‘Lobster Boy’: The Shocking Rise and Violent Fall of Grady Stiles

The story of ‘Lobster Boy’ continues to fascinate the world more than three decades after his death. The sideshow performer, whose real name was Grady Stiles, shot to fame because of a rare physical deformity.

Stiles was born with a genetic condition called ectrodactyly, which made his fingers and toes fuse together. As a result, his hands appeared like claws, earning him the name 'Lobster Boy'. But his deformity and his sideshow performances were not the only things that made him famous. He also became a notorious murderer and an abuser who assaulted his family members.

Stiles was not the only one in his family with ectrodactyly. In fact, the condition ran in his family, dating back as far as 1840. Even his father had claw-like extremities. Born in 1937, Stiles joined his father in his sideshow act when he was just seven years old.

He soon became an attraction as audiences were amazed by the shape of his hands and feet. His family moved with a traveling carnival and spent the off-season in Gibsonton, Florida. Because of his condition, Stiles had limited mobility and relied on his hands and arms for moving himself from one place to another.

This made his upper body and his hands extraordinarily strong. However, he later would use his strength for questionable purposes. Though he was a great performer, the same could not be said about his personality. He had anger issues and struggled with alcoholism.

Despite his issues, he found love with Mary, who worked at a carnival. The two got married and had two children. As in his family history, one of his children was also born with ectrodactyly. Meanwhile, Stiles’ bad temper became a problem for his family. He often abused his wife and used his powerful claws to choke her.

He eventually decided to leave his family and marry another woman. The woman gave birth to a son, who once again had claw-like limbs. Stiles’s troubling actions peaked in 1978 when he murdered his daughter’s fiancé on their wedding eve.

Stiles was soon arrested and tried for murder. He openly admitted to the crime in court. However, since no state prison was equipped to handle an inmate with ectrodactyly, the judge sentenced him to 15 years of probation.

Following his release, Stiles' behavior reportedly worsened. However, his first wife, Mary, surprisingly decided to give him a second chance. The two remarried in the late 1980s. Stiles then once again showed his true colors by continuing to assault Mary and their children.

Mary eventually decided to take matters into her own hands. With the help of Harry Glenn Newman Jr., her son from a previous marriage, she paid a 17-year-old neighbor and carnival worker named Chris Wyant $1,500 to kill Stiles.

On November 29, 1992, while Stiles was watching TV in his home in Gibsonton, Florida, Wyant entered and shot him twice in the head, marking the end of his terror. Mary, Harry, and Chris faced prison for Stiles’ murder.

Though he had a remarkable career despite his deformity, his children do not think highly of him because of his aggression. His son, Grady Stiles III, described him as a drunken and abusive father in a 2020 interview.