Isaac Sawtelle

Christmas Day of 1889 had a special meaning for one Boston family. Isaac Sawtelle, Jr., would be reunited with the family he hadn't seen in sixteen years. But Isaac's long absence from home was neither the result of his seeking fortune out West or traveling abroad, nor was it because of a family rift. No, the reason for Isaac's long-awaited homecoming was because he had been pardoned by the governor after serving a long sentence for a serious crime.Isaac's freedom would be short-lived, however; not long after his pardon, he would be convicted of first-degree murder. But, unlike so many murderers who have been forgotten by history, Isaac Sawtelle earned his fifteen minutes of infamy-- not just for the brutal nature of his crime, but for having the distinction of being sentenced to death in a state where the crime hadn't been committed.