No Title

African American confesses to murder because he would be called a liar either way. Family members and friends defend him saying he was home alone at the time of the murder.

An illustration of acquitting a man who confesses his guilt on the principle of his being so great a liar that he cannot be believed even against himself is given in the case of Butler, the negro charged with stabbing Mr. Lenck, in Hartford. The negro confessed the deed, but the family with whom he lived, about six miles from Hartford, testified he was at home the whole night.

“No Title,” Reconstructing Virginia, accessed May 28, 2023, https://reconstructingvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/476.