Rockefeller Eaten By Cannibals : CARL HOFFMAN

Rockefeller? If that name is associated with a gruesome death, most would think: "Clark Rockefeller." That was the alias of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who pretended to be a related to the rich and famous clan...in order to scam and kill. But anthropologists, students of explorers and adventurers, and those over 50...remember the disappearance of Nelson Rockefeller's 23 year-old son Michael. Back in 1961, it was believed he'd drowned while on an expedition.

The truth? He was killed with one thrust of a spear and an ax to the head...and then most likely gutted, sliced from neck to butt, and roasted over a fire. His arms and legs would've been gnawed on by a happy, grinning collection of savages eager to get their share of a rare commodity; meat. Carl Hoffman's new book, "Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art," describes the world of the Asmat tribe of the Dutch-owned New Guinea. Today, we are surprised there are still backward, brutal natives who indulge in cannibalism, superstition and bizarre blood-lust rituals. Back then, those, such as Rockefeller, looking for museum pieces, knew they were risking their lives bartering with savages.

In October of 1961, Rockefeller spent three profitable weeks in New Guinea offering tobacco and other goods for the natives' art, spears, masks and other objects. All went well until he reached one remote area and suffered a boating accident. Surprisingly strong and tenacious, he floated and swam for nearly an entire day until he reached the shore...where he was met by a ferocious tribe of angry, near-naked men. Author Hoffman was able to track down Dutch Catholic priest, Hubertus von Peij, who had heard about the barbaric incident via a confession from one of the natives. Yes, a man with glasses had been found, wearing nothing but strange shorts, and yes...he was killed and his skull eventually given to one of the lucky savages. Author Hoffman believes Rockefeller's brutal death was retribution for an incident a few years earlier, in which a Dutch official had a few headhunters killed as a warning to cease their illegal practice. Seeing a lone, helpless white man had set them off, although the author does state "Headhunting and cannibalism were as right to them as taking communion or kneeling on the carpet facing Mecca."

The bizarre world of a cannibal tribe comes to life once again, helped by the "solved mystery" of a famous man's disappearance. The story is fascinating and factual, although the exact method of butchering and cooking Michael Rockefeller is based on Asmat custom, not eyewitness reporting. Perhaps it's for this reason that so far, nobody from the Rockefeller family has officially agreed that the young man's death was murder and not drowning.