Hawley Harvey Crippen
Born	September 11, 1862(1862-09-11)
Died	November 23, 1910 (aged 48)
Cause of death	Hanging
Nationality	American
Other names	Dr Crippen
Known for	Executed for murder of wife

Hawley Harvey Crippen (11 September 1862 – 23 November 1910), usually known as Dr. Crippen, was an American physician hanged in Pentonville Prison, London, England, on 23 November 1910, for the murder of his wife. He has gone down in history as the first criminal to be captured with the aid of wireless communication. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Pentonville Prison is a prison built in 1842 in North London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Crime (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Wireless. ...

In 2007, some American researchers concluded that their DNA tests cast doubt on his conviction,^[1] though this conclusion is not shared by a majority of experts on the case. The structure of part of a DNA double helix Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. ...

Brief biography

Crippen was born in Coldwater, Michigan, to Andresee Skinner and Myron Augustus Crippen.^[2] Crippen became a homeopathic doctor and started working for a homeopathic pharmaceutical company, Dr. Munyon's. His second wife was Cora Turner (stage name: 'Belle Elmore'), born Kunigunde Mackamotski to a German mother and a Polish-Russian father. She was a would-be music hall singer who openly had affairs. In 1900, Crippen and his spouse moved to England. His U.S. medical qualification was insufficient to obtain a doctor's position in the UK. After having changed multiple addresses in London, the couple finally moved to 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Road, Holloway, London, where they had lodgers to compensate for Crippen's meager income. Coldwater is a city located in central Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ... Homeopathic remedy Rhus toxicodendron, derived from poison ivy. ... Pharmaceutics is the discipline of pharmacy that deals with all facets of the process of turning a new chemical entity (NCE) into a medication able to be safely and effectively used by patients in the community. ... A stereotypical German The Germans (German: die Deutschen), or the German people, are a nation in the meaning an ethnos (in German: Volk), defined more by a sense of sharing a common German culture and having a German mother tongue, than by citizenship or by being subjects to any particular... You may also be looking for the plural of the word pole. ... Russians (Русские - Russkie) are an ethnic group of East Slavic people, which live primarily in Russia and neighboring countries. ... Music Hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which reached its peak of popularity between 1850 and 1960. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Holloway is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Islington and follows for the most part, the line of the Holloway Road (A1 road). ...

Murder

After a party at their home on January 31, 1910, Cora disappeared. Hawley Crippen told everyone she had returned to the United States, and later added that she had died in California and had been cremated. Meanwhile, his lover, Ethel Le Neve (1883 - 1967), moved into Hilldrop Crescent and began openly wearing Cora's clothes and jewellery. The police were informed of Cora's disappearance by her friend, strongwoman Kate Williams, better known as Vulcana. The house was searched but nothing was found, and Crippen was interviewed by Chief Inspector Walter Dew. After the interview (and a quick search of the house) Dew was satisfied and had no doubts regarding the truth of his story. However, Crippen and Le Neve did not know this and fled in panic to Brussels where they spent the night at a hotel. The following day they went to Antwerp and took the Canadian Pacific liner SS Montrose to Canada. is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... The crematorium at Haycombe Cemetery, Bath, England. ... Year 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Vulcana in 1900 Kate Williams (1875 – 1946), sometimes called Kate Roberts, better known by her stage name Vulcana, was a Welsh strongwoman born in Abergavenny. ... This article is about the settlement itself. ... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ... The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR; AAR reporting marks CP, CPAA, CPI), known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway that is operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. ...

Transatlantic arrest

Inspector Dew (extreme right) searching the garden at 39, Hilldrop Crescent

Their disappearance led Scotland Yard to perform another three searches of the house. During the fourth and final search, they found the remains of a human body, buried under the brick floor of the basement. Sir Bernard Spilsbury found traces of hyoscine, a calming drug. The corpse had to be identified from a piece of skin from her abdomen, because her head, limbs and skeleton were never recovered. Crippen and le Neve fled across the Atlantic on the Montrose, with le Neve disguised as a boy. Captain Henry George Kendall recognised the fugitives and, just before steaming out of range of the land-based transmitters, sent a wireless telegram to the British authorities: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers. Mustache taken off growing beard. Accomplice dressed as boy. Manner and build undoubtedly a girl." Had Crippen travelled 3rd class he would have probably escaped Kendall's notice. On board the Montrose a wait of several days ensued because the ship was out of range of wireless communication. Dew boarded the faster White Star liner, the SS Laurentic, arriving in Quebec, Canada ahead of Crippen, where he contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, it blowwsssss often referred to simply as Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ... Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (May 16, 1877 – December 17, 1947) was a British pathologist. ... Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, is an alkaloid drug obtained from plants of the Solanaceae family (Nightshade), such as henbane or jimson weed (Datura stramonium). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The abdomen in a human and an ant. ... For other uses of the word head, see head (disambiguation). ... A limb (from the Old English lim) is a jointed, or prehensile (as octopus tentacles or new world monkey tails), appendage of the human or animal body; a large or main branch of a tree; a representative, branch or member of a group or organization. ... For other uses, see Skeleton (disambiguation). ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... Henry George Kendall (January 1874 - November 29, 1965) was an English sea captain. ... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... For other uses, see White star. ... RMS Laurentic (1909) was a British ocean liner of the White Star Line. ... This article is about the Canadian province. ... RCMP redirects here. ...

