# The Imbecile Defense

An episode of [15 Minutes of Infamy](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1896791216), 11 Oct 2026, 15 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/112777230/podcast/play/127307128/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-9-11%2F44187e96-2c94-15c0-fb38-fc8e1db72284.mp3

On March 27, 1914, schoolteacher Lida Beecher left her boarding house in upstate New York to mail a letter but never returned home. When her body was found the next morning, it led to the arrest of one of her teenage students. The trial of Jean Gianini was a national sensation, raising questions about how to punish those of low intelligence who commit murder-- questions that our legal system still wrestles with today.

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