Murder “Victims” Still Alive: The Campden Wonder and Other Miscarriages of Justice

Welcome to Weird Wednesday! Today we’re taking a look at some solved murder cases that were anything but: in fact, the dearly deceased weren’t even dead. So buckle up, this one’s pretty wild.

Possibly the most famous no-body murder conviction where the “body” turned up very much alive took place in Chipping Campden, England, in 1660. William Harrison, age 70, disappeared on a walk to a neighboring town. His bloody shirt was found on his route, but there was no sign of the man. Some time later, Harrison’s servant, John Perry, confessed to murdering Harrison, and implicated his own mother and brother in the crime. Despite Joan and Richard Perry protesting their innocence and John recanting his story, the three were convicted…and executed in 1661.

And then in 1662, to everyone’s shock, William Harrison showed up in England again, very much not dead. He gave a wild story of having been attacked and enslaved before eventually escaping, which may or may not have been true. It’s also not known why John Perry confessed to a murder that clearly had not happened, but at his execution, he claimed to have been insane at the time of confession. In any case, officials now were faced with one not-dead man and three-should-not-be-dead people. The whole awful affair is known as The Campden Wonder.

But this is not the only case where someone has been convicted of murdering a person who later turned up alive and well.

The Crime of Cuenca took place in Spain in 1910. León Sánchez and Gregorio Valero admitted under torture to the murder of 28-year-old shepherd José María Grimaldos López, with a motive of robbery. Sánchez and Valero were suspects because they were known to bully Grimaldos López. They served 12 years in prison and were released shortly before the “dead” man reappeared in town, completely unaware of his own supposed murder.

In 1915, an Alabama jury convicted Bill Wilson of murdering his vanished wife and their 19-month-old child after human bones were found buried nearby. Though the bones did not match up with the ages of the “murder victims” or the time frame of the supposed crime, Wilson served 3 years in prison before his wife and child reappeared in 1918. They had moved away to start a new family.

Again in Alabama, in 1928,  Louise Butler and George Yelder were convicted of killing Yelder’s niece, 14-year-old Topsy Warren, and cutting off her arms. The “witnesses” were Butler’s daughter and niece, and it’s unknown why they lied. Topsy was found alive a few months later, still in possession of all her limbs.

In 1975, Antonio Rivera and Merla Walpole were convicted in California of murdering their three-year-old daughter in 1965, because bones were discovered that might have been hers. In reality, the girl had been abandoned by her parents and fortunately adopted, and was found months later still alive.

In 1982 in Uganda, Edward Mpagi was convicted of murdering William Wandyaka in the midst of a feud between the two families. Wandyaka was found to be still living in 1989. Despite this, Mpagi was not released from jail until 2000.

And in 1998, Natasha Ryan went missing from Queensland, Australia. Serial killer Leonard Fraser was mid-trial in 2003 when Ryan was discovered hiding at her boyfriend’s house, where she had been the whole time. 

Miscarriages of justice are doubtlessly more common than we like to think. Such cases are certainly an argument against the death penalty.

Here on Weird Wednesday, we examine the truth with an eye to fiction, so here are some not-deadly writing prompts!

• Exit, stage death. You could write a story where the supposed victim stages their own murder at the hand of an enemy: maybe a former romantic partner or business rival. But perhaps there are rumors that the death scene was faked. Where would your “victim” hide? How would they disappear into a new life? What if they were discovered alive by accident? It might be difficult to prove the accused murderer innocent without the “victim” actually being apprehended by the authorities. What happens if there’s never any concrete proof of life?

• Living doe. In the old days, it might be easy for someone to be unaware they were a “murder victim”, but now the world might be too connected for that. So there are only a few ways for your “victim” to truly disappear. They could have amnesia or be living off the grid in the wilderness, unhoused on the street, in a remote prison, or even kidnapped. What do they do when they find out someone is being prosecuted for their murder?

• Strange bedfellows. Perhaps the evidence in a missing persons case points to murder, but the families of the accused and the “victim” both believe otherwise. The families might have been friends before all this, or enemies, or strangers. Would they even team up to find the truth? What happens between the families after it turns out no murder took place?

• Back from the dead. Your story could focus on how the family of your supposed victim reacts when their “murdered” loved one reappears. It could be very difficult for them if it turns out the person disappeared intentionally, or at least deliberately severed family ties. But if the disappearance was more of an accident or just falling out of touch, then there might be amazement and joy from the family. It gets complicated, though, when someone is on trial for murder. How would the family of the accused react to the reappearance of the “victim”?

• Death sentence. In the worst case scenario, someone could be executed for a murder that never took place. What is the fallout when the “victim” is discovered alive after that? Governments, families, advocates, and the general public would certainly have opinions, and that would make for a riveting story. If only it was always fictional.

Thanks for spending your Weird Wednesday here! If you’re interested in activism around real-life miscarriages of justice, you can check out the Innocence Project.

Sources & further reading:

The Campden Wonder dedicated site

Campden Wonder: Wikipedia 

First Wrongful Conviction: Jesse Boorn and Stephen Boorn: Northwestern University Bluhm Legal Clinic

Crime of Cuenca: Wikipedia

Bill Wilson (convict): Wikipedia

False Witness: The Law Society Gazette (Butler-Yelder case)

Antonio Rivera: The National Registry of Exonerations

“Not easy to forgive” says Ugandan on death row for 18 years: UN News

Natasha Ryan: Wikipedia

List of Murder Convictions Without a Body: Wikipedia