Murder of Saint Belina

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Saint Belina was a young woman who was murdered and made into a saint. In 1203 she was canonized by Pope Innocent III and was venerated in Troyes. Some of her relics were lost during the French Revolution, but some of her bone particles and her head are stored in a bust at the Mores Abbey in Launderville. Her feast day is February 19th. She is known both as Belina of Troyes, and Belina of Launderville due to the location of her murder. 

 There is little known about her life, but she was born to religious serfs of John Paterne, the Lord of Pradines and D'Arcy in Landerville, France. It was unknown when she was born. She was known as a gentle soul caring for others. In 1153 she was engaged to another young man of similar rank in the village. 

Her parents would ask Lord Paterne for his blessing. He would reject the proposal. He was also interested in having a beautiful girl. It was said that Belina rejected him and was disgusted with that idea. She wanted to marry the man she loved. She was not interested in the Lord or his position of power. 

Sometime after Belina would be tending to her father's sheep. This was when Lord Paterne would show up surprising her. He would try to force himself on her, but she would fight back and defend herself. During the struggle, Lord Paterne would bring out his sword and beheaded her. He would leave her body in the field.

It's not stated how the people knew it was known that it was him, but there was a revolt. The peasants were so outraged that they rose up against him. They would burn down his castle. He would escape with his life as he had disguised himself.

He however did not escape unfazed. Pope Anastasius IV excommunicated him and took away his titles. The king confiscated his land, and the French parliament condemned him to permanent exile.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Catholic Readings

Catholic Online

End of Watch: Deputy Warden Joseph Clark

In 1864 a man called George Chase was in jail on Collins St in Joliet, Illinois for being a horse thief. It was believed that his name was George Chase, but it was not positive. He refused to talk about his loved ones or where he was from. George was about 30 and described as a stout and healthy man with blue eyes and sandy hair. 

On April 4th George would attempt to escape but failed. However, during his attempted escape, he would hit Deputy Warden Joseph Clark with a rock or club. This injury would cause the Deputy Warden to die weeks later. 

The following January he would be sentenced to death. He was to be the first man executed in Joilet. Because he refused to talk about family friends or even where he was from his only visitors were 3 ministers. On July 27, 1866, George was taken from his jail cell at about 2:30. The three ministers would follow him with their Bibles reading from them. 

He would be walked to a large hallway in the county jail. There was a gallows made specifically for George. There were two posts on each side of the hallway with a beam overhead. a noose would hang from the beam and the other went into a hole in the basement. It was tied with three heavy sandbags that were to bring him up. 

Several official witnesses and newspaper reporters watched the execution. George was tied with ropes and looked to have a dead expression as he was seated in a chair. The chair was under the noose. He would be asked if he had any final words and he did. 

“I don’t think I’m guilty,” he said. “I don’t see any proof that I murdered that man. I think I’ve got as good an explanation of that as you have.” Before he was done talking the Sheriff placed a white hood over his head. “I’m not ready for that yet,” he continued. “I’m as innocent a man as any of you. I am as innocent a man as any in the United States. I admit that hanging is justice. But hanging for a thing a man ain’t guilty of and can’t prove I am guilty of is another thing. It ain’t justice.” He then complained about how tight his bindings were. When the hood was completely placed he muttered, “Gentlemen, I am to be slaughtered.”

The noose would be placed around his neck over the hood. The sheriff would signal the deputy in the basement to drop the bags and they were. George would be pulled from his chair and hung 5 feet in the area. There was a little struggle. They would leave him to hang for 20 minutes. 

He was not taken to a funeral home or buried right after his death. Instead, his head was removed so that doctors could look at the brain attempting to see if there were any clues about his criminal behavior. However, there were no "signs of insanity" in his brain. 

The head was given to a phrenologist and used for lectures. His headless corpse was buried at the prison cemetery known as Monkey Hill. 

