Product Description

Murdering Holiness explores the story of the "Holy Roller" sect led by Franz Creffield in the early years of the twentieth century. In the opening chapters, the authors introduce us to the community of Corvallis, Oregon, where Creffield, a charismatic, self-styled messiah, taught his followers to forsake their families and worldly possessions and to seek salvation through him. As his teachings became more extreme, the local community reacted: Creffield was tarred and feathered and his followers were incarcerated in the state asylum. Creffield himself was later imprisoned for adultery, but shortly after his release he revived the sect. This proved too much for some of the adherents' families, and in May 1906 George Mitchell, the brother of two women in the sect, pursued Creffield to Seattle and shot him dead. The authors take us into the courtroom for the trial that made headlines across North America, as Mitchell was acquitted of murder. Though the formal plea was insanity, the defence built its case on the "unwritten law" that justified killing to protect or avenge family honour. Based on court records and archival sources, this case study includes a detailed examination of the trial, the media’s response to it, and the dramatic aftermath, and sheds light on the rise of ardent religion in the Pacific Northwest, the justice system in Seattle, and the role of the press in influencing public opinion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #493548 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-15
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.22" h x 6.46" w x 9.22" l, 1.40 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 360 pages

John McLaren, Lansdowne Professor of Law, University of Victoria
"This book is a major contribution to the field of cultural legal history. It stands in the ranks of the very best works in which case studies have been used to open up and excavate the cultural and social assumptions that surround, affect, and in some instances pervert the application of the law and the operation of justice system ... It is also a model of clarity and engaging prose."

About the Author
Jim Phillips is Director of the Centre of Criminology and a professor in the Faculty of Law and Department of History at the University of Toronto. Rosemary Gartner is a professor at the Centre of Criminology and the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto.