The murderer who has planned and executed a diabolical
homicide and who has retired to obscurity and safety will very
likely in course of time make a clean breast of it to some one
whom he believes to be his friend. He wants to "get it off
his chest," to talk it over, to discuss its fine points, to
boast of how clever he was, to ask for unnecessary advice
about his conduct in the future, to have at least one other
person in the world who has seen his soul's nakedness.
The interesting feature of such confessions from a legal point
of view is that, no matter how circumstantial they may be,
they are not usually of themselves sufficient under our law to
warrant a conviction. The admission or confession of a
defendant needs legal corroboration. This corroboration is
often very difficult to find, and frequently cannot be
secured at all. This provision of the statutes is doubtless a
wise one to prevent hysterical, suicidal, egotistical, and
semi-insane persons from meeting death in the electric chair
or on the gallows, but it often results in the guilty going
unpunished.
Pages:
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141