How unfortunate for them.
June 23, 1912 born genius mathematician Alan Turing, who, despite all the scientific works and achievements, was accused of “indecent exposure”, arrested and sentenced. Two years later, the man whose work became the basis of Informatics, was found dead at home. And only in 2013 Turing was posthumously pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II.
When you are accused of a crime you did not commit, you have to hope only for justice. And today we will talk about the people who met too late. So late, some didn’t.
Leo Frank
In 1915, the year in Atlanta the Manager of the pencil factory and a Jew Leo Frank was accused of the rape and murder of 13-year-old Mary Fagan, working in the same place. Despite questionable evidence and the testimony of a single witness – African-American worker Jim Conley, Frank was found guilty, sentenced to death, but was commuted to life. Frustrated at the leniency of the crowd kidnapped Leo and hung in the forest.
70 years later, Alonzo Mann, working in the office of Frank, admitted that he saw the worker Conley carrying the body of a girl. Under oath, Alonso said that was silent because Conley threatened her saying that and going to kill him.
Leo Frank was acquitted in 1986.
Timothy Cole
A young man named Timothy Cole was arrested, charged with raping a classmate. Although Cole had a good reputation (he was a war veteran with the distinctive signs) and alibi, prosecutors saluted the fact that he was “black”.
While in prison, Cole, categorically denied his guilt. Even the victim admitted he had been wrong, and in fact joined the family Cole and tried to prove his innocence. Acquitted him in 2009. Cole would have been glad if he had not died in jail for 10 years before that.
But the saddest part of this story is that the real rapist was familiar with Cole and tried to clear his name from the messy allegations since 1995! Cole’s family only found out about it in 2007, after reading the letter of a rapist, which he left near their home. Cole could be released and live with the family at least another 4 years, but it was too late.
Patrick “Giuseppe” Conlon
In December 1974, Patrick Conlon immediately dropped everything and came to Belfast to help his son, after he was found guilty in the attacks of the Irish Republican Army. Conlon, despite the fact that he was seriously ill and was not in the country, was imprisoned with six teenagers, who were only 14 years old.
But the worst thing is that after the police admitted that forcibly knocked out “confessions”, all participants ultimately were released and pardoned and got a lot of money – all except Patrick, who died in prison. His only crime is caring about his son.
One of the most famous trials – the Salem witch trials in 1692-93 year, which was 19 women hanged, one crushed by stones, and about 200 imprisoned.
Only in 1957 the victim was justified. During all this time, what theory explains the causes of process was not made universal hysteria, a conspiracy of showing kids, especially the psychology of the puritans, the poisoning poisonous substance.
Derek Bentley
The case Bentley is one of the most famous mistakes of British justice. 19-year-old Bentley Bentley and his accomplice Christopher Craig committed a robbery in one of the houses. Noticed, the police arrived and began a sort of scuffle, during which Bentley shouted to Craig, who had a gun, the phrase that became decisive in court – “let’s get him!”. A shot rang out and one of the policemen was killed. Bentley was arrested, and his partner after they tried to escape the scene with an injury was taken to hospital.
In court both denied the charges, Derek didn’t know about the gun and Chris didn’t want to kill anyone. But Bentley’s phrase “let’s do it” was regarded as a call to murder and he was sentenced to death and 16-year-old Craig to life. After a year, Derek Bentley was hanged in prison.
After 45 years, during which the family of Derek fought for the rehabilitation of his name, one of the officers said that did not hear that fateful phrase. The court quashed the conviction of Derek Bentley for the murder part. Justified by the way the guy suffered from epilepsy, which developed when the bombing during the Second world war, he was a slow development (at 11 years), he could not read and write.
Timothy Evans
Was accused of killing his pregnant wife and young daughter. During the trial, Evans claimed that his neighbor, John Christie, to which the couple asked him to help them to have an abortion (in the UK it was illegal) is guilty of all.
Once Evans returned from work and his roommate said that his wife died, as a means of abortion that didn’t work out. Evans decided to run, Christie confided that he dumped the body and got the daughter a familiar couple.
Evans executed, and later found out that his neighbor Christie is a serial killer, which killed 6 women, including the wife of Timothy. This case, becoming one of the most famous miscarriages of justice in history, led to great public interest and is considered one of the main factors in the abolition of the death penalty in Britain in 1965.
Jamie McPherson
Scottish rogue with a fascinating biography worthy of a historical novel, famously wrote a song about his impending execution, which was performed on the violin before hanging. And after almost 100 years of Robert burns immortalized the robber and wrote a poem about it that became popular Scottish song.
The illegitimate son of the Laird and a Gypsy girl, Jamie was recognized as the father and lived as a child in the castle. After the unexpected death of his father, MacPherson took in a Roma Gypsy encampment, where he grew up, and then headed. Contemporaries Jamie wrote that Matheson was a “noble robber” and never was a cruel man. He was many times caught and arrested, but Roma always escaped with the help of many friends.
In 1700, the year Jamie was pardoned for his crimes in a matter of minutes after he had hung up.
Alan Turing
Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician and cryptographer, whose work formed the Foundation of computer science. During the Second world war has developed a number of hacking techniques, including the theoretical basis for the Bombe machine used to crack the German Enigma encoder.
Turing was convicted of “indecent behavior”, namely homosexuality, which was illegal in 1952, the year in the UK. Two years later, after forced hormonal therapy, Alan Turing was found dead in his apartment. The autopsy revealed that the scientist died from cyanide poisoning.
