Yale 'Poopetrator' UPDATE: Offender Hangs Laundry Line of Feces-Stained Clothing on Campus (PHOTOS)
ByYale University's "poopetrator(s)" is escalating in the nature of their excremental crimes.
On Friday morning, the Yale Daily News received an anonymous email from a sender only identified as "Copro Philiac." The message read, "last time, I promise," and contained three photographs of feces-stained laundry hanging on a line on Yale's Berkeley College campus.
The email was dated Oct. 4 at 3:35 a.m., prompting several news photographers to document the offense early in the morning. (Photos can be seen here).
By 10:30 a.m., groundskeepers had begun to take down the laundry line strung between two lampposts. Around that same time, a follow-up email was sent from the same person with the message, "it's still a good morning!" and a photo of the cleanup effort.
The story had already received local media attention with WTNH News 8 and the New Haven Register referring to the school's student newspaper's coverage. However, the story now has broader attention with New York Magazine and Gawker also picking it up.
The Yale Daily News originally reported on the incident Thursday, but the first incident occurred Sept. 6 when sophomore Lucy Fleming noticed the horrid surprise.
"I simultaneously wanted to throw up, cry and punch someone," she said.
Multiple additional washes could not clean the fecal and urination stains, nor could time have erased the memory had the clothes even been salvageable.
The first offenses took place in the laundry room of Yale's Saybrook College, but it was not until Sept. 26 that administration took action. Fleming reportedly hand delivered the evidence from the first incident (with a towel) to Saybrook master Paul Hudak's office.
"We have asked our students not to leave their laundry unattended, the affected machines have been thoroughly disinfected, and we are actively seeking information about who the perpetrator might be," Saybrook master Paul Hudak said. "That's about all we can do."
Neither Yale officials nor police have commented on the latest incident, but both are currently investigating.
Students have said they would like the person(s) responsible punished, but differed on how. Suggestions ranged from expulsion to mandated mental health therapy.