The "Black Stories" crime riddles thread

[Kumpel]

Has she been a child at the moment of the execution?

[CaptainD]

Was she a Shaman? 

[Snarky]

Case #46
Although she had a seemingly perfect alibi, the indirect evidence of her guilt was too strong, and she was executed for the murder.

What was her alibi, and what was the proof against her?

Yes
Could this take place in the real world? [Or at least one not very different]
Was her alibi that she was dead?*
Did others think she was a vampire or something similar?
Was the "evidence" a sickness that was thought to be caused by supernatural means?
Did others think she was something similar to a vampire? [For some definition of "similar", anyway]
Did they think she was possessed by satan or a demon? [Or something similar, as I understand it]
Is the woman a virgin?
Was she executed because of the evidence?
Was she executed because of a murder that took place beforehand?* [Before what? The execution? Yes.]
Was she human?
Was the execution itself considered murder?
Was she accused of being a witch?* [How do you define "witch"?]
Is this set in Africa?
Has she been a child at the moment of the execution?

No
Would it be beneficial for us to know who she murdered?
Did her alibi involve her being in the hospital?
Did her alibi involve her being out of town? [Not as such...]
Was she in jail at the time of the murder?
Was her alibi that she was dead?*
Was she a vampire or something similar? [But...]
Was she actually guilty of the murder?
Was she in a coma (or coma like state)?
Did others think she was a vampire?
Was the "execution" performed on her dead body?
Was her alibi that the murder happened in daylight / sunshine?
Was her alibi that the murder took place in a church / on consecrated ground?
Does her alibi have to do with garlic, silver or holy water?
Is she a zombie?
Was she a nun?
Was she a twin?
Was she executed by another person as part of a legal punishment? [Not as we would understand it]
Was she alive during the murder?
Was she accused of being a werewolf?
Was she accused of being a necromancer? [I'm not 100% clear on what this entails â€" there could be some overlap]
Was she accused of being a sin eater?
Is her "sickness" sleep walking?
Was she executed because of a murder that took place beforehand?*
Was being thought to be possessed her alibi?
Was she accused of being a witch?*
Did she have Tourette's syndrome?
Did she have epilepsy?
Is this set in Haiti?
Is this set in New Orleans? [But this is a promising line of inquiry]
Was the proof a voodoo doll?
Is this set in South America?
Is this set in Eastern Europe?
So were there 2 murders?
Was she a Shaman?

* Yes and No

[Snarky]

Since I think some of you are getting confused by the wording of the case (and how different questions have been answered depending on the context), I'll add this clarification: The only murder that actually took place was the execution of the girl. The "murder" she was accused of was not really a murder.

[Kumpel]

Is it just not a murder seen from our modern perspective?
Has this been declared as a murder in the past? Did anyone die beforehand?

[Kumpel]

Did the girl kill the mother while being born?

[Mandle]

Did the girl kill the mother while being born?

Ohhhh, I think this might be it!

Solution:

A baby was born under a supposed curse or bad omen of some kind and the mother died during childbirth. Under the local superstitions the baby itself was judged to be the spawn of an evil deity and guilty of killing its mother. The baby was execucted.

I still don't understand the bit about the executed "she" being YES and NO for dead, but if this is judged as the right solution the next round goes to Kumpel is he wants it...

[Snarky]

It's a very clever idea, and you're getting closer to the alibi, but no. (It doesn't fit a number of the answers so far.) You've had enough information for a while now to work out the alibi by process of exclusion, BTW.

Case #46
Although she had a seemingly perfect alibi, the indirect evidence of her guilt was too strong, and she was executed for the murder.

What was her alibi, and what was the proof against her?

Yes
Could this take place in the real world? [Or at least one not very different]
Was her alibi that she was dead?*
Did others think she was a vampire or something similar?
Was the "evidence" a sickness that was thought to be caused by supernatural means?
Did others think she was something similar to a vampire? [For some definition of "similar", anyway]
Did they think she was possessed by satan or a demon? [Or something similar, as I understand it]
Is the woman a virgin?
Was she executed because of the evidence?
Was she executed because of a murder that took place beforehand?* [Before what? The execution? Yes.]
Was she human?
Was the execution itself considered murder?
Was she accused of being a witch?* [How do you define "witch"?]
Is this set in Africa?
Has she been a child at the moment of the execution?
Has this been declared as a murder in the past? [Suspected, at least]
Did anyone die beforehand?

