5 Deathbed Confessions

5. Geraldine Kelly

Geraldine Kelly was considered a tough lady by friends and family. To them it was no surprise that she was coping quite well after her husband, John, died in a car accident. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer she confessed to having killed John because he supposedly had been abusing her for years. She shot him in the head and wrapped up his body and put him in the freezer so his body could mummify.

4. Vernon Seitz

Vernon Seitz told his psychiatrist in 2008 that he was ready to confess to a murder he had committed in 1959. He said that he had been abducted with a boy and the kidnappers had told him that if he didn’t kill the boy they’d kill him. Detectives arrived at his house only to find him dead. They found missing posters of Michael Dunahee and Jacob Wetterling, who had disappeared in 1991 and 1989 along with a handgun, explicit drawings, and books on cannibalism. Unfortunately it shed no light on the cases.

3. Diane Crawford

Diane Crawford managed to hide something for over 40 years. In 1967 she entered the ice cream store where she worked and shot Carolyn Perry and Constance Smootz for making fun of the fact that she was lesbian. She got away with it for so long because she emptied the register and that lead the police to believe that the motive was robbery and was unwittingly aided by a detective. The detective buried the murder weapon because he considered it too dangerous for a woman to own a gun. Crawford was on the run for a while and pretended to be straight, got married, had kids, and later came out so she could return to her partner. She confessed to the murder 2 months before her death.

2. Ottis Toole

In 1981 the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh was a high profile crime in America. It lead to the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as well as the TV show “America’s Most Wanted.” Ottis Toole was the prime suspect and although he confessed to the murder he was never charged after the evidence was lost. He was the alleged partner of Henry Lee Lucas, the notorious serial killer, and was later convicted on 6 unrelated murder counts. Dying in jail was when he confessed to the murder of Adam Welsh.

1. James Brewer

James Brewer was suffering from a stroke and thought he was going to die when he decided to come clean about his life. in 1977 James Brewer, in a jealous rage, killed his neighbor, skipped bail, and then ran away with his wife and they took on new identities as the Andersons. They were model citizens and even lead a Bible study group. He confessed this in 2009 to the police on his deathbed only to recover and be sentenced to death penalty.