Eugene Harold Krabs – known more fondly as Mr Krabs – is the greedy founder and owner of Krusty Krabs in the beloved cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants.
The crimson crab has popped up on our screens for years and is a fan favourite – but in 2021, a bizarre report describing his death at the hands of fellow characters surfaced online.
How did Mr Krabs die?
In the eerie Trial of SpongeBob SquarePants document, Mr Krabs is found dead inside his restaurant with his throat cut.
The coroner concluded that the fatal wound was caused by the metal spatula – and a similar spatula was found next to his body.
He also had signs of blunt-force trauma on the back of his head, swirling mystery as to how he died – or who killed him.
It was also revealed that the floor of the Krusty Krab was slippery and covered in cooking grease.
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The grease had several footprints, including that of the protagonist of the show, SpongeBob.
However, his footprints were not present in the pool of Mr Krab’s blood.
While there were no signs of any break-in, the Krusty Krab’s cash register was empty.
The deceased owner’s safe was also found open with the secret recipe for the Krabby Patty missing.
Mr Krabs had a cut on his claw that had begun to heal, which indicated that it was not associated with his murder but happened several weeks before the incident.
Who killed Mr Krabs?
A viral PDF document or “court document” – titled The Trial of SpongeBob SquarePants – details how Mr Krabs was found dead in his restaurant.
The document also includes witness statements from friends of SpongeBob hinting that the character of likely to be the murderer,
Another character in the show, Plankton also has his own restaurant, the Chum Bucket.
Some theories suggest that it is Plankton who murdered Mr Krabs.
Since the document hit the internet in 2021, SpongeBob fans have continued to share their disbelief of the case via Twitter,
One person tweeted: “WT* DO YOU MEAN PATRICK KILLED MR. KRABS??!?”
Another fan asked: “WHAT MR. KRABS IS DEAD???”
Despite the “court papers” being well written and heavily detailed, it is likely the document was the product of a school project or merely fan fiction.
Is Mr Krabs still in SpongeBob SquarePants?
It did not help that around the time the conspiracy about Mr Krabs’ death was circling the internet, Nickelodeon pulled an episode of the show.
The episode in question, titled ‘Kwarantined Crab’, was episode 21 of season 12.
Confused fans believed it to be the episode that might have featured the death of Mr Krabs.
However, the network clarified that the episode was removed due to its striking similarities with the real-world Covid-19 pandemic.
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But the good news is that as of now, SpongeBob SquarePants is on its 14th season and all of its characters remain unchanged for the most part.
This includes Mr Krabs, who is still alive despite the terrible rumors.