Cannot Be Executed

De Jong, the alleged murderer in what is now known as the "Maidenhead Mystery," when in London called upon a well-known official and applied for an admission order to the House of Commons. The official in question, a shrewd man, whose duties compel him to read character at a glance, formed so unfavourable an opinion of his visitor that he promptly declined the request. De Jong at that interview also represented himself as an hotel-keeper in Holland. Who first started the hare that he was to be hypnotised in order to make him betray where the bodies of his alleged victims are concealed, cannot be imagined. Such a course would be entirely against the spirit, if not the actual letter, of Dutch law, as anyone who knows Dutch law will bear me out in saying. Another item of interest, not generally known in this country, is that, even if De Jong be convicted of the murders, he cannot be executed, as capital punishment has been abolished in the Netherlands.

Source: Penny Illustrated Paper