Brighton Publishing signs Elizabeth Brown for “Unjust: Conviction of Innocence”

MESA, Ariz. - Jan. 26, 2015 - PRLog -- MESA (AZ)—Brighton Publishing LLC is pleased to announce the signing of author Elizabeth Brown for her new book, “Unjust: Conviction of Innocence.” Unjust is scheduled for eBook release in summer-2015 and will be available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other leading book retailers. The print version is slated for release in fall-2015, and will be distributed by Ingram, the world’s largest book distributor, in addition to being available worldwide through the Xerox Espresso Book Machine Network.

Synopsis: Unjust is the story of Mathilda Gollnik, the wife of William Gollnik. William was murdered and Mathilda was accused and convicted of his murder.

William and Mathilda were German immigrants who moved to the small rural community of Swan River Township, a rural farming community in Minnesota. The area was flooded with German and Polish immigrants who spoke little or no English. There was a great deal of jealousy from local farmers regarding how prosperous the immigrants were becoming , and prejudice ran deep, even if unspoken in this small rural community.

In early August 1908, according to Mathilda Gollnik, two burglars entered their residence at night; and after arguing with her husband, they struck him in the head causing a wound that would prove to be fatal. After surviving for three days, William Gollnik died without ever regaining consciousness. The murder weapon was never recovered.

After the attack, Mathilda ran to a neighbor’s house for help. They summoned the local sheriff and a local doctor. The doctor being, unable to communicate well with Mathilda—as she spoke little English—merely assumed she had committed the crime. The local sheriff had virtually no law enforcement training and had only two years earlier been a local farmer, conducted virtually no substantive investigation, not taking so much as a single note, and also assumed Mathilda had killed her husband. Two years after the murder he returned to farming.

Mathilda was ultimately arrested for the murder of her husband and was subsequently tried and convicted. There was virtually no evidence presented at trial to show she had committed the crime, and her attorneys presented a defense so inept, they didn’t call a single witness in her behalf. The only evidence presented by the prosecution was that Mathilda had previously attempted to obtain a divorce which was never finalized, as they apparently resolved their differences and continued living as man and wife.

The trial lasted four days, and the jury—consisting of local farmers—was out only hours before returning a guilty verdict. Within three hours of the verdict, the prosecuting attorney petitioned the court to impose an immediate sentence, which was granted, and Mathilda was sentenced to life imprisonment, and immediately transported to prison. After her conviction, it was literally a feeding frenzy to acquire her farm and possessions, by neighbors, attorneys, other family members and local farmers.

In a matter of weeks from the time of the murder, Mathilda was sitting in prison where she remained for the next forty-five years. While in prison, the warden was overwhelmed with the task of managing her affairs and property. After he retired, the new warden had her mental state evaluated, and it was determined she was insane as a result of “Intoxication psychosis—alcoholism, personal type. Delusions that electricity is being played upon her, is suspicious and seems to have delusions of persecution. She is much depressed and somewhat retarded.” She was immediately transferred to an insane asylum where, after a number of years, she ultimately became insane.

“With a gift for investigative journalism, author Elizabeth Brown brings to light the worst of our judicial system in a highly detailed account of a woman wrongfully convicted” said Kathie McGuire, director of Brighton Publishing.

After leaving the farm and raising four children, Elizabeth Brown became widowed after 27 years of marriage. Reinventing herself, she went back to school and throughout the years, was fortunate enough to pursue any project that interested her. As an accomplished author, Elizabeth’s first book “Tales of our Youth: Generations of Love and Hope” was published in 2012.