longing for the scaffold 61 Brierre de Boismont 1851 p 640 sq. A case of false confession of a Swiss murder in 1827 in Weber 1937 p 169. 62 Liliequist s a p 108 sqq. 63 Sörlin 1993 p 101. Most such covenants were written, but they could also be spoken, Nordbäck 2009 p 70 sq. 42 s the reason for committing a crime was to be executed, any crime delivering such a result would be sufficient. However, in studies Aand debate concerning crimes in order to be executed murder has often been presented as the crime being committed in order to achieve death by execution, and it is true that most of the legislation relating to these crimes concentrated on murder. In reality, however, although murder might have been understood as the most certain way, it was not the only option for those who sought execution. When other ways were open, they too were used. To be executed, it was not necessary to commit a crime. A convincing confession, whether to a real or a possible crime, would have been sufficient. The latter option was used by a London merchant who confessed he had murdered a maid who had left his service. Eventually the maid was found alive. She had simply left, and the man had constructed his explanation of her disappearance because of his great unhappiness.61 Jonas Liliequist has also shown that some confessed to the crime of bestiality for the same reason. Such confessions, which could refer to an actual or invented crime, could be prompted by a fear of dying as a unreconciled sinner. The cases he refers to are generally from the first half of the eighteenth century.62 Also from Sweden and from the same period Per Sörlin has found cases where false confessions of black magic and of embracing a covenant with the devil were made, generally by individuals living under harsh conditions.63 thecrimes
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