Founded
in 1626 by Roger Conant, the town of Salem, Massachusetts, is
still best known for its infamous witch trials, that occurred
from May to October, 1692. All told, 19 individuals (mostly
women) were hanged, and many other suspects were imprisoned.
The whole
thing started when a few young girls claimed that they were
possessed by the devil, and subsequently accused three Salem
women, including Tituba, a West Indian slave, of witchcraft.
As Tituba and others were pressured and incriminated others
in false confessions, public hysteria rose to a fever pitch.
Fast forward
299 years to modern day Salem. It is now 1991, and Martha Conant
Brailsford, a direct descendant of the town's founder, has just
met Tom Maimoni, while they were both walking their dogs.
Martha,
known as a soft touch, was feeling sorry for Maimoni, who told
her that his wife had recently died of cancer. Actually, Tom's
wife was very much alive, but the cancer story usually worked
for picking up women.
One thing
led to another, and on July 12th, Martha accepted Maimoni's
invitation for a ride on his sailboat, Counterpoint.
Six days
later, her body, virtually reduced to a skeleton, was found
by a Marblehead lobsterman, who was pulling traps near the entrance
to Salem and Marblehead harbors.
Maimoni's
version of events is that Martha hit her head on the mast in
rough weather, and was knocked unconscious. He panicked when
he could not revive her, and thinking her dead, tied an anchor
around her legs, a diver's belt around her waist, and threw
her overboard. An autopsy showed that Brailsford died from drowning.
At least
hanging is faster.
Maimoni
fled, but was found a few days later in northern Maine. His
second degree murder conviction was upheld on appeal in 1996.
He will be eligible for parole in 2008.
Much was
made of the fact that Laurie Cabot, the official witch of Salem,
and other witches, were consulted to help solve the case, but
in the end, it was easy to connect Martha to Tom Maimoni, and
the body was simply found by a lobsterman.
Apparently,
Tom had a history of luring women onto his boat, and then demanding
sexual favors. It is unclear why Martha Brailsford, supposedly
happily married, and living in a community in which nearly everyone
owns a boat, would be so inclined as to venture out alone with
Maimoni. After all, why should she be so desperate for companionship,
and if she wanted to sail so badly that day, there were friends
who could readily oblige. One can't help but think that there
is a lot more to this story.
The deadly
spirit of Salem lives on.