Shocking crime: Aussie mother planned to sell human toe, avoids Jail

A mother of five narrowly avoided jail time in Australia after she was convinced of planning to sell a dead man’s toe online.

48-year-old Joanna Kinman, a resident of Melbourne pleaded guilty to offensive conduct involving human remains. She was put to trial in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court.

A mother of five narrowly avoided jail time in Australia after she was convicted of planning to sell a dead man’s toe online. Joanna Kinman, 48, a resident of Melbourne, pleaded guilty to offensive conduct involving human remains. She was put on trial at the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court.

On March 17, she was sentenced to an 18-months community corrections order. Magistrate Sim told Kinman that she had avoided a prison sentence by “the barest of possible margins’,” according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

How did the woman get human remains?

Joanna Kinman worked as a ranger at a Melbourne animal shelter last year when two dogs were brought in. According to Prosecutor Melissa Sambrooks, the dogs belonged to a deceased man and had eaten parts of his corpse.

She informed the court that the dogs became ill and vomited the human remains at the shelter. Kinman identified the remains as human toes and retrieved them from a bin. Sambrooks stated that Kinman stored the toes in a formaldehyde jar.

Kinman later told her daughter that she was planning to sell the toes online, claiming she could get about 400 Australian dollars (approximately $250). When police went to her house after receiving a tip-off, officers found jars containing a bird skull, a guinea pig trotter, an alligator claw, and her children’s teeth.

According to 9News, the woman was part of a Facebook group called, “Bone Buddies Australia,” where members would often discuss and trade specimens online. She had previously sold “wet specimens” of a stillborn puppy and kitten.