Suicide by Proxy in Early Modern Germany: Crime, Sin and Salvation - Paperbackby Kathy Stuart (Author) Suicide by Proxy became a major societal problem after 1650. Suicidal people committed capital crimes with the explicit goal of "earning" their executions, as a short cut to their salvation. Desiring to die repentantly at the hands of divinely instituted government, perpetrators hoped to escape eternal damnation that befell direct suicides. Kathy Stuart shows how this crime emerged as an unintended consequence of aggressive