The Wild Reason The Misfits Were Arrested While On Tour

The Misfits were more than ragged, 90-second punk songs, white face makeup, questionable hair styles, and that one dude who's still jacked even though he's, like, 60 (we mean Doyle, not Danzig). Taking inspiration from horror films like George Romero's 1968 classic "Night of the Living Dead," the band had a unique, skull-heavy Halloween take on the whole late-1960s punk movement. And they didn't just look the part — they followed through. Case in point: That whole grave robbing incident in 1982. 

Grave robbing, you ask? Yes, indeed. In what became a perfect case of a band living up to their name — plus some criminal charges tossed on top — the Misfits got arrested in 1982 for grave robbing. Or at least, that's how Misfits founding member and bassist-turned-vocalist, Jerry Only, framed it in an interview with the Miami New Times. Other sources like The Times-Picayune/States-Item say that they just got charged with criminal trespass (per the Collinsport Historical Society).

As Jerry Only tells the tale, the band was hanging out in New Orleans after a show. "We were with our friend Sky, who is about six-foot, eight-inches tall, and weighs 350 pound," he said. "He used to kill people in Afghanistan for money." Take this improbable intro, add some spontaneous cemetery infiltration, a few mausoleums "where the bodies rot in a year," an arrest and a couple of confiscated "German daggers," an overnight jail stay, and you've got the makings of a absurd tale befitting the ghouls of punk.

Like we said, depending on the source (and level of embellishment), the Misfits either got arrested for grave robbing or trespassing back in 1982. Obviously, the latter is less serious, especially if someone is trespassing into a vegetable garden or something. Louisiana law reflects this, although perhaps not as much as you'd expect. Per the Louisiana State Legislature, desecration of graves — "grave robbing" — carries a punishment of up to five years in prison and/or $1,000. Also per the Louisiana State Legislature, criminal trespass carries a punishment of 30 days in jail and/or $100 to $500. 

We can assume those penalties were less in 1982, as the Misfits only needed to post a bond of $75. As The Times-Picayune/States-Item originally reported, Danzig, Doyle, Jerry Only, possibly drummer Todd Swalla, and "14 of their fans" got arrested at St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 on the night in question. That cemetery is currently closed to the public because of vandalism.  

According to the Misfits, they were in the cemetery because they were looking for the tomb of legendary voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau (despite her being buried in Cemetery No. 1). Misfits Central says they were also on the hunt for a skull. One of the fans who got arrested told The Times-Picayune/States-Item that the band was "still wearing makeup, including dramatic facial painting, and one woman [fan] wore a black dress, fishnet hose and chains." The band's manager, Rocky Caiafa, bailed them out, and though the Misfits had to report for an arraignment later, Only told the Miami New Times they "got the f*** out of town."

And now we come to the aforementioned, very colorful version of the tale Jerry Only told the Miami New Times. The band finished a show at Tipitina's in New Orleans, he explained, when the 6-foot-8, 350-pound friend of the band, Sky, said, "Hey, there's a cemetery around the corner, let's go." That's all it took for the Misfits to do exactly that. "We pulled in around 3 or 4 in the morning in this bad section of town where there's a murder every night," Only said. "Before you know it, the cemetery is surrounded by cop cars, and all I hear is, 'Hey, Dracula, get your f****** hands up on the wall!' ... We weren't bein' destructive, just curious." Meanwhile, in an old Cvlt Nation piece, a fan who got arrested described the police lining everyone up, being jerks, and making fun of one girl's mohawk before striking her in the face. 

Even though this tale might have been forgotten by all but Misfits' fans, Only says that it had the effect of bringing the band further into the public light. MTV had been up and running for about a year in 1982, and it looks like the channel might have been the first to spin the criminal trespass story into "The Misfits went grave robbing." Other sites since then have repeated this version of events, like Far Out Magazine. And then of course, Only's repeated the same thing. Ultimately, such shenanigans couldn't be more on the nose for a bunch of misfits.