For about 20 years after the American Civil War, body-snatching from graves was common in the USA, as medical schools had no legal source of cadavers under the laws at that time. To help discourage the practice, Philip K. Clover of Ohio invented in 1878 a "coffin torpedo," which essentially was a small cannon buried over or inside the casket which would fire several lead balls straight up into anyone attempting to remove the coffin or its contents. Probate Judge Thomas N. Howell, also of the Buckeye State, invented a device in 1881 which performed the same task of killing or maiming the grave robber, except through the use of high explosive.
Legitimate cemetery workers were not enthusiastic about these booby traps, as they sometimes went off when a gravedigger was working on an adjoining plot.
Sales of the coffin torpedoes were initially good, but they fell precipitously after a few years as new laws were enacted which gave medical schools legal access to cadavers and destroyed the incentive for corpse stealing.
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