Josse Lieferinxe (working ca 1493–1503/08)

Taken away from their religious context these paintings of martyrdom are depictions of ‘murder’.

the third witness

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the second witness

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the first witness

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slice

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the prosecutor

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the killer

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the judge

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James Hart Dyke

murder

Before there was the Simpson trial, before there was Judge Judy, there was murder. Murder is a book that unwinds like a movie with each poem a scene. We open with an introduction to the killer followed by the killer’s introduction to the victim at the murder scene. We read a report on the victim and then are introduced to the murder scene, the body at the morgue, the meeting of friends and relatives at the funeral. The police round up a group of suspects. An innocent man is charged and brought to trial. The judge, the prosecution, the defense lawyer, the spectators in the courtroom are introduced. Witnesses are brought forward who reveal their version of the events surrounding the murder. A judgment is brought down. The judge washes his hands of everything to do with the accused and turns him over to the mob who crucify the innocent man. After this horrendous lynching, the mob disbands and the world returns to its innocence.

Have a read… murder by David Halliday