Buzz
The final moments of life often bring a sense of clarity. Some individuals use this precious time to make amends, express gratitude to their loved ones, or reflect on their happiest memories. In some cases, they even open up about their deepest secrets and regrets while aligning with their beliefs.
While we’ve witnessed people confessing, apologizing, and seeking redemption, some admissions have stirred controversy—especially when a secret is revealed and the person survives. Imagine confessing to a crime in the presence of law enforcement, believing your time is up, only to end up surviving.
Some deathbed conversions have sparked debates as well. Although the individual did pass away, the last-minute faith changes often led to conflicts and controversy that lasted long after their death.
10. James Washington
In July of 1995, firefighters uncovered the scorched body of a woman in an abandoned house in Nashville, Tennessee. The victim was later identified as 35-year-old Joyce Goodener, who had been brutally stabbed and beaten to death. Afterward, her killer wrapped her body in a rug and set it ablaze.
The police arrested James Washington for the murder. He was acquainted with Joyce and admitted to seeing her on the day she died. However, the authorities could not charge him with the crime due to the lack of DNA evidence at the scene.
In 2009, while serving a 15-year sentence for attempted murder, James Washington suffered a heart attack. Believing his end was near, he called a nearby guard, James Tomlinson, and confessed to the 1995 killing.
Washington’s plans took an unexpected turn when he survived the heart attack. Tomlinson reported the confession, and Washington was charged with the murder. Although he later retracted his statement, claiming he had been hallucinating, it was too late. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
9. Tony Wakeford
In 2006, Tony Wakeford faced a life-threatening illness due to Parkinson’s disease. Believing he was near death, he called his wife, Patricia, and confessed to having an affair with her best friend. Patricia listened without complaint, likely thinking that it wouldn't matter since death was imminent.
But they were wrong—Tony survived.
However, Patricia could not overcome the pain of the betrayal. On September 4, 2010, the situation culminated when she murdered him at their home in Effingham, Surrey. Afterward, she called 999, claiming that Tony had attacked her during an argument. When the police arrived, they discovered Tony’s body, with multiple stab wounds on his arms, hands, and legs.
However, the fatal blow was delivered directly to his heart. Patricia maintained that Tony had attacked her first, though investigators believed she killed him in a jealous rage. A neighbor also reported hearing Patricia repeatedly say, “I hate you,” for about ten minutes the day before the murder.
Patricia was arrested for murder, but she caught a break when the court downgraded the charge to manslaughter. She was sentenced to 582 days in prison, but was released after serving 291 days due to time already spent behind bars.
8. James Brewer
In 2009, “Michael Anderson” suffered a stroke that he believed would be fatal. At the hospital, he revealed his true identity—he was actually 58-year-old James Brewer, who had changed his name 30 years prior after being declared “wanted” for the murder of his neighbor, Jimmy Carroll, in Tennessee.
James shot Carroll outside a gas station, fueled by suspicions that Carroll was attempting to have an affair with James’s wife, who later changed her name to Dorothy Anderson. After being arrested for the murder, James managed to flee with his wife right after being released on bail. They relocated to Oklahoma, where they assumed new identities and began a fresh life.
James explained to the police that he had chosen to confess in order to “cleanse his soul” before his death. So convinced that his end was near, James even urged his wife to stop interfering when she tried to prevent him from making his confession. Luckily for justice, James survived the stroke and was later charged with murder.
7. Unidentified 91-Year-Old Man
In 2015, a 91-year-old British man residing in Canada admitted to killing a woman outside a nightclub on Carnaby Street, Soho, UK, back in 1946. This confession holds the record for the longest time between a crime and its disclosure in British criminal history.
The unidentified man made his confession at a Canadian police station shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. Canadian authorities contacted British police, who quickly dispatched investigators to question him. The victim was a prostitute, though the man could not remember her name. He did recall, however, that he had shot her dead with a pistol.
When shown photographs of several women, the man was able to identify his victim. She was 26-year-old prostitute Margaret Cook. Despite the long time that had passed, police had never been able to apprehend a suspect in Cook’s murder, even though the man had lived in Britain for five years before moving to Canada.
Canadian authorities offered to extradite the man to the UK. However, Canadian judges rejected the request, citing the man’s advanced age. They also argued that a trial wasn’t necessary, given that the case would have likely remained unsolved if the man hadn’t confessed.
6. Jeffrey Gafoor
In 1988, the British police discovered the remains of a woman who had been violently murdered in a Cardiff flat, UK. She had more than 50 stab wounds on her body. The victim was later identified as 20-year-old Lynette White, a prostitute.
In 1990, Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi, and Stephen Miller were sentenced to life for the murder. However, advancements in DNA technology two years later exonerated them. Following this, police turned their focus to Jeffrey Gafoor, whose DNA was soon matched to the crime.
In 2003, 38-year-old Gafoor became aware that the police were watching him. He bought large quantities of paracetamol at multiple stores. That night, he swallowed the pills. At that moment, police broke into his home and arrested him.
Gafoor confessed to the murder while being transported to the hospital in an ambulance. He revealed that he had been anticipating capture for 15 years and was ready to die. When he arrived at the hospital, he was convulsing, and it seemed he was on the brink of death. He survived, however, and made a full recovery.
Gafoor did not retract his confession. Instead, he stated that he no longer wished for death and was ready to face the consequences of his actions. He also admitted that he had once considered death to understand whether God and the devil truly existed.
