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A criminal is sentenced to death. Before his execution, he is allowed to make one statement. If his statement is false, he will be hanged, and if his statement is true, he will be drowned. What should he say to confuse the jury and thus save his life?

Question #23966. Asked by Joe.

Andy
Answer has 3 votes
Currently Best Answer
Andy
24 year member
197 replies

Answer has 3 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
The statement is, 'You will hang me.' If this statement is true, then he will be drowned. However, if he is drowned, that makes the statement false, in which case he should be hanged. However, if he is hanged, that means his statement is true and he should be drowned. This creates an unsolvable paradox for the jury, which has no choice but to let him go free.

Nov 05 2002, 4:22 PM
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