EPISODE · May 8, 2026 · 1 MIN
George Burroughs Accused of 7 Murders by Witchcraft: May 8, 1692
from Salem Witch Trials Daily · host Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack
We take you into Salem Village on the sacrament Sunday of May 8, 1692, when Samuel Parris preached from 1 Corinthians about choosing the Lord’s table over the devils’. Then the accusations turn chilling: Mercy Lewis says George Burroughs’ apparition returned to intimidate her, warning she wouldn’t see his two dead wives because she might testify against him. With haunted testimony and threats in the air, Susannah Sheldon reports Burroughs’ specter pressing her about the next day’s examination—then vowing to kill her before morning. At Ingersoll’s Tavern, the story escalates as Burroughs allegedly admits by spectral confession to murdering children in Maine, killing his first two wives by smothering and choking, and even killing two of his own children—seven deaths tied to witchcraft.00:00 Welcome and Hosts00:11 Parris Sacrament Sermon00:35 Mercy Lewis Deposition00:49 Ghosts and Murder Claims01:14 Susannah Sheldon Threatened01:34 Burroughs Confession Allegations01:46 Serial Killer by Witchcraft LinksSalem Witch Trials History YouTubeSalem Witch Trials Daily HubThe Thing About the Salem Witch TrialsThe Thing About Witch HuntsMary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-HuntEmerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American ExperienceMarilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under SiegeHigh Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection
What this episode covers
We take you into Salem Village on the sacrament Sunday of May 8, 1692, when Samuel Parris preached from 1 Corinthians about choosing the Lord’s table over the devils’. Then the accusations turn chilling: Mercy Lewis says George Burroughs’ apparition returned to intimidate her, warning she wouldn’t see his two dead wives because she might testify against him. With haunted testimony and threats in the air, Susannah Sheldon reports Burroughs’ specter pressing her about the next day’s examination—then vowing to kill her before morning. At Ingersoll’s Tavern, the story escalates as Burroughs allegedly admits by spectral confession to murdering children in Maine, killing his first two wives by smothering and choking, and even killing two of his own children—seven deaths tied to witchcraft.00:00 Welcome and Hosts00:11 Parris Sacrament Sermon00:35 Mercy Lewis Deposition00:49 Ghosts and Murder Claims01:14 Susannah Sheldon Threatened01:34 Burroughs Confession Allegations01:46 Serial Killer by Witchcraft LinksSalem Witch Trials History YouTubeSalem Witch Trials Daily HubThe Thing About the Salem Witch TrialsThe Thing About Witch HuntsMary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-HuntEmerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American ExperienceMarilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under SiegeHigh Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection
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George Burroughs Accused of 7 Murders by Witchcraft: May 8, 1692
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