A few weeks ago, I was reading about an old Christchurch murder case (1871) where the author mentioned something quite odd about the burial of the victim.
Being a highly superstitious lot, about 150 years ago, a tradition kicked in when burying a victim of murder. They were not to be buried with those who passed away naturally but buried away from everyone else.
I was at St Matthew’s Graveyard in Courtenay and found a great example of this. The two graves standing on their own were murder victims! Why did they do this? It was believed that the victim carried the sins of the murderer!
*Photo taken by Annette Bulovic*
