Hanged for the Word If

Hanged for the Word If PDF

Author: Chris Phillips

Publisher: Chris Phillips

Published: 2020-08-31

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 1916312934

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In 1952 a shopkeeper named Lily Volpert was murdered in the docks district of Cardiff, known as Tiger Bay. A Somali former merchant seaman, Mahmood Hussein Mattan, was charged with the murder, convicted and hanged. But 46 years later he became the first person in British history to have a murder conviction overturned after being executed. "Hanged for the Word If" is the first book in English about this historic case. Drawing on all the available documentary evidence, including the surviving records held by the police, it tells the story of the crime, the investigation, the trial and the execution. It traces the later history of some of the people involved, and relates how another murder and an attempted murder raised doubts about Mattan's guilt. It describes the campaign to reopen the case in the 1990s and the appeal that overturned his conviction. And finally it tries to answer the question of who really killed Lily Volpert in 1952.

Hanged for the Word If

Hanged for the Word If PDF

Author: Chris Phillips

Publisher: Chris Phillips

Published: 2020-08-31

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 1916312926

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In 1952 a shopkeeper named Lily Volpert was murdered in the docks district of Cardiff, known as Tiger Bay. A Somali former merchant seaman, Mahmood Hussein Mattan, was charged with the murder, convicted and hanged. But 46 years later he became the first person in British history to have a murder conviction overturned after being executed. "Hanged for the Word If" is the first book in English about this historic case. Drawing on all the available documentary evidence, including the surviving records held by the police, it tells the story of the crime, the investigation, the trial and the execution. It traces the later history of some of the people involved, and relates how another murder and an attempted murder raised doubts about Mattan's guilt. It describes the campaign to reopen the case in the 1990s and the appeal that overturned his conviction. And finally it tries to answer the question of who really killed Lily Volpert in 1952.

Last Words of the Executed

Last Words of the Executed PDF

Author: Robert K. Elder

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-05-15

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 0226202690

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Some beg for forgiveness. Others claim innocence. At least three cheer for their favorite football teams. Death waits for us all, but only those sentenced to death know the day and the hour—and only they can be sure that their last words will be recorded for posterity. Last Words of the Executed presents an oral history of American capital punishment, as heard from the gallows, the chair, and the gurney. The product of seven years of extensive research by journalist Robert K. Elder, the book explores the cultural value of these final statements and asks what we can learn from them. We hear from both the famous—such as Nathan Hale, Joe Hill, Ted Bundy, and John Brown—and the forgotten, and their words give us unprecedented glimpses into their lives, their crimes, and the world they inhabited. Organized by era and method of execution, these final statements range from heartfelt to horrific. Some are calls for peace or cries against injustice; others are accepting, confessional, or consoling; still others are venomous, rage-fueled diatribes. Even the chills evoked by some of these last words are brought on in part by the shared humanity we can’t ignore, their reminder that we all come to the same end, regardless of how we arrive there. Last Words of the Executed is not a political book. Rather, Elder simply asks readers to listen closely to these voices that echo history. The result is a riveting, moving testament from the darkest corners of society.