River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-05-03

propose in this paper 10 show that
Il Is no uncommon ciUcums tanCe fOT
persons 70 confess To having perpetrat-
cd crimes Of which they were certain
IL or probably innocent, and that
there are forces in operation in the hu.
man mind which may prompt to the
making Of n false confession. even
though by 50 doing life. liberty or
property be pat in danger. Thus there
is "a difficulty in the minds Of some
persons who exhibit no other evidence
Of mental alteration to discriminate
between their thoughts or their dreams
aud absolute facts. They brood over
some real or imaginary circumstance
until they bring themselves TO believe
in its reality.
Such person, for instance. reads in
the daily press Of some shocking muir
der that has been committed. the per-
petrator of which has escaped un-
recognized He reads it in one news
paper and in another and another.
hears il talked up among his COM
l,anions. aud begins by wonder.
ing whether or not the muir
dercr will ever Dc discovered He
knows that murders have been COM
mitted by persons who At the time
were i'm n state IF somnambulism. OF
who were suffering from an epilcptiC
paroxysm. Perhaps he has himself in
IL o. l.. Il. L.
had a cOnyulsion, as his mother has
told him. Suddenly the idea strikes
him that hc may be the guilty man.
At first the notion is horrible 10 him,
but its very horror renders it attract
i've. lie goes to the Academy of Med
iciue and reads mp ON the subject OF
epilepsy. There is scarcely a disease,
especially of tie nervous system. of
which any person at some time or
other II his life has not had one or
more symptoms. The qUack medicine
advertisers are fully aware of this
faci, aud make full use of it. to Fright
en- the ignorant into the purchase OF
their trash. Our incipient self-accuser
has. therefore. no trouble in finding
what he is looking FOR. and he goes
home i,.lly convinced that he has had
an epileptic paroxysm. during which
he may have been a murderer. The
transition from a possibility to a real
ity presents no diff cuIties TO his mind.
and he ends 5y fully believing himself
to be the murderer for whom the police
are seeking. He visits the place
where the crime was committed,
questions the residents of the
neighborhOOd in regard TO all
the particulars. and even in
tCTrOgates the police relative 10 theiI
plans for securing the murderer and
the secret evidence they may have in
their possession At last suspicion i.
turned toward him and eventually he
Is arrested. The accounts that he has
read in the newspapers and the gossip
he has heard. that regardless of hi.
original idea that he hal perpetrated
the crime during an epileptic fit and
therefore IN a state of uncOnscien-
tiOusness that forces him 10 make
RtOuement. he cOnfess2s that h. par-
petrated the murder and gives a full
and Circums.autial account of the
crime. Inquiry soon. however. shows
that he could not by any possibility
have been tho perpetratOr aud he is
therefore, after a few days. during
which the newspapers have given the
most sensational accounts IF his
brutality aud remOrse. discharged
from custody.
Sometimes. however. the Terminal
tion Is not so fortunate for the false
cO8fCssor.
Several year- ago a boy. Francis
Laville Kent, four years old. was found
murdered in IN clubhouse on his
fathers premises in England. The
throat was cur TO the bone and
there was wound in the chest
which penetrated to the heart.
The corpse was wrapped in q
blanket which belonged 70 the bed in
which the child had slept the night
before, piece Of flannel. such as
women sometimes wear on the chest
was found under the body and n pOr.
tion of a newspaper which had evil
dertly been used for wipinc a bloody
knife lay upon the foOr. Nothing else
was discovered calculated to Indicate
the pcrpetrator OF the deed and even
the ownership Of the piece Of flannel
T. could not be traced Before gong 10
! bed the night before Mr.. Kent had
seen that all the doors and windows
Of the house were securely closed.
Tho h0usemaid in coming downstairs
that morning had found the drawing
room door aud one Of the windows
open, but as there was no evidence
Of force having been used il was sup
posed that they had been opened
from the inside. There was no evil
dcuco whatever to fasten the crime
upon any one. Suspicion fell by turns
upon Nr. Kent. the nurse. and upon
n daughter Of the former by his first
wife; but nothing was discovered
sufficient 10 Justify the committal Of
either for trial. The young lady had
been heard TO utter expressions of dis
like against the murdered child. and
had on several occasions shown some
slight degree Of jealousy toward:
him 4 night dress of hers was miss
ing and no satisfactory accounts were
given Of its whereabouts. but there
was nothing more. As was very
natural she had she'd tears when in,
formed Of the cause other arrest but
had borne herself throughout the ex'
animation with wonderful fOrtitud,
and apparently with the utmost con
seriousness Of innocence.
Shortly afterward she entered 5
a semi-cOnventual order connected
with the Church of England. rem ain
ing in seclusion about five years. when
she voluntarily came forward con-
fessed herself guilty of her brother :
murder and was committed 10 take
her trial for the crime When ar
raigncd she pleaded guilty to the in
dielment and on her plea alone. with