New Haven v. Thomas Hogg

New Haven v. Thomas Hogg
CourtNew Haven Colony Court
Decided1647
Verdict
Charge
Case history
Subsequent actionsSentenced to flogging and imprisonment

New Haven v. Thomas Hogg was a criminal case which took place in New Haven Colony in 1647. Hogg was accused of bestiality when a neighbourhood sow gave birth to piglets that allegedly resembled him. Unlike several men and boys convicted of the crime and consequently hanged in the 1640s and ensuing decades, Hogg refused to confess, thus avoiding the death penalty. Called "the most interesting buggery case" ever, it left an enduring mark in the history of capital punishment.