Dead Fetuses: Not Just for Stem Cells Anymore

Disappointed with your rabbit's foot and your four-leaf clover? Well, the Captain has just the ticket for you. All you need to do is knock your wife up, chop her into pieces with an axe, then hang your dead, dried, unborn child around your neck on a string.

A MAN told police he murdered his pregnant wife with an axe because he wanted the fetus to make a lucky charm which might help him win the lottery.

The 38-year-old was arrested a day after after allegedly luring his wife, aged 24, into the forest of northeastern Xieng Khuang province on January 3 and killing her with an axe blow to the back, the Vientiane Times reported.

[...]

Police told the state-linked newspaper that the man confessed he planned to use the three-month old fetus to produce a "louk lord", a mystical object which, according to local legend, can give its owner great power and fortune.

[...]

The suspect said he had heard that if he "produced a 'louk lord' he would be able to ask the ghosts for lucky lottery numbers," Khamsouk added.

"Or he could sell the 'louk lord' at an extremely high price."

[Herald Sun]