The Life and Death of “Lobster Boy”, Grady Stiles Jr.

Morbid

05/26/25

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82m

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From the moment he was born, Grady Stiles entertained audiences around the United States as the sideshow performer “Lobster Boy.” But behind the scenes, Stiles’ life was one of turmoil, alcoholism, and even murder. That all came to an end one night in the fall of 1992, when a killer entered Stiles’ Florida home and shot him to death.

In the days that followed Grady Stiles murder, investigators quickly unraveled a conspiracy plot to kill Stiles, which had been set in motion by his wife, Mary Theresa, and his stepson, who’d hired a teenage carnival worker to commit the murder. After a lifetime in the spotlight because of his physical deformity, it was Grady Stiles’ death that brought him the ultimate fame, but what had he done to earn such a brutal end?

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Allen, William. 1978. "Her dad faces trial in fiance's slaying." Pittsburgh Press, October 6: 4.

Associated Press. 1994. "Defense: Abuse led wife to hire husband's killer." Miami Herald, July 13: 24.

Florida Department of Corrections. 2014. Corrections Offender Network. March 5. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://pubapps.fdc.myflorida.com/OffenderSearch/detail.aspx?Page=Detail&DCNumber=532246&TypeSearch=IR.

Ireton, Gabriel. 1979. "'Lobster Man' guilt in kin's fiance death." Pitsburgh Post-Gazette, February 23: 3.

Jackson, Orval. 1994. "Judge rules self-defense must include admission." Tampa Tribune, July 15: 20.

—. 1994. "Wife of 'Lobster Boy' guilty." Tampa Tribune, July 28: 1.

Lester, John. 1992. "Legless carny slain at his house." Tampa Tribune, December 1: 7.

Maryniak, Paul. 1979. "Deformed slayer gets probation." Pittsburgh Press, April 30: 1.

—. 1979. "Performer's slay trial goes to jury." Pittsburgh Press, February 22: 2.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . 1978. "Legless man charged in slaying." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 28: 7.

Rosen, Fred. 1995. Lobster Boy: The Bizarre Life and Brutal Death of Grady Stiles Jr. New York, NY: Pinnacle.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Previous Episode

The Norco Shootout

May 22, 2025

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67m

On the afternoon of May 9, 1980, four heavily armed men walked into the Security Pacific Bank in Norco, California and demanded $20,000 in cash. Having seen the men enter the bank with their guns, employees of a different bank across the street called the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and deputies responded immediately.

When the bank robbers were confronted in the parking lot by law enforcement, a shootout began that would ultimately span more than forty miles across two counties, and when it was finally over, one sheriff’s deputy and two of the perpetrators were dead, eleven others were wounded. Moreover, the assault caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage from the nearly 2000 rounds that were fired, hitting houses, buildings, cars, among other things.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Bennett, Lorraine. 1980. "Suspects in Norco holdup charged with 120 felonies." Los Angeles Times, May 15: 3.

Gorman, Tom. 1982. "Kidnapping victim tells of ordeal at bandits' hands." Los Angeles Times, January 15: 22.

Houlahan, Peter. 2020. "Norco '80: Before the bank robbery." Los Angeles Daily News, June 2.

—. 2019. "40 years later, the aftermath of a deadly bank robbery still lingers in a small SoCal city." Los Angeles Magazine, May 28.

—. 2020. Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint.

Malnic, Eric, and Mike Goodman. 1980. "Suspect put up barbed wire at home." Los Angeles Times, May 11: 1.

Schaub, Michael. 2019. "Apocalyptic robbers botched a SoCal bank heist." Los Angeles Times, June 7.

Stein, Mark. 1980. "Shaken witnesses: 'There was fear...'." Los Angeles Times, May 11: 3.

Sun News Service. 1982. "Trio guilty in Norco holdup, deputy's murder." San Bernardino County Sun, July 24: 1.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Next Episode

Listener Tales 98: Witches!

May 29, 2025

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52m

Weirdos! It's Listener Tales- brought TO you, BY you, FOR you, FROM you, and ALLLLL about you! Today we focus on stories about witchcraft. We've got possession, cursed boxes in the woods, tales of familiars, and consequences to not listening to your brujamamas!

Don't forget to check out the VIDEO from this episode available on YouTube on 5/29/2025!

If you’ve got a listener tale please send it on over to Morbidpodcast@gmail.com with “Listener Tales” somewhere in the subject line- and if you share pictures- please let us know if we can share them with fellow weirdos! :)

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.