Listen…
You can hear the hounds a’ calling off in the distance
You can hear the engines stalling
You can hear the angels falling
If you listen…
~Amos Lee
Slowly I descend from grace
In the arms of the undertow
It is there that I will take my place
Forever in the great below
~Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails
Shortly before 9:00 pm on the evening of July 5th, 1897, James Butler entered his tool shed located on the west end of his property. Securing an ax, Butler walked with purpose toward the farmhouse where his wife was preparing dinner. Making his way into the kitchen, Butler proceeded to decapitate his wife by striking her about the head and shoulders.
Sentenced to life in prison for his transgressions, Butler was spared the death penalty by the jury’s determination that he had slipped into insanity sometime earlier in the day.
Just what causes a man to cross over into madness is a hard thing to know. According to testimony taken from Butler’s neighbor, Mrs Joseph Wilding, she remembers her dogs–and the dogs of the surrounding farms–all barking wildly around midday; something that had never happened before. It was at this moment that Mrs Wilding believes James Butler lost touch with this world.
To this day, Butler’s crime remains one of the most heinous ever committed in the state of Wisconsin.
Britt
I’m officially freaked out. Friday morning at 9:00 and I am freaked. I love how your shot shows this scene as a little shaky, a little off center. It seems blurry, not quite real. It makes me think that that must have been how James saw the tool shed on that fateful day. Great capture, but it’s still freaking me out.