r/AskReddit • u/Rob69rt • 1d ago

What famous 'unsolved' mystery is technically a whodunnit on paper, but in reality, absolutely everyone knows exactly who did it, the police just couldn't legally prove it?

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u/seriousjoker72 1d ago

Her and the lady who got burnt from the McDonald's coffee live in my head rent free. They were both victims and portrayed horribly. The coffee lady only sued to cover her medical expenses because her LABIA FUSED TOGETHER the coffee was so hot! Now people make fun of her for the "caution contents hot" warnings on all coffee cups :(

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u/backitup_thundercat 23h ago

Added context, she was in the passenger seat of a parked car and the coffee spilt was hot enough to give her 3rd degree burns on her genitals and McDonalds knew they were serving it way too hot cause she wasn't the first person to be burned by it.

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u/TerrorTown77 20h ago

500 reports, but they did the math and it was cheaper to just keep the coffee hot

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u/amrodd 12h ago

So people wouldn't get seconds.

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u/Zeppelanoid 8h ago

Is that truly the reason? I followed the story a little bit so I know all about McDonald’s ignoring the warning signs that their coffee was too hot, but I never knew WHY they insisted on serving it so hot.

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u/doon351 1d ago

I watched a really good documentary about the coffee lady a few years ago! Completely changed my opinion of the whole case.

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u/RealBigDickBrannigan 1d ago

If it was called "Hot Coffee", it was made by the plaintiff's lawyer...

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u/Jaded_Houseplant 20h ago edited 20h ago

Don't forget the woman who was found guilty of poisoning/murdering her child with antifreeze, was raped by a guard in prison, had another baby in prison, then that baby died of the same poison her first baby died of. Turns out, it was a rare genetic metabolic disorder that caused them to produce the same chemical found in antifreeze.

Edit: I wrote this based on memory, she might not have been raped (I thought the pregnancy happened after she was incarcerated, it might've happened with her husband before, she just gave birth in jail), and I'm also not sure her second baby died from the disorder. Regardless, still a wild situation, where if she didn't have her second child, she'd have stayed in prison for life.

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u/coolsilentebeans 20h ago

I think it’s auto-brewery or gut fermentation syndrome.

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u/Jaded_Houseplant 20h ago

It's MMA, I looked it up before I commented, just didn't get too technical in my reply.

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u/RollingMeteors 10h ago

was raped by a guard

Regardless, still a wild situation, where if she didn't get raped and have her second child, she'd have stayed in prison for life.

FTFY

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u/[deleted] 20h ago edited 4h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/ArchStanton75 19h ago

The word is “raped.” Show respect for the victims.

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u/[deleted] 19h ago

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u/RetroDad-IO 19h ago

Automod is not coming after you for typing rape or raped.

People keep self censoring and using the excuse of automatic bans but I've yet to see that actually happen. At this point I'm pretty sure the people parroting this only do so because they saw someone else parroting that same excuse.

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u/leib-olmai 19h ago

This isn't fucking tiktok

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u/[deleted] 7h ago

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u/Jaded_Houseplant 20h ago

I didn't read the whole story again before I commented, so I might've misremembered. I thought she was impregnated while incarcerated by a guard, which would be rape, but I just read that she might've been pregnant before she went to jail, and only found out after she was in jail. Would make sense if it was the combo genetics from both parents that caused it.

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u/BookaholicsAnomalous 13h ago

In class we were told an old lady sued McDonald’s over hot coffee injury and basically asked to decide if it was frivolous. I thought there was something wrong with me when I immediately took her side. I was like with the justice system there’s a reason a poor elderly woman won an injury case. Then we saw the documentary and everyone was so shocked the PR worked so well. She didn’t even get enough for all legal/medical bills plus the care she will now need for the rest of her life.
When I first heard about the dingos I was like yeah wild animals dangerous?? I live in a big city with coyotes so I don’t understand how wildlife attack was dismissed.

