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    New evidence ‘proves’ innocent man was hanged for Rillington Place murders
    United Kingdom

    New evidence ‘proves’ innocent man was hanged for Rillington Place murders

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    6 Comments

    1. Cyanopicacooki on

      The film, 10, Rillington Place, is a good account of this, and is one of the first instances when John Hurt dies on screen (the hanging sequence was advised by the executioner Pierrepoint, and is apparently very accurate in the timing). Worth a watch.

      And Christie has been thought to be the guilty party for years.

    2. Haemophilia_Type_A on

      Evidence no.13502 as to why the death penalty should never be allowed under any circumstances. Even “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” is not 100%, and I’d rather let an evil bastard live (rotting in prison) than potentially kill an innocent person.

      I’ve heard people suggest “oh, but you can just do it for when there’s absolutely no risk of them being innocent”, but for me that is untenable. Adding a level of guilt above “beyond a reasonable doubt” undermines the whole legal system because it adds a level of doubt into ‘default’ convictions. You can’t have a ‘super duper guilty’ conviction without making the regular ‘guilty’ one untrustworthy.

    3. rol2091 on

      If offenders got whole-life-in-solitary for crimes that used to get the death penalty [rape-murder, pre-meditated-murdder, etc] there probably would be almost no calls or desire to bring the death penalty back.

    5. J8YDG9RTT8N2TG74YS7A on

      For all those commenting that we shouldn’t have the death penalty, check a few comments threads down and go make the same points in the assisted suicide thread.

      If we can have strict procedures in place to ensure nobody is pressured into assisted suicide, why can’t we have strict procedures in place to make sure the death penalty is only ever used on cases where there is overwhelming evidence?

    6. YeOldeGeek on

      Terrible headline – it has been known for years that Evans was an innocent man, and that he was executed for crimes committed by Christie.