One of the tests for determining if someone was a witch was to search their body for “witch marks.” As described in “Connecticut Witch Trials,” it was believed that when a person became a witch, they gained an extra nipple, which their demonic familiar servant would use to feed. In practice, this was very difficult to disprove since anything from a mole to a flea bite might be considered evidence that the accused was a witch.

The presence of these marks was used to convict and ultimately hang a woman called Goodwife Knapp. As stated by the Hartford Courant, a committee of women were charged with searching her body until they found the evidence. They tried to convince Goodwife Knapp to call out others in the community as witches, even telling her that her neighbor, Mary Staples, had turned on her and testified that she was a witch. Knapp continued to swear her innocence and never accused anyone else of witchcraft, even at her execution.

Before Knapp was set to be executed, Staples attempted to take back her testimony, swearing that Knapp was not a witch. After Knapp was executed, Staples ran to the body and began tearing its clothes off, crying that there were no witch marks and that Knapp had no more nipples than anyone else. Some of the women from the committee attempted to bring witchcraft accusations against Staples as well, but she was never charged.

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