Atonement cross or murder cross is the name given to a stone cross erected to atone for a murder or manslaughter. Atonement crosses are atonement stones in the shape of a cross. Atonement crosses were usually found on paths and crossroads. Weapons (crossbows, axes or similar) are carved into some stone crosses, possibly the murder weapon.
Crosses were intended to encourage passers-by to pray for a deceased person who died suddenly without being able to receive the last rites. If someone was killed in an argument or unintentionally, the guilty party had to come to an agreement with the victim's family. Private reconciliation agreements were concluded between the parties involved. From 1300 onwards it was common to erect a stone atonement cross at the scene of the crime or wherever the relatives wished. There are still Upper Palatinate and Saxon reconciliation contracts in which the erection of an expiatory cross is expressly agreed.
A complete expiatory contract from 1463 has been preserved in Weikersheim. For the murder of a son, the relatives and the perpetrator negotiated through two arbitrators as the usual compensation: a stone cross, a Holy Mass with two priests, ten pounds of wax for candles, 45 guilders as expenses and compensation, a pair of trousers each for the arbitrators, the bailiff and the governor, and two buckets of wine for the followers of both parties.[1] Since 1530, no more expiatory crosses have been erected in Protestant areas.
Source: Wikipedia