No
Would it be beneficial for us to know who she murdered?
Did her alibi involve her being in the hospital?
Did her alibi involve her being out of town? [Not as such...]
Was she in jail at the time of the murder?
Was her alibi that she was dead?*
Was she a vampire or something similar? [But...]
Was she actually guilty of the murder?
Was she in a coma (or coma like state)?
Did others think she was a vampire?
Was the "execution" performed on her dead body?
Was her alibi that the murder happened in daylight / sunshine?
Was her alibi that the murder took place in a church / on consecrated ground?
Does her alibi have to do with garlic, silver or holy water?
Is she a zombie?
Was she a nun?
Was she a twin?
Was she executed by another person as part of a legal punishment? [Not as we would understand it]
Was she alive during the murder?
Was she accused of being a werewolf?
Was she accused of being a necromancer? [I'm not 100% clear on what this entails â€" there could be some overlap]
Was she accused of being a sin eater?
Is her "sickness" sleep walking?
Was she executed because of a murder that took place beforehand?*
Was being thought to be possessed her alibi?
Was she accused of being a witch?*
Did she have Tourette's syndrome?
Did she have epilepsy?
Is this set in Haiti?
Is this set in New Orleans? [But this is a promising line of inquiry]
Was the proof a voodoo doll?
Is this set in South America?
Is this set in Eastern Europe?
So were there 2 murders?
Was she a Shaman?
Is it just not a murder seen from our modern perspective? [Well, obviously the people who executed her considered it a murder, but rather than getting all tangled up in emic and etic perspectives, let's just say no, it isn't a murder at all]
Did the girl kill the mother while being born?

* Yes and No

[Mandle]

Was she alive but considered "dead" by others?
Was she considered a zombie slave under their religion?

[Tabata]

Hmmm -okay, then I'll try another step in direction of a witch:

Did she have a birthmark (that was seen as proof against her)?

Spoiler

"According to witch-hunters during the height of the witch trials, the witches' mark (not to be confused with a witches' teat) indicated that an individual was a witch. The witches' mark and the devil's mark are both terms applied to essentially the same mark. The beliefs about the mark differ depending on the trial location and the accusation made against the witch. Evidence of the witches' mark is found earliest in the 16th century, and reached its peak in 1645, then essentially disappeared by 1700.
[1] The Witch or Devil's mark was believed to be the permanent marking of the Devil on his initiates to seal their obedience and service to him. He created the mark by raking his claw across their flesh, or by making a blue or red brand using a hot iron. Sometimes, the mark was believed to have been left by the Devil licking the individual. The Devil was thought to mark the individual at the end of nocturnal initiation rites.
[2] The witches' teat was a raised bump somewhere on a witch's body. It is often depicted as having a wart-like appearance."

[close]

[CaptainD]

This isn't about abortion is it?

[Cassiebsg]

Was she albino?
Was she a child?

[Snarky]

Case #46
Although she had a seemingly perfect alibi, the indirect evidence of her guilt was too strong, and she was executed for the murder.

What was her alibi, and what was the proof against her?

Yes
Could this take place in the real world? [Or at least one not very different]
Was her alibi that she was dead?*
Did others think she was a vampire or something similar?
Was the "evidence" a sickness that was thought to be caused by supernatural means?
Did others think she was something similar to a vampire? [For some definition of "similar", anyway]
Did they think she was possessed by satan or a demon? [Or something similar, as I understand it]
Is the woman a virgin?
Was she executed because of the evidence?
Was she executed because of a murder that took place beforehand?* [Before what? The execution? Yes.]
Was she human?
Was the execution itself considered murder?
Was she accused of being a witch?* [How do you define "witch"?]
Is this set in Africa?
Has she been a child at the moment of the execution?
Has this been declared as a murder in the past? [Suspected, at least]
Did anyone die beforehand?
Was she albino?
Was she a child?

