[Iscool]

So to get back to the question: how does this priest who has head the confession of a murderer, know who it is?

I wasn't there...So it has to be in a confessional booth to be a legitimate sacramental confession???

[Mrs. Don-o]

For the most part, sacramental confessions occur in confessionals, but there are obvious exceptions such as jail cells, hospital rooms and combat zones. So no, it doesn't have to be in a confessional booth. But it does have to be an explicitly intentional sacramental confession from beginning to end. Without intent, there is no sacrament.

Sacramental confession and U.S. law have coexisted for 225 years now, and I have never heard of a case where a murderer confessed to a priest face to face but did not repent (which would raise the question: then why did he confess? --- understanding that the priest could refuse absolution unless he surrendered himself to the police.)

There have been novels along these lines, but no actual cases that I know of.