Pathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic PsychologyHealy, William
Science
Pathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic Psychology
Healy, William
Criminal psychology; Swindlers and swindling
The facts about the alleged murder of the five year old child as
we could finally summarize them from various accounts, and after
hearing the confession of Libby, are as follows. This child was
an epileptic and had frequent attacks of falling, when she
injured herself, once having fallen in this way against a hot
stove. The little child engaged in extremely bad sex habits.
Indeed, Libby herself had been somewhat involved with her in
these. Once when she was ill hot bricks had been placed in the
bed, and, while unconscious, her feet had been blistered. The
child had also suffered from various other ailments, including a
skin disease which left sore places and scars. When she died
Libby first told a neighbor that the parents were responsible and
this person referred her to the police. The false testimony
began there and continued at the inquest, before the grand jury,
and at the trial. Upon thorough final sifting of the evidence in
court nothing was found in the least indicating that the child
had died from mistreatment. The younger brother had been told by
Libby to testify against the mother. There was no question but
that Libby started and continued the whole trouble, but the
unnatural fact that she was willing to make sworn statements
jeopardizing her mother made her testimony have all the earmarks
of antecedent probability.
The mother herself, in whom we gradually came to have full
confidence, informed us that the dead child had an epileptic
attack and was unconscious for several hours before she died.
They lived on the outskirts of the city and it was bad weather,
and although they sent twice for doctors, no one appeared. The
child had been mildly whipped at times in an attempt to cure her
of her bad sex habits. She had many sores from her skin trouble
and these were by some interpreted as caused by beatings.
When under our observation, and during our attempt to analyze her
career, Libby underwent a change of attitude and confessed
thoroughly and definitely that the story about the murder was
lies all the way through. For the sake of the poor little mother
we had the girl make a sworn statement to this effect. It was of
some little interest to us to note that the police account given
in the newspapers about the little child being beaten with a
rubber hose was derived from the story told by Libby. It was a
wonderfully dramatic and pathetic scene when this woman met her
daughter and the latter confessed to her lies and asked
forgiveness. All the mother could say was, ``Oh, the suffering
she has caused me! But I do want her to be a good girl.''
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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