SOURCES:

Legal Executions in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Missouri page 3

Will County, Illinois Genealogy 

GHOSTS: Murkatta

 In Nepal, there is a ghost or ghost called the Murkatta. The ghost would wander around carrying its head under its arm. The ghost would look to take children's heads. In Kathmandu, Nepal, a festival is celebrated on the day of Ghode Jatra to scare away the Murkatta and protect children from its evil eyes.

The Murkatta is a ghost similar to La Lorna to scare kids into listening to their parents. In Saundarya's article, A Tale of Murkatta, the Headless Monster wrote about her experience with her family members using Murkatta.

SOURCES:

Association for Children's Literature in South Asia

Jane Wilson-Howarth

Wikipedia

INFANTICIDE: May 21, 1932 Birmingham, England Baby Jane Doe

On May 21, 1932, the body of a newborn baby girl was found in a public lavatory on Washwood Heath Rd in Birmingham, England. The baby had been decapitated and had signs of scorching on the body after death. It was born alive and died due to suffocation possibly caused by constriction of the throat with a finger and thumb.

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

Birmingham Gazette May 26, 1932

GHOSTS: Headless Woman of Iroquois Park

 At Iroquois Park in Louisville, Kentucky it's said that a headless woman wearing 1800's clothes and carrying her head could be seen in the park. It's said that at night she wanders through the woods holding her head. You can see sometimes see her walking through a cloud of fog or smoke.

It's said that she was the wife of an old farmer. One night when she was home alone Native Americans would raid the home. When they found the poor woman inside they beheaded her and burned the house down.

SOURCES:
Louisville Ghost Hunters Society
Nolan Group Media
DJX
Manual Red Eye

Christina Johansdotter Murders Infant So She'd Die

In 1740 Christina Johandotter lived in Sweden and had no will to live. She missed her fiance who had died and wanted to join him, but suicide is a sin and she did not want to go to hell. If she was in hell then she would not be able to see her fiance again.

She would witness a woman who was executed for infanticide. She decided to commit suicide by execution and repent and admit her crime in order to be forgiven and allowed into Paradise. The problem was that she had to kill someone specifically a child. Killing an adult did not always get the death penalty, but a child does get execution by decapitation.

One day in 1740 Christina would visit a friend and asked them if she could take the child. She told them that she wanted to show the infant to a friend visiting from the country. Christina would instead bring the child outside and chop off their head with an axe. She would be arrested for the murder. 

She would admit that she missed her fiance and thought this was the only way to see him soon. She was prosecuted for the murder and executed. At the time punishment for child murder was decapitation and then her body was burned at the stake. 

At the time suicide executions were a solution for those who wanted to die and go to heaven. Those who committed sins could ask for forgiveness and can enter heaven. Children were seen as being sinless and that 

Suicide executions became a historical phenomenon that created its own culture and customs. By the 1700's killing a child as a means of death was the most common reason to do so, the second being unmarried mothers killing their newborns in secret. 

There were theatrical performances for these suicides. Families of the condemned would buy special costumes decorated with embroidery and ribbons and pay for a suit to escort the condemned to the place of execution. Many who watch sympathized with the condemned especially if they were female.

The government would try to prevent this and issued a new law in 1754. This however did not end this type of suicide method though. The law stated that if those who had done a suicide-execution were to stand on the schavott for two days with the crime stated on a board and the person remaining blindfolded and whipped. This did not deter people from doing this.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Murderpedia

History Collection

Murdered Saints: Saint Solange

Solange was born into a poor, but devout family in the town of Villemont, France near Bourges. She was devoted and consecrated her virginity at 7-years-old. Solange was popular and very beautiful some even said her mere presence cured the sick and exorcised devils. She caught the eye of many including the son of the count Poitiers who was highly taken.

In 880 the man would come to Solange as she tended her sheep. He would get rejected by the shepherdess. He did not take the rejection well and planned to take her for himself. One night he would kidnap her by force. She would struggle against him. While they were crossing a stream she struggled greatly and fell from the horse. She would then try to flee him for him to catch up. He would then behead her with his sword. 

Legend states that Solange's severed head invoked three times the Holy Name of Jesus and she was able to pick up her head and walk to the church of Saint-Martin (now Saint-Solange) in the village of Sain-Martin-du-Crot and dropping dead there. 

