Money- Mr. Spooner is apparently murdered for money, hired by Mrs. Spooner, and paid with cash kept in a box which is split up among the murderers, a few hundred dollars for each. They also split up some his belongings, such as clothing and his watch. The concept of money, and the willingness to kill for it, is very different from the reasons we saw for murder in the earlier narratives. Patience
Boston and Esther Rodgers killed for more confusing psychological reasons: Buchanan, Ross, and Brooks killed, it appears, purely for money, as they were paid for their crime and did not even know Mr. Spooner.
Conscience- Buchanan says that at the ti me of the killing “I was instantly struck with the horror of conscience”, one of the earliest mentions we’ve seen of the conscience in these narratives (223). Interestingly, this mention of conscience has nothing to do with God and is also for a man who the murderers do not even know.
Warning- Buchanan, Ross, and Brooks conclude their account with the usual warning to youths of how to avoid becoming an executed criminal. They should “avoid bad company, excessive drinking, profane cursing and swearing, shameful debaucheries, disobedience to parents” (224). The three criminals, despite the fact that their narrative is very different from the ones that we have read up to this point, still conclude with the typical repentance, religious talk, and warning to the youth that we have come to expect.
