Crime at El Escorial - The 1892 Child Murder, the Press and the Jury (Paperback)

In 1892, in a small Spanish village, the three-year old, blond, blue-eued son of a poor family was abducted, sexually abused and murdered. The sensational coverage of the case in the press quickly mobilized the country's attention and led to a widespread controversy over the jury system. In Crime at El Escorial, D.J. O'Connor presents a comparative social and judicial analysis of the case. Drawing from newspaper archives as well as historical documents, D.J. O'Connor discusses the roel of Spain's intellectual elite in crystallizing dissatisfaction with the jury through the criticism of crime reporting and mass readers, the significance of journalists' use of terrorific fiction in their representation of the Escorial crime, and the subsequent controversy over the jury. This is the first study to draw attention to the social and legal significance of the murder, Crime at El Escorial will prove compelling reading not only to students and teachers of criminal justice, but also to hisotrians and journalists.