“Trial
by Touch” was a peculiar method of determining guilt in a murder case
that was used occasionally in colonial America, brought over from
earlier trials in Europe. The accused murderer was charged to touch the
corpse of the victim before witnesses.
It was widely
believed in those days that "murdered blood cried for vengeance" just as
the blood of Abel was said to have "cried up from the ground." This
formed the rationale for a further belief that if a murderer touched the
corpse of his victim, that corpse would either bleed or have the "blood
come fresh upon it."
But the corpse didn’t have to
bleed to indicate guilt. If it moved or bruised, that was good enough.
Read more about Trial by Touch and
an account of a woman who was hanged for murder because of it, at Weird Universe.
No comments:
Post a Comment