For some, this fact may cause a skeptical grin, while others will consider it an invention of the chroniclers. In general, everyone will treat it differently, depending on their views on human nature.
In short, in 1631 in Durham - a small town in the north-east of England - there was a trial, in which … a ghost acted as the main witness.
This whole mystical story began with the fact that one day in the twilight of the elderly miller James Graham "visited" the ghost of a bloody woman, who announced that her killers were some Sharpe and Walker. Moreover, the ghost indicated that the criminals threw the woman's corpse into a coal mine, and the murder weapon - a pickaxe - was buried in the ground next to Sharpe's house.
Having received such valuable information, the guardians of the law easily found both the woman's corpse and the instrument of the crime. This evidence allowed the criminals to be sentenced to the punishment they deserve.
But this story happened already in the vastness of the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century. Once on the occasion, Princess Alexandra Kakhovskaya visited the estate of her good friend, retired warrant officer Epishev.
And although Epishev spent many years in an environment that did not contribute much to the development of refined taste, nevertheless, he turned out not only to be a great connoisseur of theatrical art, but also had his own theater. Its main decoration was considered to be the actress Grushenka Meshkova, with whom the warrant officer was head over heels in love.
An elderly butler came out to meet Mrs. Kakhovskoy. With a sad expression on his face, he reported that Grushenka had secretly moved out somewhere, and the master, unable to withstand such a blow, went abroad for treatment. But the house, nevertheless, was not completely empty, since after the departure of the master, evil spirits settled in the house.
Sensing something was wrong in this whole story, Kakhovskaya, who was reputed to be a woman of brave enough, decided to spend the night in a house with a ghost.
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And then, about midnight, the princess heard a slight creak. Glancing towards the door, she saw on the threshold the translucent figure of a young girl in a wedding dress. The ghost nodded Mrs. Kakhovskaya to follow her.
Finding himself in the garden, the ghost went up to a tree growing near the fence and froze. And after another moment he disappeared, as if evaporated.
As soon as morning came, the princess immediately ordered the butler to gather two or three people and dig up the ground in the place where the ghost led her. And to the great surprise of the servants, soon the half-decomposed corpse of Grushenka appeared at the bottom of a deep pit. Everything indicated that she did not die a natural death. The main suspect was Epishev. The ensign did not open it for a long time and confessed that he had killed the actress out of jealousy …
One day during the First World War, the police department in Paris received a report about the murder of an old shopkeeper. The detectives who arrived at the crime scene did not manage to find any traces of the killer's identity. There were also no witnesses to the murder. But the motive was obvious: the victim was robbed.
But since there was too little evidence, all attempts to find the culprit were unsuccessful …
But now, some time after the tragedy, a young man entered the police station, introducing himself as the son of a shopkeeper. From the further story it became clear that all this time he was at the front. And when he recently arrived home, he learned from the neighbors about the grief that befell him.
At the same time, the young man added that one curious moment brought him here, which may even make someone laugh.
And he told about a strange dream that he had on the day of his parent's death. Before him clearly, as if in a photograph, appeared an old building in the Twentieth arrondissement of Paris. Broken shutters hung on the ground-floor windows. There was no door at the entrance. Instead, there was a gaping black hole, followed by a dirty corridor that opened onto a small courtyard. In the middle of it was a pile of rubbish, under which was hidden a revolver in a leather holster.
And although the police did not laugh at the story of the young front-line soldier, they perceived his prophetic dream with obvious distrust. But, given the seriousness of the situation, they still decided to look for a place from the told dream.
And so the soldier and the detective went to the Belleville quarter. It's hard to believe, but as a result of a long search, they really came across a dilapidated house, in which there was no front door and shutters were broken. Along a dark corridor, the soldier and the detective entered a courtyard, in the middle of which a pile of fetid debris stood.
And then came the dirtiest and at the same time decisive stage of the investigation: inspection of the landfill. And this unpleasant job did not disappoint the investigator. A few minutes later, a dirty leather holster with a revolver inside was removed from the pile of debris!
A little later, detectives found out that in one of the rooms of this building a famous repeat offender, long wanted by the police, is hiding. And in the evening of the same day, the criminal was arrested.
Subsequently, it was proved that the revolver and the holster really belonged to the arrested recidivist. In addition, on the evening when the old shopkeeper was killed, the criminal appeared among his cronies with a good drink and a lot of money.
But the most important piece of evidence that exposed the involvement of the repeat offender in the death of the shopkeeper was a women's watch and a chain found in the murderer's room. The soldier recognized them as things belonging to his deceased mother. After her death they were kept in a chest of drawers for many years, but after her father's death they disappeared …
In 1979, criminologists from the American city of Evenston, who were investigating the case involving the murder of a certain Teresita Baza, also encountered a ghost-witness.
The fact is that after some time after the beginning of the investigation, the ghost of the deceased began to visit a woman named Remi Chara, who was on friendly terms with Teresita. But he did not just appear, but described the circumstances of the murder.
In addition, the ghost even called the name of the culprit. It turned out to be a certain Alan Shawry. He killed Teresita, and according to the spirit, he gave her jewelry to his beloved. The ghost also called her name.
At first, the police reacted to Rami's story with a fair amount of skepticism. You never know what a young woman who recently lost a close friend can dream about. Still, Alan Shawry was summoned for questioning. At first, he completely denied his involvement in the murder of Teresita. True, at the same time he was very nervous. Such his restless behavior aroused suspicion among the investigators, and a search was carried out at his girlfriend's apartment. It was there that the evidence was found, incriminating Shawry in the committed crime. Chief among them was a diamond ring that belonged to Teresita Baza …
It should be noted that the testimony of ghosts is more and more often taken into account in the investigation of criminal offenses. For example, in June 2006, in the Brazilian city of Viamo, during a court hearing in one criminal case, a certain magician spoke, saying that the spirit of the murdered person communicated with him. During a seance, the ghost wrote two letters, in which he justified a woman suspected of his death, but called his mistress a murderer.
And since the prosecution did not object to the use of the ghost messages in the trial, the court also accepted them as material evidence. As a result, the suspect was fully acquitted.
Bernatsky Anatoly