When canonists dream

What do canonists dream about, you may wonder? I can only speak for this canonist, but this morning I awoke from a tangled plot that hinged on the applicability of canon 1090 if the plotted conjugicide is not yet carried out. That is, if a conspiracy to murder one’s spouse predates the marriage, does such a malicious intent invalidate the marriage even before the spouse is murdered?

I think that canon 1090 cannot be said to apply in this particular circumstance, since the canon very specifically indicates that it is the subsequent marriage that is invalidated by the crime, that is, the marriage which the murder ostensibly freed one of the parties to enter. In light of canon 18, I think canon 1090 must be interpreted strictly, and so can in no way be extended by analogy in such a case.

That being said, I think that if such a plot were made known, and the first marriage ended in divorce before the spouse who was being plotted against was killed, a strong case for simulation of matrimonial consent, either total or against the good of the spouse, could be made. And now on to breakfast.