As the Montrose entered the St. Lawrence River, Chief Inspector Walter Dew, disguised as a pilot, came aboard. At that time Canada was a British dominion, so Dew was a Scotland Yard detective on duty in territory of the British Empire. If Crippen, a U.S. citizen, had sailed to the United States, even if he had been recognised, an international arrest warrant followed by extradition proceedings would have been required to bring him to trial. The Saint Lawrence River (French fleuve Saint-Laurent) is a large west-to-east flowing river in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ... This article is about Dominions of the British Empire and of the Commonwealth of Nations. ... New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, it blowwsssss often referred to simply as Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ... Gumshoe redirects here. ... For a comprehensive list of the territories that formed the British Empire, see Evolution of the British Empire. ...

Kendall invited Crippen to meet the pilots as they came aboard. Dew removed his pilot's cap and said, "Good morning, Dr Crippen. Do you know me? I'm Chief Inspector Dew from Scotland Yard." After a pause, Crippen replied, "Thank God it's over. The suspense has been too great. I couldn't stand it any longer." He then held out his wrists for the handcuffs. Crippen and le Neve were arrested on board the Montrose on July 31, 1910. Crippen was returned to England on board the SS Megantic.^[3] A pair of handcuffs Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individuals wrists close together. ... is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The SS Meganitc was an ocean liner built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, and operated by the White Star Line. ...

Cora's body was found in his cellar, dissected and in many packages

Trial and execution

Cora Crippen's scar tissue used in evidence at the trial

Sketches from the trial of Dr. Crippen

Crippen and le Neve were tried separately at the London assizes, held at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London E.C. After just 27 minutes of deliberations, the jury found Crippen guilty of murder and he was hanged by John Ellis in November at Pentonville Prison, London. Ethel le Neve was acquitted. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... In legal parlance, a trial is an event in which parties to a dispute present information (in the form of evidence) in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute. ... The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. ... The Old Bailey. ... This article is about death by hanging. ... John Ellis was a British executioner for 23 years at the beginning of the 20th century. ... Pentonville Prison is a prison built in 1842 in North London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Crippen's trial revealed the meticulous manner in which the body had been disposed of. After death, Cora Crippen's bones and limbs were professionally removed, and burned in the kitchen stove. Her organs were dissolved in acid in the bathtub, and her head was placed in a handbag and thrown overboard during a day trip to Dieppe, France. Dieppe is a town and commune in the Seine-Maritime département of Haute-Normandie (eastern Normandy), France. ...

The pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury could not identify the body, nor even tell whether it was male or female. However, he found a piece of skin with an abdominal scar consistent with Cora's medical history.^[4] Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (May 16, 1877 – December 17, 1947) was a British pathologist. ...

Throughout the proceedings and at his sentencing, Crippen showed no remorse, only concern for his lover's reputation. At his request, her photograph was placed in his coffin and buried with him. People feel remorse when reflecting on their actions that they believe are wrong. ...

Although Crippen's grave in the prison grounds is not marked by a stone, tradition has it that soon after his burial a rose bush was planted over it.

Question of doubt

There remains some dispute over whether Dr Crippen did, in fact, murder his wife. One theory, which was first propounded by Edward Marshall Hall (who had initially been engaged to lead Crippen's defence, although he later gave up the brief), was that Crippen was using hyoscine on his wife as a sexual depressant but accidentally gave her an overdose and then panicked when she died. In 1981, Hugh Rhys Rankin claimed to have met Ethel le Neve in 1930 in Australia. On that occasion, she is said to have told him that Crippen murdered his wife because she had syphilis. Sir Edward Marshall-Hall, KC, (Brighton, September 16, 1858 - February 24, 1927) was an English barrister who had a formidable reputation as an orator. ... Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, is an alkaloid drug obtained from plants of the Solanaceae family (Nightshade), such as henbane or jimson weed (Datura stramonium). ... A drug overdose occurs when a chemical substance (i. ... Syphilis is a curable sexually transmitted disease caused by the Treponema pallidum spirochete. ...

Raymond Chandler, the novelist, commented that it seemed unbelievable that Crippen would successfully dispose of his wife's limbs and head, and then, rather stupidly, bury her torso under the cellar floor of his home. The history of Old Bailey trials does however reveal many remarkable and fantastic mistakes made by otherwise intelligent murderers made to their detriment and police officers the world over will confirm that those who have the least reason to want to be noticed are the very ones who draw attention to themselves through unusual or exaggerated behaviour. For other persons named Raymond Chandler, see Raymond Chandler (disambiguation). ...

