Record 01 · Instance 01 — Massachusetts Bay, 1692

The crime you could never disprove

“I saw your ghost strangle me in my sleep.” Try building a defense against that.

The Salem court accepted spectral evidence — testimony that the accused’s spirit, not their body, had appeared and tormented the witness. An alibi was worthless: you could be sound asleep in your own bed and still be convicted of an assault your specter committed elsewhere.

There was no way to rebut it. The accusation itself was the proof.