No
Would it be beneficial for us to know who she murdered?
Did her alibi involve her being in the hospital?
Did her alibi involve her being out of town? [Not as such...]
Was she in jail at the time of the murder?
Was her alibi that she was dead?*
Was she a vampire or something similar? [But...]
Was she actually guilty of the murder?
Was she in a coma (or coma like state)?
Did others think she was a vampire?
Was the "execution" performed on her dead body?
Was her alibi that the murder happened in daylight / sunshine?
Was her alibi that the murder took place in a church / on consecrated ground?
Does her alibi have to do with garlic, silver or holy water?
Is she a zombie?
Was she a nun?
Was she a twin?
Was she executed by another person as part of a legal punishment? [Not as we would understand it]
Was she alive during the murder?
Was she accused of being a werewolf?
Was she accused of being a necromancer? [I'm not 100% clear on what this entails â€" there could be some overlap]
Was she accused of being a sin eater?
Is her "sickness" sleep walking?
Was she executed because of a murder that took place beforehand?*
Was being thought to be possessed her alibi?
Was she accused of being a witch?*
Did she have Tourette's syndrome?
Did she have epilepsy?
Is this set in Haiti?
Is this set in New Orleans? [But this is a promising line of inquiry]
Was the proof a voodoo doll?
Is this set in South America?
Is this set in Eastern Europe?
So were there 2 murders?
Was she a Shaman?
Is it just not a murder seen from our modern perspective? [Well, obviously the people who executed her considered it a murder, but rather than getting all tangled up in emic and etic perspectives, let's just say no, it isn't a murder at all]
Did the girl kill the mother while being born?
Was she alive but considered "dead" by others?
Was she considered a zombie slave under their religion?
Did she have a birthmark (that was seen as proof against her)?
This isn't about abortion is it?

* Yes and No

[Snarky]

Cassie solves one half of the mystery (the evidence against her: being albino)! Just to be clear, the other half (the alibi) is more or less independent, and relates to another piece of African folklore. Just to try and speed things up a bit, I'll highlight the most relevant clues so far:

Yes
Was her alibi that she was dead?*

No
Was her alibi that she was dead?*
Was she alive during the [supposed] murder?
[A bunch of zombie, vampire, undead, coma, etc. guesses]
Did the girl kill the mother while being born? [Getting warmer...]

[Riaise]

Did the "murder" happen before she was born?
Did someone die while she was being born?

[Cassiebsg]

Did she die of starvation?
Was she dead at the time of the execution?

[Snarky]

Way to go Riaise!

Yes
Did the "murder" happen before she was born?

In Nigerian folklore, there's a belief that some children are â€" or are possessed by â€" cruel spirits, who cause the child to die and be reborn over and over to the same parents, just in order to cause them grief (presumably this belief is a way to deal with the heartbreak of high child mortality). These children/evil spirits are known as "ogbanje" to the Igbo and as "abiku" to the Yoruba, and the beliefs appear in the novels Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and The Famished Road by Ben Okri.

There's also a lot of African superstition tied to people with albinism: bits of albino corpses are thought to have magical properties, and people with albinism are regularly murdered for trophies in several African countries (including in Nigeria). Albinos are often feared and mistrusted, and according to Wikipedia they are sometimes thought to bring curses on those around them. Albinism is a hereditary trait caused by a recessive gene, and Nigeria has a very high incidence of albinism relative to the population (many carriers of the recessive gene).

So, although I can't vouch for this imaginary case being correct in every detail, it seems depressingly possible:

An albino girl is born into a family in a poor, remote region of Nigeria. When she is still young, disease sweeps the village, killing both the girl and many other children. People say that she brought a curse upon the village with her witchcraft. Soon after, her parents have another child, another albino girl. People say that this girl is an ogbanje, the same girl (really her sister) reborn to plague the village once again. For the curse that killed the children, she is executed, and then ritually mutilated to prevent further reincarnation.

[Riaise]

Yay! That was a good one, Snarky. It's always interesting to find out about other cultures, even the less savoury aspects.

Cassie can take the next case, if she wants it. Otherwise, anyone else can step in.

[CaptainD]

Really interesting case Snarky.

[Mandle]

That was a cool case, and educational too, if in a dark and depressing kind of way.