Unjust: Conviction of Innocence-Mathilde's Story

William and Mathilda were German immigrants who moved to the small rural community of Swan River Township, a rural farming community outside of Little Falls, Minnesota. The area was flooded with immigrants; mostly German and Polish families who spoke little English. There was a great deal of jealousy from local farmers at how prosperous the immigrants were becoming as farmers, and prejudice ran deep... ...even if unspoken in this small rural community. In early August 1908-according to Mathilda Gollnik-two burglars entered their residence at night, and after arguing with her husband, struck him in the head causing a wound that would prove to be fatal. After surviving for three days, William Gollnik died without ever regaining consciousness. It was later determined he was probably struck with a heavy blunt instrument, probably a hatchet. ...The murder weapon was never recovered. After the attack on her husband, Mathilda ran to a neighbor's house for help. They summoned the local sheriff and a local doctor who arrived at the scene. The local doctor, being unable to communicate well with Mathilda as she spoke little English, assumed she had committed the crime. The local sheriff, who had virtually no law enforcement training and had two years earlier been a local farmer, conducted virtually no substantive investigation, not taking so much as a single note, and also assumed Mathilda had killed her husband. ...Two years after the murder he returned to farming. Mathilda was ultimately arrested for the murder of her husband, was tried, and convicted. There was virtually no evidence presented at trial to show she had committed the crime, and her attorneys presented a defense so inept that they didn't call a single witness in her behalf. The only evidence presented by the prosecution was that it was well known that their marriage was an unhappy one, and Mathilda had previously attempted to obtain a divorce which was never finalized as they resolved their differences and continued living as man and wife. The trial lasted about four days, and the jury consisting of local farmers, deliberated only hours before returning a guilty verdict. The prosecuting attorney, within three hours of the verdict, petitioned the court to impose an immediate sentence, which was granted, and Mathilda was sentenced to life imprisonment and was immediately transported to prison. After her conviction, it was literally a feeding frenzy to acquire her property and possessions, by neighbors, attorneys, family members, and local farmers. ...But what happened in the ensuing years was even more unthinkable.