Boorn Brothers

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Jesse Boorn and Stephen Boorn were convicted of murdering a man who was later found alive. The brothers were convicted in 1819 in Manchester, Vermont. The case is the first documented wrongful murder conviction in U.S. history.

When Russel Colvin disappeared in 1812, suspicion of foul play fell on his brothers-in-law, Jesse and Stephen Boorn, who held Colvin in disdain. Seven years later, the uncle of the suspects had a recurring dream in which Colvin appeared to him and said that he had been slain. Colvin did not identify his killers but said that his remains had been put in a cellar hole on the Boorn farm. The cellar hole was excavated but no remains were found. Shortly afterward, a dog unearthed some large bones from beneath a nearby stump. Three local physicians examined the bones and declared them to be human.

Officials took Jesse Boorn into custody. They would have arrested Stephen Boorn as well, but he had moved to New York. While in custody, Jesse's cellmate, forger Silas Merill, told authorities that Jesse had confessed. In return for agreeing to testify, Merrill was released from jail. Faced with mounting evidence against him, Jesse admitted to the murder, but placed principal blame on Stephen, who was beyond the legal reach of the local authorities. However, a Vermont constable met up with Stephen, and Stephen agreed to return to Vermont with him to clear his name. After his return to Vermont, Stephen confessed as well, although he claimed to have acted in self-defense.

The local physicians then changed their minds that the bones were human, and declared them to be animal. Nevertheless, the prosecution pressed ahead with its case and both the Boorn brothers were convicted and sentenced to death. The Vermont legislature commuted Jesse's sentence to life in prison, but denied relief to Stephen. Shortly before Stephen was to be hanged in 1820, Colvin was found living in New Jersey. On Colvin's return to Vermont, both brothers were released.

The case is the subject of the Book The Dead Alive, which was reprinted in 2005 with a foreword examining their case side by side with the story by Wilkie Collins, which was based on the Boorn brothers' case