Immediately there was a cult surrounding her grew. Many miraculous cures were attributed to her intercession. In 1281 an altar was erected in her honor at that church, now known as the church of Saint-Solange. Her head is preserved there as a relic. A nearby field where she prayed is referred as the field of Saint Solange and locals would go there during great times of stress to form a procession through Bourges with the reliquary head to invoke her against drought. 

Her feast day is May 10th. She is the patron saint of Berry, France, Bourges, France, for rain, rape victims, and shepherds.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Catholic Online

Catholic Readings

INFANTICIDE: May 4, 1922 Epping Forest, England

On May 4, 1922, a decapitated newborn girl was found in Epping Forest. The baby was decapitated with one cut with a knife. The body was then left in Epping Forest. 

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

UNIDENTIFIED: April 8, 1866 Evansville, Indiana Jane Doe

  On April 8, 1866, boys playing on Chesnut Street in Evansville, Indiana found toes sticking out of the dirt. Recent rain had washed away and revealed the body of a woman in a shallow grave. Her head was not found with the body. It was believed that she had been dead for at least 2 months. It was strange that she was undiscovered even buried where found because Chestnut St. was a busy street.

Her race was unknown. She was 5'6". She was wearing a nightgown.

In 1873 a Frederick J Smith who used the alias Meyer was indicted for the murder. He had lived in Evansville at the time, but moved by the time he was indicted. 

I'm not sure if she was identified articles would just refer to the woman as the headless woman. I'm not sure if he was convicted or not it just states he was indicted. It doesn't even state why he was suspected.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Evansville Daily Journal April 9, 1866

Seymore Times March 20, 1873

Fort Wayne Daily Gazette March 13, 1873

UNIDENTIFIED: Feb. 15, 1957 Watsonville, California

On Feb. 15, 1957, the head of a woman was found in a shallow grave under a railroad trestle in the Pajaro River Levee in Southern Santa Cruz County, California. The head was inside of a grocery bag, but her body was not found. According to one news article another large grocery bag was found in the area that had some red discolorations. Similar discolorations were found on the cheek of the head. It's believed she died in 1956.

Head belonged to an African American woman between the ages of 28 to 52-year-old. She had a gold upper tooth.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Unidentified Wiki

News-Pilot Feb. 16, 1957

The Fresno Bee Feb 16, 1957

Murder of Jim and John Denningfield

 On Sunday, December 18, 1927, The bodies of 55-year-old Jim Dennifield, and his son 9-year-old John were found murdered in their Dacula, Georgia by a neighbor. When they were found the two hounds stayed with John laying with him as if trying to protect him from further harm. 

It's possible that this happened on the Friday night before being found. Jim had quartered and fed his stock. His son was already preparing to go to bed when they were attacked. Jim was known to be distrustful of banks and was likely hiding money in his home. This is possibly why the killers/robbers followed the farmer home and took a cracked door as an opportunity.

Jim would fight the intruders and his son would hide under a lint pile in the adjoining room. The killer would hit Jim with an ax or similar weapon under the chin almost decapitating him and then crushed his head. The killers would drag out the 9-year-old and make him tell them where the money was hidden. He told them that the money was hidden under planks. They left no witnesses after they got the $500 (equivalent to$7,358 today). They killed the boy hacking him with the ax on a cot. 

There were bloody fingerprints found at the scene. There was some on the mantle and on the door. Tracks lead to an abandoned sawmill near the home about 500 yards away. There was evidence of them leaving in a car. 

I could only find the initial articles on this case on December 19th. I couldn't find if this case was solved or not. 

SOURCES:

The Atlanta Constitution December 19, 1927 (Part 1) (Part 2)

The Orlando Sentinel December 19, 1927

The Knoxville Journal December 19, 1927

Johnson City Staff News December 19, 1927

Murdered Saints: Murder of Dymphna and Gerebernus

 

Martyrdom of St Dymphna and St Gerebernus by Jacques de l'Ange

 In the 7th Century, Ireland Dymphna was born as Irish Royalty. Her father was Damon, the king of Oriel. Her mother was secretly a devoted Christian and would raise Dymphna in secret as one too. When she was 14 she would consecrate herself to Christ and hold a vow of chastity. 

