Here's an interesting article about Salem, Mass in the NASDAQ Newsletter:
The Truth About Witch City—Salem, Massachusetts
320 years ago yesterday, Giles Corey was pressed to death here in Salem.
Giles was a prosperous farmer. He was 80 years old.
And his crime, such as it was, was refusing to enter a plea in court after being charged with witchcraft. Corey had already spent five months in jail awaiting trial, and observed that everyone who pleaded not guilty had been sentenced to hang. His wife was one of them; she was still awaiting execution. So he chose the alternate route.
Without a plea, Corey could not be tried in court, so to force a plea, boards were laid on his prostrate body and heavy rocks piled on it (the legal term was this treatment was "peine forte et dure"
. Still he refused to plead, and after two days of this he died.
Read more: http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2012-09/the-truth-about-witch-citysalem-massachusetts.aspx?storyid=175213#ixzz284to11pn