One hundred and twenty years have passed since the first and only woman was executed in New Zealand. In 1895, a middle aged, working class woman in Invercargill became infamous within a matter of months, and the case of the deaths of two infants in her care became “one of the most remarkable in the annals of New Zealand crime”. New Zealand society was captivated as newspapers around the country recounted Minnie Dean’s crimes, trial and her unprecedented execution. The extent of the media coverage, public response, and, over a century later, historiography indicate that this was a case of remarkable significance. This essay explores the crime and its “remarkable” status in the context of Victorian New Zealand society and its legal system, determining …show more content…
Days after the discovery of the bodies, newspapers from around the colony were reporting the discovery of “The Winton Murders”, and speculating links between the deaths and Dean’s “baby farming” conduct, with many papers calling the crime “The Baby Farming Case”. The subsequent inquests were reported extensively by the press, and when the trial began, local press coverage reported every detail of the four-day trial. The attention surrounding the case was reflected by the public response. The court proceedings drew unprecedented crowds. As Dean was transported to the court house, an angry, jeering crowd lined the route. The trial was a spectacle to the public, with local citizens crowding in the court room to catch a glimpse of Dean and make their own judgement on the evidence on display. These crowds were so large that the railing around the dock threatened to collapse from the pressure. Outside the court, vendors sold “souvenirs" of dolls in miniature hatboxes to the morbidly fascinated spectators. Dean’s notoriety was not confined to Southland. “The Winton Murders” were widely condemned by the New Zealand public in general, who as Sophie Davis idenitifies, were “horrified at the prospect of this “social evil” being preset in the young colony”. Before her guilty verdict was even decided, Dean’s crimes had “inflamed” the entire
Kieran Loveridge appeared in the High Court of Australia, as his case was a serious matter, and also because the case was considered as manslaughter of
The Case of Honora Concannon One famous trial held in Co. Clare, reported in the Dublin Evening
(1996). Volume 2, Sixth Edition, Australian Geographic: New South Wales. 8. Victory, M. (2004). End of the Line- Capital Punishment in Australia, CIS Publishers: Victoria.
Salisbury, Joyce and Andrew Kersten. "Law and Crime in Victorian England." Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
Steven Truscott was a 14 year old boy who was sentenced to life in prison after being accused of the murder of Lynn Harper. It was June 9, 1959 when Lynne Harper, a 12 year old girl, was heading towards a nearby school after having family dinner with her parents Leslie and Shirley. She was heading towards a nearby school playground in Clinton, Ontario where she came across Steven Truscott. She asked for a ride to a nearby highway. Steven Truscott agreed. Lynn clambered onto the handlebars of the 14-year-old boy's bike and they pedaled off. This short ride would trigger a chain of events that will hunt the lives of many for roughly half a decade. This would change the lives of two families, horrify a community, and bring doubts to the justice system protecting everyone’s lives. Lynne’s partially nude body was found nearby a bush in a farmer’s field two days after the bicycle ride with Steven. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death with her own blouse. Almost immediately, Steven was assumed to be the likely killer, although there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder. Steven was targeted as a consequence of being the last person to see Lynne alive. Two after the body was found; Steven was charged with the murder and was tried by the court as an adult. The trial lasted 15 days and Steven was sentenced to hang, which was after changed to life in prison. Now when did this misfortune start? It could have been when Steven agreed to give Lynne a ride, or it could have been when there was no physical evidence pointing to Truscott. Even if Steven was a potential suspect, there was no reason of why he should have been treated the way he was.
On the morning of July 4, 1954, Marilyn Sheppard was violently beaten in her home in Bay Village, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. She was four months pregnant and had been felled by 35 vicious blows (Quade). Right away Sam Sheppard was accused of being the victim to do this. Sheppard had told investigators that he had been asleep downstairs and was awakened by his wife’s screams. Sheppard said when he went upstairs and entered the room he was knocked unconscious by the intruder. He denied any involvement and described his battle with the killer he described as “bushy-haired” (Linder). After a police investigation, Dr. Sam Sheppard was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. With the hectic media covering it, they were quick in decision that it was him that committed the murder. This was an unfair trial, ruined a man’s life, and gave him no time for a career.