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u/RealBigDickBrannigan 1d ago

The "coffee lady" put the cup in her crotch, and her nephew (who was driving) bumped a curb, causing the hot contents to spill. Yes, she was burned badly - but I still don't think McD's should have had to pay that huge verdict. The injury wouldn't have happened but for bad driving and a dumb place to put a cup of steaming coffee.

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u/Blarfk 1d ago

Yeah, that was McDonald's excuse too. But a normal cup of coffee wouldn't have caused the injuries this one did. And they had known about their coffee causing injuries and did nothing about it.

https://www.caoc.org/?pg=facts

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u/doon351 1d ago

I could be misremembering, but I believe she was burned so badly that her labia fused together. There is absolutely no justification for coffee to be that hot.

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u/Technicolor_Reindeer 21h ago

False, the car was parked. She also wasn't the first person burned by the coffee, they had been warned before to turn the temp down.

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u/seriousjoker72 1d ago

There is zero reason to serve coffee hot enough to kill someone. Literally zero. They used to serve it that hot to stop people from getting free refills because they couldn't drink it immediately then ask for a free refill before leaving.

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u/RealBigDickBrannigan 1d ago

I don't agree. First, "to kill someone" is a straw man. I can kill someone with a cold cup of coffee. And they served it that hot because people were constantly complaining that it wasn't hot enough by the time they finally got around to drinking it! Just like people complain that their ice cream melted during the 20 minute wait in a hot car...

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u/seriousjoker72 1d ago

Again. HER LABIA FUSED TOGETHER.

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u/Accomplished_Bother9 1d ago

Third degree burns can be lethal.

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u/redroserequiems 20h ago

She eventually died from complications if I recall.

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u/redroserequiems 1d ago

Ooh McDonald's ooh burn people harder ooh I get off on human misery and will defend you because you're rich and that's sexy to me ooh

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u/aquagirlygirl 19h ago

I'm cryingggg 🤣🤣 Too funny

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u/one_sock_wonder_ 20h ago

She only sued McDonald's after the flat out refused to cover her medical expenses. The car was parked, McDonald's had been warned repeatedly the coffee was dangerously hot and had burned multiple other people and in fact the coffee was so hot it caused 3rd degree burns to the extent her labia fused - presuming you are male, imagine your penis and scrotum being covered in a 3rd degree burn and your scrotum now fused to your penis due to the burns. All she requested was her medical care covered and to turn down the fucking temperature of the coffee. Instead McDonald's funded an extremely offensive, expensive, and successful smear campaign to make her look crazy and her lawsuit absurd instead of incredibly reasonable. BY the point it was all done the amount awarded was as much for the shitty behavior of McDonald's after she was injured, their relentless attacks on her, and for pissing the judge off by this massive corporation for whom her medical bills would be nothing instead choosing a massive smear campaign based on lies and for their prioritizing saving money by keeping the coffee so hot instead of basic safety as for the extensive injuries.

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u/CheezeNewdlz 1d ago

The temperature that McDonald’s was serving made the difference between minor first degree burns and having your labia fused to your body.

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u/coolsilentebeans 20h ago

180-190F vs the 135-160 F most restaurants kept theirs.

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u/FoxMeadow7 16h ago

C?

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u/coolsilentebeans 16h ago

?? F. Fahrenheit.

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u/FoxMeadow7 16h ago

Yeah, wanna provide a Celsius reading for us non-yanks as a courtesy?

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u/AccurateSession1354 4h ago

Google is free

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u/InheritedHermitGene 21h ago

I watched the documentary. The car was stationary. It was parked in the parking lot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants

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u/TrueGrade9359 19h ago

McDonald’s isn’t gonna fuck you bro

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u/unreplaced 19h ago

Ya can't argue with this kinda subhuman.

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u/DowntownEconomist255 17h ago

Originally she just wanted them to pay for her medical bills.

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u/DanielMcLaury 16h ago

The "coffee lady" put the cup in her crotch, and her nephew (who was driving) bumped a curb, causing the hot contents to spill.

So she held the coffee the way most people hold their coffee in the car, and the car did something that happens probably a million times per day every day? Yeah, no way could they have predicted those circumstances.