THREE BLIND MICE
The story of how the famous blind mice went to jail!
You may know the common nursery rhyme of the three blind mice but I bet you don't know what happened after that! These mice would do anything to get revenge on the farmer's wife for cutting off their tails!
Where the nursery rhyme leaves off is where our story will begin...
As the farmer's wife, Susan Jones, ran away with the carving knife, the three mice ran behind her as fast as they could. They eventually lost her though because they could not see where they were going. The mice knew they would have to get back at Susan for cutting off their tails. They did not care about the consequence, as long as they had their revenge. So the mice formed a plan and set out for revenge!
THE CRIME!
The mice were planning to kill Susan's husband, the farmer! They decided this would be the best way to punish Susan for cutting off their tails, and they would kill him with the very same carving knife. The first thing they would have to do is distract Susan and steal her knife. Although the mice could not see, this would be fairly easy since their sense of smell and hearing was extremely well. One of the mice distracted her by pulling her laundry off of the clothes line while the other two dragged the knife into their hole in the wall. Now that they had the knife they would kill the farmer in his sleep. The mice silently crept into his room and ,using all of their strength, killed him! The wife heard and came running into the room just in time to scoop up all of the mice in one hand. She screamed and cried all she could until all the mice could hear was a ringing in their ears.
The Mice Are Arrested!
As soon as Susan had gathered her senses, she called the police to come to her house immediately. When they arrived at the farmhouse, they were shocked to see what had happened! They immediately arrested the mice. This was more than just a small felony! A man was killed because of these mice! Susan wanted to indict the mice and prosecute them for murder but that would be decided by the Grand Jury. The Grand Jury quickly decided that the case did need to be tried in front of a petit jury and a judge. The arraignment judge would not even set up bail for the mice.
Late to Court!?
The day of the trial was set for June 20. The mice, who were the defendants, were escorted to the courthouse and where the public defender would defend them. When the trial was ready to start the judge realized Susan was not there! The judge had sent her a subpoena to court last week to remind her of the trial. The sheriff was immediately sent to the farmhouse to pick Susan up and bring her to court. She had overslept and forgotten about the trial, despite the subpoena. When Susan was in the courtroom and everyone was in place then Judge Anthony began the trial.
The Trial and Decision
The night before the mice had plea bargained that they had commited manslaughter instead of murder. This was discussed in court and from what the Susan, the only witness, said then it was clearly murder. The mice kept saying that it was an accident and they had no actual intention of killing the man. Susan's lawyer then drilled questions on the mice until one of them squealed out "Okay, we killed him and we meant it!". This silenced the courtroom until the jury said they were ready to vote. The verdict came back guilty and the mice were convicted of murder and and perjury for lying. The mice did try for appeal but they were no where close to getting one. They were sentenced for a lifetime in jail and that is the story of how the three blind mice went to jail.