Soon her mother would die and Damon's mental health would deteriorate. Damon had deeply loved his wife and took her death badly. His advisors would press Damon to remarry and he would agree. The only condition was that his bride needed to be as beautiful as the late queen. After searching fruitlessly for this woman he focused on his daughter who was as beautiful as her mother. 

The teenager would find out about her father's plans of marrying her. To keep her vows and escaping an unwanted fate. She would flee with her confessor Father Gerebernus. They would take a ship and would settle in what is now Geel, Belgium. Thinking that she would be safe from her father's clutches she would use her wealth to open a hospital for the poor and sick of the region. Some of the coins she used would allow her father to know her whereabouts.

Her father would go to Geel with his men. He would order them to behead Gerebernus and to force his daughter back to Ireland. The now 15-year-old would refuse to go back to Ireland to be her father's bride.  This would anger the king and he would behead his daughter in a rage. He would leave Dympha and Gerebernus where they were killed and left to go back to Ireland.

The residents of Geel would retrieve the bodies and bury the two in a cave. Years later their remains would be buried in a more suitable place. Both Gereburnus and Dymphna were canonized as Saints. 

In 1349 a church was built to honor St. Dymphna built in Geel. Many Europeans would come to church by 1480. These people would seek treatment for psychiatric disorders and the church would expand for their guests. Even though there was expansion they would get an overflow of people. The people of Geel would take patients into their own homes. The patients would never be called that though and be called boarders. 

The boarders would be treated like family by their hosts. Most would work menial labor in return and become a part of the community. Some would live the rest of their lives in Geel some months or decades. In the 1930s it's said that there were over 4,000 boarders in the town. 

The remains of St. Dymphna were later put into a silver reliquary and placed in a church in Geel named in her honor. The remains were moved to Xanten, Germany. The original church of St. Dymphna burned down in the late 15th century. A second church was built and consecrated in 1532 where they believed her body was first buried. Many miracles are believed to have happened here.

St. Dymphna is known as the Lily of Eire because of her spotless virtue. She is the patron saint of mental illness and anxiety. The chief feast day is May 15 the final day of their martyrdom.

St. Gerebernus is a saint against fever, gout, and for Sonsbeck, Germany. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Catholic

Loyola Press

Catholic Saints

UNIDENTIFIED: April 5, 1889 Texarkana, Arkansas John Doe

 His killers had made his grave too small and had to cut off his head where it was buried separately. Inside his body was lying on its side. He had been stabbed as a common and sharpened kitchen knife was found between his ribs. Three pieces of oak wood were placed around the body. His clothes had disintegrated and a leather belt was found. He had red hair. He had been dead for at least 2 years. 

I'm not sure if this John Doe was ever Identified or if his killers had been. There was only one source for this murder. 

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Austin Weekly Statesmen April 11, 1898

Serial Killers: Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi

Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi who was described as an old man was a shoemaker and public letter writer in Marrakesh, Morroco. He and an accomplice 70-year-old woman named Rahali (Annah) would invite Morrish young women over for dinner. They would then put a narcotic in the food that would cause them to pass out. While asleep he would murder the women by beheading them, rob them, and bury 26 under his home and 10 more on his property.

It was noticed in April of 1906 many women were going missing. One of the women was traced to the cobbler shop. They decided to torture information from Rahali she admitted that they drugged and killed the women. She would die from the torture, but everything she stated turned out to be true. Hadj would then confess to the murders.

He was supposed to be executed on May 2, 1906, by crucifixion, but foreign diplomats found that to be too brutal. He would be whipped daily until June 11, 1906. He would be walled up and left to die inside. It would take two days for him to die on June 13, 1906.


SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Murderpedia

Scoop Empire

People Pill

The Age September 6, 1906

The Times and Democrat