BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Firefighters helped look for the right arm of a mentally ill man who severed his appendage with a homemade guillotine in Bellingham, Wash.
Doctors were not able to reattach the arm after it was found by a police officer, the Associated Press reported. The man refused to cooperate with doctors before fire department medics delivered the arm to the hospital.
“He was swearing and cursing at them, not telling them where his arm was or how it was removed,” the police report said. “He told them he was no snitch and would not tell them.”
He made references to the Bible and said, “It is better to lose that part than one’s soul,” the Associated Press said.
The search concluded with the discovery of a 16-foot-tall guillotine weighing more than 700 pounds — and the arm — in a transient camp in late October. A 60-pound utility cover had been filed sharp on one side to act as the blade.
Full details of the incident and subsequent search emerged when police released records Wednesday.