Killer Tortoise

In July 1981, a tortoise was sentenced to death for murder. Tribal elders in the Eastern Kenyan village of Kyuasini formally condemned the tortoise because they suspected it of causing the deaths of six people, apparently through magic. However, because none of the frightened villagers was prepared to risk the tortoise’s wrath by carrying out the execution, it was chained to a tree instead. The tortoise was later freed after the government promised an official enquiry into the deaths.