History’s strangest deaths: Aussie politician died ‘while shagging his son’s ex’

A new book lifts the lid on history’s strangest deaths, including a famous Aussie politician who died mid-romp with his son’s ex.

“He was shagging his son’s ex-girlfriend, and he died while doing it.”

That might sound like something from The Jerry Springer Show, but it’s actually a true story about an Australian politician who died mid-romp in the 1980s.

The story features in a recently released book called History’s Strangest Deaths, written by Riley Knight.

In an interview with news.com.au’s From the Newsroom podcast, Mr Knight shared a few cheeky details about the infamous death of Sir Billy Snedden who served as the leader of the Liberal Party from 1972 to 1975.

Mr Snedden, who had a reputation for being a ladies man, died in 1987 just hours after attending John Howard’s election campaign launch.

Sir Billy Snedden in 1974.

John Howard and Bob Hawke at Sir Billy Snedden‘s funeral.

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He was 60 years old at the time.

“He was found in a hotel room in flagrante delicto (caught in an act of sexual misconduct) with his son’s ex,” Mr Knight explained. “ He was shagging … and he died while doing it.”

Mr Snedden, who was separated from his wife at the time of his death, suffered a fatal heart attack while doing the deed.

“They had reached the conclusion of their amorous entanglement … so it’s fair to say that Sir Billy Snedden was coming while he was going,” laughed Mr Knight.

The lawyer who accidentally shot himself

Another amusing story featured in the book is about the death of former United States Representative, Clement Vallandigham.

“He was an interesting fellow, on the wrong side of history for most of his career,” Mr Knight said. “He was an ardent supporter of the Rebel Confederates and all that sort of stuff.”

In his later years, Mr Vallandigham worked as a lawyer.

“One day he’s got to get his client off a murder charge,” Mr Knight said. “This bloke has been charged with shooting someone in the guts during a bar brawl.”

Mr Vallandigham came up with an interesting defense for his client, arguing that the victim accidentally shot himself “in the guts” as he was trying to pull his own pistol out of his pocket.

To prove it was a valid argument, the lawyer decided to demonstrate how it could have happened.

“He puts a pistol in his pocket and he makes this big show of fumbling it as he’s pulling it out,” Mr Knight explained. “But he didn’t realise the pistol was loaded.

“ He shot himself in the guts and he died!” Mr Knight said about the lawyer.

While it was a fatal mistake for Mr Vallandigham, it proved to be a blessing for his client.

“When it was taken to the courtroom, the remaining defense team for this bloke on the murder charge said, ‘your honour, we’ve tested this and it could have happened. Here’s the corpse to prove it!’

“If you’ll believe it, the defense worked,” Mr Knight told news.com.au.

Clement Vallandigham.

History's Strangest Deaths is out now.

The poodle that killed three people

History’s Strangest Deaths also covers the bizarre story of Cachi the poodle, who was responsible for multiple fatalities in Buenos Aires in the 1980s.

“This poodle, for unknown reasons, threw itself off the 13th floor of an apartment building,” Mr Knight explained. “It landed on an old lady who was walking underneath the building, and it killed her instantly”.

Sadly, Cachi was also killed in the fall.

According to Mr Knight, a crowd quickly gathered on the sidewalk with people rushing over to see if they could help.

“In one woman’s haste to run over and lend assistance, she ran into the road and got cleaned up by a bus,” he revealed.

But the carnage wasn’t over.

“Another bloke, who has just watched a poodle fall out of the sky, kill an old lady, and then another woman get hit by a bus, this is too much for him. He has a heart attack and dies as well!

“So this poodle falling off of this building killed three people in one go,” Mr Knight said.

For more remarkable stories, watch Mr Knight’s interview with news.com.au in the video player at the top of this article.

For even more, you can buy his book, History’s Strangest Deaths, and listen to his very popular podcast, Half-Arsed History.