In the month of August, a married couple was murdered inside their own house and their own daughter, Lizzie Borden, was accused and trial as if she committed the murder. Lizzie Borden was found innocent even though many found her guilty due to evidence against her. Some might say that justice was done but was it truly done? During the trial, a famous poem about the case was made, “Lizzie Borden took an ax, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.”. This poem was written about Lizzie Borden, who was accused of the murder of her father and stepmother on August 4, 1892. Both her father and stepmother were violently murdered within their own home at the fall of an ax. Even though the poem did
In the 18th century, Sarah Grosvenor’s death was under a spotlight operated by the court system in Connecticut (Women in America, 117). The reasoning behind this focus on her death was very unusual for her time, the abortion that eventually led to her death. Grosvenor was involved with much older Amasa Session...
A major issue among immigrants is the lacking of education. Immigrants already have a hard life and need help to improve life for themselves and for their families. The solution to help immigrants is the Farmer’s Program. This program is for immigrants to receive an education and work experience that will better their life and the community. Many immigrants are not familiar with english, math, and the understanding of life in America. With this program, they will receive an education and learn everything an immigrant needs to know about how to become an American citizen. Farmers and immigrant will both benefit from this program; farm owner will receive help with crops and immigrants will receive help with their new lives.
In The Murder of Helen Jewett, Patricia Cohen uses one of the most trivial murders during the 1800’s to illustrate the sexiest society accommodations to the privileged, hypocritical tunneled views toward sexual behavior, and the exploitation of legal codes, use of tabloid journalism, and politics. Taking the fact that woman was made from taking a rib from man was more than biblical knowledge, but incorporated into the male belief that a woman’s place is determined by the man. Helen had the proper rearing a maid servant, but how did she fall so far from grace. Judge Weston properly takes credit for rearing her with the proper strictness and education. Was Helen seduced at an early age and introduced to sexual perversions that were more persuasive that the bible belt life that the Weston’s tried to live? Was Helen simply a woman who knew how to use what she had to get what she wanted? Through personal correspondence, legal documentation, census reports, paintings, and newspapers we are able to make our own determinations. Cohen provides more than enough background and history to allow any one to make their own opinion how the murder of a woman could be turned into a side show at a circus.
George’s journey in the criminal justice system began when officers arrested her at her house in the presence of her children, which occurred rather in a calm manner, considering the nature of her charges. The detectives arrived at her house with a social worker to secure her children, and they refrained from making a brutal arrest scene by not
The Web. 28 Feb 2014 Christopher, Liam. “Mother ‘vindicated’ after girl’s murder suspect held.” Daily Post. 18 Aug. 2006: 19:. Proquest Newsstand.
There are many ways to decide what makes a man guilty. In an ethical sense, there is more to guilt than just committing the crime. In Charles Brockden Browns’ Wieland, the reader is presented with a moral dilemma: is Theodore Wieland guilty of murdering his wife and children, even though he claims that the command came from God, or is Carwin guilty because of his history of using persuasive voices, even though his role in the Wieland family’s murder is questionable? To answer these questions, one must consider what determines guilt, such as responsibility, motives, consequences, and the act itself. No matter which view is taken on what determines a man’s guilt, it can be concluded that Wieland bears the fault in the murder of Catharine Wieland and her children.
After reading the book “Summerhill- a radical approach to child rearing” I came to know that Summerhill school is most unusual school that I have ever heard of. This school is different than others because it is a democratic school and has a unique system of teaching the children which means students are let free to do as they please. There is no any strict rules and regulations or punishments like we do have in other schools. Here, children learn more through their experience. Reading this book was exceptionally indulging, because every word in this book made me feel that the author really cares and want to help children to be happy. Happy in a sense that children can find his interest in which he can spend their whole life that he can adore.
According to Jackson (1988), the persistent myth that no real law existed in New Zealand prior to 1840, is a racist and colonising myth used to justify the imposition of ongoing application of law from Britain. Pre-European Maori society regulated behaviour and punished wrongdoings through the sanction of muru. Jackson defines muru as, “a legalised system of plundering as penalty for offences, which in a rough way resembled (the Pakeha) law by which a man is obliged to pay damages” (p.40). Due to the law brought and imposed by settlers, it rendered Maori’s values, ways of thinking, and living. This essay aims to discuss the Maori social and cultural values expressed in the sanction muru. Furthermore, how the British opposition to the use of