Browse:GRAVE OF MURDERED PERSON - ORIENTATION (Volume 4, entries 7488–7490)
GRAVE OF MURDERED PERSON - ORIENTATION
Volume 4, entries 7488–7490. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → MURDER → HOW MURDERER CAN BE CAUGHT. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 7488
Dere's a way dat dey could bury 'im. Ah know dat a personal fact. A frien' of mine got killed an' dey turned 'im on 'is face - dey buried 'im on 'is face. An' it's a known fact dat if somebody killed anybody, an' if yo' bury 'em on dey face an' yo' turn dey haid eastward an' face it westwards, dey can't go nowhere - dey gotta come back. (The fellow that killed him will come back?) Yessiree. It ain't no if about dat business. Dat Big Boy Brown killed a frien' of mine. Big Boy wus a friend of mine an' also dis ole man dat he killed. Ah know becuz ah got in some trouble right chere mahself at de time an' ah had tuh go to jail. Me an' 'im wus in jail at de same time. Had 'im in dere firs' an' ah got in a little trouble aftah.
(This other fellow that killed the old man?)
Yes sir.
Entry 7489
It depends upon how he fall. If he fall wit 'is face to de groun', yo' can't help but come back. But in ordah to bring 'im back, yo' take dis man an' keep 'is body laid east - head east an' feets west. An' yo' reads de Ten Commandments wit dat, an' wit'in de nex' nine days he'll have to come back.
Entry 7490
Ah tell yo' it make sure yo' wouldn't last long. Dat's de easiest method. Ah seed dat done right in mah home. (In Orangeburg.) In Orangeburg [S. Car.]. Ah knowed dey [normally] dig dat grave lak dat - digs de grave up an' down, east an' west. Well dey turn it lak dat [demon- strates north and south, see later], see, an' drives de footstep, de footpost [footboard] down so yo' can't see dat atall, an' leave de head [headboard] stand- in'.
[I now explain preceding demonstrations.]
(You make this grave north and south and you drive the footboard all the way down.) All de way down an' de head [board] you leave high. Den yo' go back home, now, an' yo' done find out dis fellah git killed, an' yo' goes an' yo' turns - jes' lak yo' dies on dis bed [in interviewing room]. Dat's dere three days. Yo' lay ovah a couple of days. Yo' take dese clothes whut he gits killed in an' bury de clothes. Bury de same clothes. Be sure dat yo' bury 'em at, right by 'is do though.
(By whose door?)
By de fellah who do de killin'. Well, he cain't git away dere cuz he have to walk both ways. An' de firs' time dat he walks ovah it, or de firs' day dat he be's neah around it, he'll git right up an' say, "Ah don't feel good," an' he start tuh throw up. He start tuh throw up in is sleep, yo' know, "Sech-an-sech- a-one bothahin' me. Oh, ah gotta go pay dis man. Ah gits sick." Dat wus fer de - dat wus fer de murderer's death sure. Ah see dat happen. Ah standin' in de room right nex' to - lak dat room dere, an' he's talkin' to me. He's dead but he - he gotta go to pay a debt. Now, dat ketch 'im, he ain't gonna live long cuz yo' done crossed 'im 'cross de world, see [with the north-south grave]. But he's goin' follah 'im down. Dis man [his spirit] gonna worry 'im. Soon as he see dat, he goin' - well he ain't goin' live long: He'll die about a day or two aftah.