Gafoor admitted to killing White during a dispute over £30. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and had to serve 13 years before becoming eligible for parole. Despite this, his parole requests were denied in 2016 and 2018. His next chance to apply for parole will be in 2020.
5. Shaun
In 2018, a cancer patient at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand told a doctor that he had some confessions to make, but only if the doctor promised never to share them. The doctor agreed to the terms.
The man, known only by the pseudonym “Shaun,” claimed that he had been a hired gun responsible for multiple murders across New Zealand during the 1960s. The doctor later urged Shaun to write down a confession for the police, in case he passed away. It remains uncertain whether Shaun ever wrote that letter.
The doctor kept the confession secret. However, the police were alerted to Shaun’s story after a group of medical and law researchers published a paper discussing the ethical and legal implications of withholding such secrets. The paper sparked a heated debate, splitting the medical community into two factions—one in favor of the doctor’s silence, and the other advocating for disclosure.
The group supporting the doctor argued that certain secrets should never be revealed, viewing them as part of the sacred trust between a doctor and their patient. They also highlighted that Shaun’s condition improved dramatically after the confession—he regained the ability to walk and eat, two activities he had previously been unable to do. His health improved so much that doctors reduced the painkillers he had been receiving.
In fact, Shaun was discharged from the hospital and sent to a nursing home for palliative care, a service intended for patients in the final stages of their lives. In palliative care, the focus is on alleviating pain for those deemed terminally ill. Unfortunately, Shaun eventually passed away.
4. Bjorn Ironside
Bjorn Ironside is a figure of legend, though there is uncertainty surrounding the historical accuracy of his existence. He is said to have been a Viking king who ruled over what is now Sweden during the ninth century. In addition to his royal duties, he was known for his raiding activities, leading surprise attacks on cities that would now be found in Europe and North Africa.
One of Bjorn's most notorious raids occurred when he teamed up with another Viking, Hastein, to attack the Italian city of Luni, which they mistakenly believed to be Rome. The raid began with a siege, but they soon realized the city was heavily fortified and unable to be overtaken through force alone. As a result, they devised a cunning plan.
According to some sources, either Bjorn or Hastein sent a message to the bishop of Luni, claiming that Bjorn was dying and wished to convert to Christianity. Other accounts suggest that Bjorn had pretended to be dead and had previously requested a Christian burial.
Regardless of which version is true, the bishop of Luni agreed to the request and allowed Viking pallbearers to carry Bjorn's supposed corpse into the city. Once inside, Bjorn leapt from his coffin and joined his fellow Vikings, who were disguised as mourners, in fighting their way to the city gates. However, it wasn't long before they realized they had attacked the wrong city altogether.
3. Sir Allan Napier MacNab
Sir Allan Napier MacNab was a divisive figure in early Canadian politics. A man of many trades, he tried his hand at business, acting, carpentry, land speculation, and law throughout his colorful life. He even had a brief stint as a soldier, participating in the War of 1812.
MacNab’s life was marked by numerous controversies, many of which persisted beyond his death. He accumulated significant debt, leaving his creditors to squabble over the few properties he had left. However, the most significant dispute centered around his religious faith. Despite being a well-known Anglican, MacNab’s wife and daughters were devout Catholics. The controversy began when his sister-in-law, Sophia Stuart, claimed that MacNab had converted to Catholicism just before he died.
The Anglicans rejected these claims, arguing that MacNab had passed away and must be buried according to Anglican rites. They also insisted that a deathbed conversion was impossible as MacNab had been unconscious at the time of his passing. Ultimately, the Catholics prevailed, and MacNab was buried in accordance with their rites. Yet, this dispute left the family deeply divided.
2. King Louis XV
King Louis XV, a French monarch with a notorious reputation for his love of women, became king at the age of five. He married Queen Marie Leszczynska at 15, but soon grew bored with her and began seeking pleasure from numerous mistresses to fulfill his desires.
The king's mistresses were not far from his royal chambers. They lived within the same palace as the queen, each occupying separate apartments connected to Louis XV's bedroom by a concealed staircase. This secret passage allowed the king to summon his mistresses whenever the need arose.
In 1757, King Louis XV’s philandering almost met a tragic end when he was stabbed by Robert-Francois Damiens. Believing death was imminent, he was rushed back to his palace where he confessed his infidelities to Queen Marie, vowing to share further details should he survive. He did recover, but there were no further confessions, and he did not part ways with his mistresses.
1. Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin passed away in April 1882, sparking speculation that he had embraced Christianity before his death. The initial claims came from a sermon delivered by a man named Mr. Huntingdon, who suggested Darwin had converted in his final moments.
The idea of Darwin’s conversion gained traction because of his influential theory of evolution. This theory had already placed him in direct opposition to religious followers who believed in the creationist model, which states that God created the world and everything in it. The conflict between these two ideas is significant, as both cannot be fully true simultaneously.
In 1915, Elizabeth Reid Cotton, known as Lady Hope, reignited the deathbed conversion rumor by claiming she had visited Darwin, who was gravely ill, and found him reading the Bible. She alleged that Darwin asked her to return and give a sermon to his household staff.
However, Darwin’s family refuted these claims. His daughter Henrietta, who was present at his death, stated that she never saw any evidence of a conversion. His wife, Emma, insisted that Darwin would never have converted. They acknowledged Cotton’s visit, but clarified it occurred seven months prior to his death when Darwin was not bedridden.
