It is often hard to believe that people will admit to things they didn’t do, but it happens more often than people believe. A pretty good summation of the phenomenon is right here.
“Scientists who study this phenomenon group false confessions into three general categories: (1) voluntary; (2) coerced-compliant, and (3) coerced-internalized.[3] Voluntary confessors know what they are stating is untrue; the classic example is when aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby was kidnapped and hundreds of people claimed responsibility.[4] These people are often driven by intense feelings of delusion, guilt, or even desire for notoriety.”