Between 1976 and 1977, 24-year-old David Berkowitz went on a killing spree in New York City, killing six people and injuring seven more. According to the article, “A Crime of Insanity”, after being arrested, he confessed to the murders, claiming that he was obeying orders from his neighbor, Sam Carr, which he received through the barking of Carr’s demonic black dog, and was then diagnosed as paranoid and delusional according to a psychological evaluation. Roald Dahl’s short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter”, tells the story of a pregnant woman, Mary Maloney, and her husband. After hearing that her husband wants to end the marriage, Mrs. Maloney murders him by bashing him in the head with a leg of lamb. In Dahl’s short story, Mrs. Maloney is found …show more content…
She was just going home with the vegetables on Thursday evening to cook dinner for her husband” (Dahl 2). In this line, Dahl demonstrates that Mrs. Maloney is innocent by showing how she did not expect to find her dead husband on the floor. He also stated that Mrs. Maloney believed that she was just going to cook dinner for him. Instead of confessing to the murder to the police, Mrs. Maloney pretends as if nothing happened and goes to the store to prepare dinner for her husband. After coming home and being shocked to see her husband dead lying on the floor, she breaks down and calls the police. She then lies to the police officers about what happened to her husband and tricks them into eating the leg of lamb, in order to cover up her crime. This article also provides further information on defendants that are found not guilty by reason of insanity. It shows an example of a homeless man who attacked a stranger and states, “His mental condition clearly interfered with his understanding of the situation” (Lally 2). This provides proof that Mrs. Maloney from Dahls’ short story is innocent because she did not understand what she did to her