In January 1698, Romans crowded a city church to view two brutally murdered elderly people and their dying 18-year-old daughter, Pompilia. What followed was the most celebrated trial of its time. The defense argued that Pompilia was an adulteress, husband deserter, and mother of an illegitimate son, grounds for which a husband could rightfully murder, but five men, including Pompilia's elderly husband, were convicted. Using comtemporary sources, Parker questions whether she was a saint or sinner.