The story of the “Joker soldier”, the soldier who disguised himself as a character, tried to kill a friend and ended badly

Jack Nicholson Heath Ledger Jared Leto Y joaquin phoenix They weren’t the only Jokers. Few people know that in 2009 there was one called Christopher Lanumwho, unlike the quartet, pointed the knife.

This person, who never knew he would be known in the media as “the Joker soldier”, made headlines more than a decade ago for disguising himself as his favorite character in full military activity and committing a crime that could have ended a lot. worse than expected.

This, unlike the Arthur Fleck from the Batman universe, did not kill anyone. She just tried.

I: Soldier Joker

On a Sunday like any other, Lanum, perhaps encouraged by the Joker costume he was wearing, had a heated argument with his roommate at Fort Eustis, a US Army installation in Newport News, Virginia.

The scene was brewing like a Shakespearean tragedy. It began with a verbal exchange between the costumed man and his colleague and ended with Lanum stabbing him and shooting him with a stun gun.

After the attack, the “Joker soldier” contacted his girlfriend, Ann-Marie Montowskiand, in the best style Bonnie and Clyde, the two fled in their truck. Inside the vehicle, it is worth clarifying, was a rifle.

II: Pursuit of Shenandoah

All was going well until the lovers arrived at Shenandoah National Park, a huge space located more than 300 kilometers from Fort Eustis.

In Shenandoah, this type of Bonnie and Clyde – or Fleck and Harley Quinn, is no longer well known – was spotted by a park ranger who, as soon as he realized what was going on, called the police.

Just like any movie in the DC Comics cinematic universe, the officers caught up with the fugitives and asked them to stop. Lanum, the driver, did not pay attention.

But these lawmen were not easily beaten stick figures like those seen in movies. Through Ellipsis it can be said that the couple’s car crashed as the driver did not see the dozens of spikes that the police had thrown into the street, right in front of him.

Cornered, Lanum did something the real Joker wouldn’t do: he handed the rifle to his girlfriend and asked her to shoot him. Ann refused, so she took the gun, put her finger on her trigger and pointed it at the police, who seeing him repeatedly ordered him to drop the rifle.

Lanum’s standing time was shorter than the time it took for a basketball to bounce off the ground after being pushed by the player’s hand.

A policeman shot the Joker through the window of his truck and hit him. That bullet was followed by another, and another … and another. The soldier died, therefore, not as the Joker, but as Clyde.

III: Epilogue

At the time of the attack, Montowski he was shot several times by the police. Her fate refused to resemble Bonnie’s: Lanum’s girlfriend was treated and healed in the hospital. Hours later, however, she was arrested and charged with an accomplice of assault.

Police and forest rangers involved in the shooting, meanwhile, were placed on administrative leave and investigated.

Lanum’s mate, the one pierced by the false Fleck, survived the attack and, although he arrived at the hospital with very serious injuries, the doctors were able to fix him and discharge him.

The only mortal victim of this event, therefore, was the wild card.