Python strangles woman in Indiana home with 140 snakes owned by sheriff, autopsy says
OXFORD, Ind. – An 8-foot reticulated python found wrapped around the neck of a 36-year-old mother of two and strangled her in an Oxford house that was designed specifically to house 140 snakes, an autopsy revealed Friday.
The preliminary cause of death for the woman — Laura Hurst, of Battle Ground, Indiana — was asphyxia due to strangulation by a snake, according to an autopsy done by Benton County Coroner Matt Rosenbarger and released Friday by Indiana State Police.
A final autopsy won’t be finished for another four to six weeks, as officials wait for toxicology reports, a standard procedure in autopsies.
Benton County Sheriff Don Munson, who owns the snake house, found Hurst on the floor with the python loosely wrapped around her neck. Munson and medics were unable to revive Hurst, according to an Indiana State Police account. ISP officials say Hurst kept snakes in the house, among Munson’s collection.
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Munson was not immediately available for comment Friday. Members of Hurst’s family were not immediately available.
Sgt. Kim Riley, an Indiana State Police spokesman, said that the snake found Wednesday night apparently had been taken from its enclosure. The other snakes in the house were still in their cages when police arrived after getting a call just before 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Munson told the J&C that on Wednesday night he "came over there and found her, did everything we could.” Munson told the J&C that Hurst’s death was a "tragic accident with loss of human life." He said he was "being fully cooperative with everybody."
"I’ve given all information to the state police," Munson told the J&C on Thursday.
When asked Thursday, Munson did not elaborate on the purpose of the house that Benton County property records show he owns next to his residence.
In 2001 Munson was a guest at Oxford Elementary School, where the principal had invited him to show a 13-foot, 45-pound python. At the time, Munson was a Benton County deputy who bred snakes for sale. He told students that day that he had 52 snakes in his garage.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resource does not regulate the possession of any species of python or boa constrictor, regardless of its length, Marty Benson, a DNR spokesman, said.
Riley said that of the 140 snakes at Munson’s house, approximately 20 belonged to Hurst. Why her snakes were in the house in Oxford, a blue ranch with no signage or indication about what it is, hadn't been made clear by police or by Munson, as of Friday.
The reticulated python, the longest living species of snake in the world, are constrictors, meaning they coil around their prey and squeeze them until they're dead in just a couple minutes, according to Cornell University professor Harry W. Greene. Larger reticulated pythons have been known to be able to swallow a human.
Samantha Morton, Indiana state director for the Humane Society of the United States, said that 18 people have died from large, constrictor snake related incidents in the U.S. since 1978.
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