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tindall@mercury.interpath.net (Bruce Tindall) writes:

> Like the long-memoried Mr. Gustafson, I also
> remember a lurid tale from _Time_ and/or _Newsweek_ of the
> same vintage, 1967 or 1968, about a young woman in a biker gang
> who, pursuant to the rules of the club, having committed some
> infraction such as infidelity to the Leader of the Pack, allowed
> herself to be nailed through the palms of the hands to a tree
> for an hour or so, then went to a hospital in search of treatment
> and claimed she'd tripped and fallen on some sharp object. Could
> have happened, but sounds UL'ish. Anyone remember this one or
> know someone who does? Any later debunkings?

snopes provided the following article, noting its UL-ish qualities, including the lack of firm dates:

_Newsweek_, December 11, 1967.

She Didn't Scream

At first, pretty freckle-faced Christine Deese told doctors at West Palm Beach's St. Mary's Hospital that she had accidentally pierced her palms when she tripped and fell on a nail-studded board. But when suspicious hospital authorities called in the law, the 18-year-old redhead broke down and told the grisly truth: members of a motorcycle gang called the Outlaws had nailed her to a tree as punishment for violating a gang rule that requires a member's "old lady" to hand over all her money to her man. Christine's crucifixion was ordered, she said, because she withheld $10 from one Norman (Spider) Risinger, 25, of Tampa.

When the story broke, southern Florida exploded with outrage. Police quickly jailed Risinger and a second Outlaw, Frank E. (Fat Frank) Link, 25, of Cypress, Calif. And Republican Gov. Claude Kirk ordered a detail of police to saddle up and set off on a cross-country chase to capture three other gang members accused of taking part in the "punishment ceremony," as one of the posse, Sheriff William Heidtman, called it. While Heidtman and two detectives were tracking the renegade Outlaws first to Chicago, then to New Albany, Indiana, and ultimately to Detroit, Governor Kirk declared war on the gang members still in Florida.

Kirk personally led State Hotel and Retaurant Commission officials on an inspection out the Outlaws' hangout -- Kitty's Saloon, a roadside beer and wine joint near West Palm Beach that was promptly closed as unfit and unclean. Arrested on charges of maintaining a house of ill fame and procuring for prostitution, the weathered blond proprietress, Mrs. Kitty Randall, 39, scoffed at the charges ("ridiculous") but admitted the Outlaws regularly drank in her place and slept in the seedy cottages out back. "I introduced some of the girls to some of the guys," Mrs. Randall said. "But what they did after that I don't know."

Kitty Randall did know of the crucifixion, however, and said Spider Risinger told her he had ordered it carried out it a remote wooded area near Juno Beach 10 miles north of West Palm. Later, the Outlaws told her how they drove 4-inch-long tenpenny nails through the center of each of Christine's hands into the limb of a Melaleuca tree against which she stood on tiptoe. The Outlaws sat in a circle and watched Christine for fifteen minutes before removing the nails and taking her back to Kitty's Saloon. During the punishment, Christine "didn't scream," Mrs. Randall said. She added that the Outlaws had frequently beaten the girl but "never on the face, always on the body."

When they finally made it to Detroit, Sheriff Heidtman and his men flushed the three grimy and smelly fugitives out of what Heidtmann called "the filthiest place you ever saw" -- a crowded flat used by another motorcycle gang called the Renegades. Governor Kirk himself met Heidtman at the Palm Beach International airport when the sheriff flew in the three Outlaws -- Donald (Mangy) Graves Jr., 18, of Detroit; Joe (Super Squirrel) Sorsby Jr., 19, of Houston, and John (Crazy John) Wables, 24, of Warren, Mich. Florida police booked them on aggravated-assault charges and jailed them on $15,000 bail. Before they were led away, Crazy John and Super Squirrel kissed each other passionately. "This bunch of bums has got the word they're not welcome in Florida," said Kirk when the roundup was over. "I hope young thrill-seeking girls who go with them know now they can get their fingers burned -- or, in this case, their hands nailed."