The police investigation into a suspected stabbing in Fort Wayne, Indiana, unexpectedly intertwined with a fire investigation by the local fire department. In a bizarre twist, the man involved revealed to investigators that he had, in fact, severed his own penis and set it ablaze.
This incident unfolded on May 6, as law enforcement responded to a report of a stabbing while the fire department looked into a fire that had erupted in a detached garage. The owners of the garage reported that a neighbor had alerted them to the flames and mentioned a family member—a 36-year-old named Christopher Peden—was missing.
As the fire department sought the fire’s origins, Peden presented himself as a victim of the stabbing. En route to the hospital, he initially claimed he was stabbed downtown and had faced threats the day before. However, he later admitted to being “dishonest” and sought to clarify the truth about both the stabbing and the fire.
Peden confessed that he had gone to the garage and used a kitchen knife to sever his own genitalia. He then reportedly soaked the severed body part in gasoline and ignited it inside the garage. Afterward, he simply walked away.
Investigators later recovered a red plastic gas can, multiple lighters, and the kitchen knife used in the incident. There was no indication of what had happened to the severed part, but Peden now faces arson charges for his actions, which undoubtedly must have made for a chaotic scene that day.
