817. A certain spirit from a room in hell that was off to the left side came to me and talked with me. I was allowed to perceive that he was a criminal type.

This is how his misdeeds in the world were exposed: he was sent fairly far down into the underground realm that was in front and a little to the left, and there he began to dig a hole, as people do for burying the dead. This made me suspect that he had committed some fatal deed during bodily life. Next there appeared a bier swathed in black, and soon a man rose off it and approached me. He told me with saintly restraint that he was dead, probably as a result of poisoning by that man. This had been his dying thought, although he did not know whether it was an unfounded suspicion. ¹

When the wicked spirit heard this, he confessed that he had done the deed. Punishment followed his confession. Twice he was rolled into the black grave he had dug and became as black himself in face and body as Egyptian mummies. In this condition, he was lifted up high and carried around in front of spirits and angels, while people shouted, "What a devil!" He also turned cold, so that he belongs among the cold in hell; and he was sent to hell.

Footnotes:

1261. When the spirit heard this, he confessed to having committed that crime in the life of his body, and that he had been tormented by pangs of conscience on account of it. He had not dared to confess it to a priest for the sake of his reputation.