Haunted dealt in the standard horror fare of the period - bizarre crimes, weird creatures, walking cadavers and the like.

Now the writer, Peter Braunstein, 43, is about to go on trial, charged with a bizarre crime against a woman who worked in his own newsroom.

Will the premiere of his first opera, inspired by a bizarre real-life crime hatched in an internet chat room, change their minds?

That he was a policeman; that he specialized in the resolution of the cruel, the vicious, the most bizarre crimes.

He adds that the rest of the time it is the bizarre and tragic, especially violent crime involving expatriates, that fill the limited agenda.

Certainly that would be a calamity," said Long, "and all due to a crime that is unique in a city that has seen many bizarre crimes.

Statistically speaking, it was almost impossible that such a bizarre crime would be repeated.

The more brutal and bizarre the crime, the greater our need for such reassurance.

They contain larger-than-life characters interwined with a wry sense of humour, and bizarre crimes.

State police officials have called the Harris murders the most bizarre crimes in their department's 75-year history.