Dornford Yates, the novelist, who was involved with the trial as a junior barrister, records that Crippen put the remains in lime so that they would be destroyed, but failed to realise that while dry quicklime destroys, if water is added it becomes slaked lime and preserves. Yates used this fact in the plot of his novel The House That Berry Built and told the story of the trial from his viewpoint in his memoirs As Berry and I Were Saying. Dornford Yates was the pseudonym of the British novelist, Cecil William Mercer (August 7, 1885 – March 5, 1960). ... Calcium hydroxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula Ca(OH)2. ... The House That Berry Built is a humorous semi-autobiographical novel by Dornford Yates published in 1945 by Ward Lock & Co of London. ...

New evidence

In October 2007, Michigan State University forensic scientist David Foran claimed that mitochondrial DNA evidence conclusively showed that the body found beneath the cellar floor in Crippen's home was not actually Cora Crippen.^[5] This research was based on genealogical identification of three matrilineal relatives of Cora Crippen (great-nieces, tracked down by genealogist Beth Wills), whose mitochondrial DNA haplotype was compared with DNA extracted from a slide taken from the torso in Crippen's cellar. This has raised new questions about Crippen's guilt and the actual identity of the body found in the cellar. One theory is that Crippen may have been carrying out illegal abortions, and it may be that one of his patients died and he disposed of the body in the way he was accused of disposing of his wife.^[6] October 2007 is the tenth month of that year. ... Michigan State University (MSU) is a co-educational public research university in East Lansing, Michigan USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act. ... Forensics redirects here. ... Mitochondrial DNA (some captions in German) Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria. ... Genealogy (from Greek: γενεα, genea, family; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study and tracing of family pedigrees. ... A haplotype is the genetic constitution of an individual chromosome. ...

It is also possible that the DNA samples were tainted or inaccurate in some way, or that the alleged relatives were not actually related. There was strong evidence presented at the trial that seemed to prove that the body was, in fact, that of his wife.

Dr. Foran's colleague, John Trestrail, claims that it would have been unusual for a poisoner to dismember and hide the corpse because he would have wanted a death certificate certifying natural causes. Of course there are other examples of murderers who poisoned victims and then dismembered the bodies, such as Belle Gunness. Furthermore, the new DNA tests do not in any way affect the fact that the body, regardless of whether it was Crippen's wife or not, was, in fact, poisoned and dismembered. On the basis of this new evidence, Crippen's relative, Patrick Crippen, has asked for Crippen's remains to be exhumed and buried in the family plot. His lawyer is Giovanni di Stefano. ^[7] Belle Sorenson Gunness (born as Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth, November 11, 1859, Selbu, Norway- probably died circa 1931, Los Angeles, California, United States) was one of Americas most profligate known female serial killers. ...

In popular culture

Waxwork of Crippen at Madame Tussauds in London

• The 1961 Wolf Mankowitz musical Belle at the Strand Theatre in London was based on the case.
• The 1962 feature film Dr Crippen featured Donald Pleasance in the title role.
• The BBC series Shadow of the Noose, about the life of barrister Edward Marshall-Hall, included his abortive attempt to defend Crippen (played by David Hatton).
• Erik Larson's 2006 book Thunderstruck interweaved the story of the murder with the history of Marconi's invention of radio.

Tussauds redirects here. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wolf Mankowitz (born November 7, 1924 - May 20, 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. ... Aldwych was also home to the earlier Royal Strand Theatre The Novello Theatre is a West End theatre on Aldwych, in the City of Westminster. ... Donald Pleasence (October 5, 1919 - February 2, 1995) was a British actor. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... For the musician, see Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. ... Sir Edward Marshall-Hall (Brighton, 1858-1927) was an English barrister who had a formidable reputation as an orator. ... Erik Larson (born January 1, 1954) is an American author. ... For the inventor of radio, see the competing claims in history of radio and the invention of radio. ...

References

• J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, The New Murderer's Who's Who, 1996, Harrap Books, London
• The World's Most Infamous Crimes and Criminals. New York: Gallery Books, 1987. ISBN 0-8317-9677-4
• Nicholas Connell, Walter Dew; The Man Who Caught Crippen, Sutton Publishing (2005), ISBN 0-7509-3803-X
• Erik Larson, Thunderstruck. New York, Crown Publishers, 2006. ISBN 978-1-4000-8067-0

Erik Larson is an American author. ...

Footnotes

For other uses, see Guardian. ... Scientific American is a popular-science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly) since August 28, 1845, making it the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. ...

External links

• Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen: Of Passion And Poison at the Crime Library
• Dr. Crippen: One Night In Camden
• Crippen mystery remains despite DNA claim - BBC News cited 18th October 2007
• Witness statements and edited proceeding from records held at The Old BaileyRetrieved: 1 May 2008