CRIME: The Lady Vanishes

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But in law, corpus delicti means not the body of a victim but the "body of the offense," i.e., evidence that the crime in question has been committed. Even in murder cases that evidence can be circumstantial. In California over the years, at least five defendants had been convicted of murdering victims whose bodies were never found.

Unconvincing Witnesses. During Scott's eleven-week trial, the defense produced witnesses who testified that they had seen Evelyn Scott after May 16, 1955. Apparently none of this testimony convinced the jurors: after deliberating for 29 hours they found L. Ewing Scott guilty of first-degree murder. Two days later the jury sat again to fix the sentence of life imprisonment.*

Scott kept right on protesting that his wife must be alive somewhere. "If there is anyone who has any idea where she is or knows anything about her," he said to newsmen, "I would like them to communicate with my attorney."