Charles Frederick Stielow

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	3
Year Crime:	1915
Year Convicted:	1915
Year Cleared:	1918
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	Orleans
City of Crime:	West Shelby
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Charles Frederick Stielow was codefendant of his brother-in-law Nelsen I. Green. Both were wrongly convicted related to the March 15, 1915 murder of Margaret Wolcott in Orleans County, New York. After being physically abused by the police, Charles Stielow confessed, but he immediately recanted it as coerced. Other than his confession the prosecution's case against Stielow was circumstantial. Stielow went to trial alone, and he was convicted of first-degree murder by a jury on September 5, 1915. He was sentenced to death. In light of Stielow's conviction and death sentence, Nelsen Green pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Charles Stielow received a stay after he had already been led into the execution chamber. Ballistics evidence later proved Nelsen Green and Charles Stielow were innocent. The actual culprit was identified. On April 16, 1918 NY Governor Whitman commutted the sentences of Green and Stielow on the basis of their innocence."
Conviction Caused By:	False confession
Innocence Proved By:	Actual perpetrator discovered.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 119."
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Convicting the Innocent - Sixty-Five Actual Errors of Criminal Justice, by Edwin Borchard, Yale Univ Press, 1932, pp. 245-255"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:
Information Location 4:
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charles Frederick Stielow

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

3

Year Crime:

1915

Year Convicted:

1915

Year Cleared:

1918

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Orleans

City of Crime:

West Shelby

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False confession

Innocence Proved By:

Actual perpetrator discovered.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"“Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases,” Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Stanford Law Review, November, 1987, Vol. 40, p. 119."

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Convicting the Innocent - Sixty-Five Actual Errors of Criminal Justice, by Edwin Borchard, Yale Univ Press, 1932, pp. 245-255"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: