The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information

innocent, and recalled that when he went to arrest Goody Hobbs, “One might almost see revenge in her
face.” (Roach, p. 87) While Goody Wildes' arrest would do nothing to clear either Deliverance,
William, or their daughter of the charges, it is tempting to believe that her accusation was in response to
Abigail's arrest: Deliverance first reported being attacked by Sarah Wildes on the night of Abigail's
confession in court. Deliverance herself would confess as well in prison on the 23 rd .
Also in April, the afflicted begin to extend their accusations up the social hierarchy: the list of
accused now grew to include both the Salem Town merchant of the “better sort,” Philip English (his
wife Mary had been arrested on the 21 st ), as well as the former minister of the Village, the Rev. George
Burroughs, who had moved to Wells (near Casco Bay) after an embarrassing dispute with the Putnam
family over a debt incurred to bury his first wife in 1683. 50 The afflicted had been hinting at a head
witch (a wizard or conjurer) who was the head of the secret witch organization, but until April 20 th no
one seemed to know the man's identity. The bad blood resulting from this episode may well explain
why it was Ann Putnam Jr. who ended up putting a name to the face – he was accused not only of
tormenting the afflicted, but also of the murder of his first two wives, “three children at the eastward,”
“a great many soldiers,” and most damagingly of Rev. Deodat Lawson's wife and daughter. (Gragg, pp.
116-117) While English and his wife would later escape (they had been able to rent a room in the
jailor's own house with their considerable resources), Burroughs was brought to the village and
questioned, where he maintained his innocence to no avail. He also was held for trial.
By the time the new government had been in place long enough to set up a Court of Oyer and
Terminer (headed up by the Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton) to deal with the witchcraft
epidemic, the list of suspects in custody had grown to 62, with several more having been mentioned
(but not arrested), or having fled the area. The first trials began on the 2 nd of June, and would see
Bridget Bishop the first to be tried and found guilty, despite claiming her innocence. (Roach, p. 156-
160) She would be executed on June 10 th . Despite the killing of the convicted witch, the circle of
accused would continue to grow, as would the number of afflicted. Around the end of that month, a
man in Andover, Thomas Swan, would begin reporting afflictions caused by various witches that only
he could see: he would remain a particularly malevolent force in the process until his death in 1693. 51
50 John Putnam in fact had Burroughs arrested for debt when the Reverend returned to the Village to collect his back pay –
leading six village-men to pay his bail. (Roach, pp. xxx – xxxi)
51 Swan was not unrelated to the goings on in the village, however: he had been sued for paternity and rape by Elizabeth
Emerson, a relative of the Carriers (Martha and her sons Richard and Andrew, all accused of witchcraft by Swan) and of
the Toothakers (Roger – a local “cunning-man”, his wife Mary, and their daughter Martha, all accused as well). He was
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