cornelia di Brandi was an aristocrat, a woman of the nobility of the Cesena region of Italy. She lived during the 18th century and, one morning in 1731, was found dead between the window and her bed.

It is thought that, as usual, she must have risen to open the window, but some mysterious detail was decisive that day and killed her burned and torn.

Two burned candles were also found, along with a loaf of bread on a table near her. The bread was still offered to the dog, but he refused the meal.

3 - When God pays you a visit

This case occurred in Reims, France, in 1725. Nicole Millet was found burning in a non-burning chair. She was the wife of innkeeper Jean Millet, who, upon seeing the bizarre scene, woke up the entire hotel in despair.

Because this was not a common case, Jean was soon charged with murder and sentenced by the court. However, he appealed to the same court and alleged spontaneous combustion, an explanation that was accepted and acquitted. In the end, combustion was considered a "visit from God."

4 - The Case of Michael Faherty

One of the most recent cases of human combustion. Michael Faherty was found near his fireplace at his home in Galway, Ireland, with severe burns, apparently without explanation.

After proper investigation and analysis, coroner Ciaran McLaughlin had no choice but to decree that the death of 76-year-old Faherty had indeed been by spontaneous combustion.

The investigators concluded that the fireplace was not lit when the events happened; besides, there were burns on the ceiling, well above Michael's body, and also on the floor just below him. That would then be sufficient to reach the final consensus on spontaneous combustion.

5 - The brothers Rahul and Sanjay

More recent than the previous case, these two Indian children are the most complex case of all, perhaps because they are babies. Rahul, the oldest, only 1 week old, burned spontaneously for the first time in 2013.

In a few months, he caught fire four times but still stayed alive. Of course, his parents, Rajeshwari and Karnan, became targets of investigation because of the distrust of the medical staff.

Tests were performed on the boy, who turned out to be totally normal health. His parents were then referred for analysis, but were declared psychologically normal and not involved in the fires.

Then two years later, in 2015 another baby was born in the family. Behold, Sanjay had the same burning condition as his older brother. However, after surviving the combustion, in 2016 he had a problem with diarrhea and died on his way to the hospital.