In 1910, an American doctor named Hawley Crippen was convicted in England of poisoning and dismembering his wife. The vicious murder—and execution that followed—made international headlines. It was a landmark case: The first trial by media, and the first to be dominated by forensic science. But did the prosecutors get it right? Almost one hundred years later, investigators have re-opened the files on a murder that became known as one of the crimes of the century.
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I first would like to say that I have always been a huge fan of pbs and the breathtaking shows that they present because they mainly make you think not only outside of the box but also with your heart, soul,and mind.
I am a sort of amature sleuth that has always been interested in history and unsolved cold cases. In the case of Dr. Crippen I have come to the conclusion that he was somewhat set up by Scotland yard just as in the case of O.J. Simpson the detective that was involved was also involved in another case that made him look bad (jack the Ripper) this case sort of made him save face and made him look like he was a competent lawman but after a 100 years it only makes him look like a lier and less competent.
I do agree that with the Dr. leaving and having an affair, that did make him look guilty but I also belive that he was scared of the outcome. when his wife left him I belive that she had this set up from the door and inteded for him todie just not by her hand but by the hand of government. I belive that scotland yard and the powers that be owe him and his family a major appology
How tragic that an obviously mild mannered and decent gentleman like Hawley Crippen put up with a a bitchy, self-centered, full-of-herself shrew like Belle Ellmore! Personally I think a lot of things don’t add up. The evidence, especially the scrap of clothing and the hair in a curler could have easily been planted by the police or by Belle herself. Because of the propriety and morals of 1910 a lot about the relationships of all involved was obviously not said. Obviously Crippen was an intelligent man, then why would someone of his intelligence botch a murder so blantantly! The DNA evidence is fascinating! Why wasn’t Crippen’s own hypothesis that the crime was committed before he moved in investigated further! Who lived in his rented house before he did and who were the owners? This case is full of glaring holes! The detective could have easily wanted to build his reputation for his botched attempt and battered reputation over the Jack-the-Ripper case and he indeed did benefit as well as the others in the prosecution. Juries are easily swayed, which is one of the reasons I don’t believe in jury trials. Belle Ellmore could have easily left without a trace and could well have not contacted her friends due to her own shame. Her showbiz connections obviously got this case much more publiciity than it ordinarily would have garnered. I hope this case is re-opened!!!
Great Britain has always been quick to execute without much concrete evidence
Thank you for making your article easy to read and grasp. I respect all the work you did here and I’m glad I read this.
The old clip of black and white film that starts at 02:23 and then ends at 02:31 is said to be of London.
It is Liverpool, it shows Saint Georges hall and the corner of Lime street home of Liverpool’s main railway station
Mistakes are easily made in every walk of life.
This video is such b.s. and very poorly researched. Crippen was guilty as sin! I’ve read books about it- Try reading Thunderstruck by Erik Larson.
Crippen purchased a very rare, easily detectable poison, hydrocosine which he signed the register at the pharmacy for, and was detected IN the body which was found in the basement along with the pyjamas belonging to him, AND the hair which belonged to his wife and was dyed the exact same way she wore her hair. And they didn’t even suspect him fully until he decideded to flee the country KNOWING FULL WELL THERE WAS A BODY IN HIS CELLAR. The police didn’t even check the cellar till he fled. Talk about giving yourself up through panic. And Belle Elmore (or Cora Crippen) would never, ever, ever, have left her favorite jewerlry and clothes behind. She was a vain woman, and her jewelery was worth about over $500,000 today. Tell yourself, if you were in her position and were leaving your husband, would you leave every possesion of material value for his mistress to just put on immediately afterward? Hell no. She was all about the bling. She filed paperwork 2 weeks earlier to try and withdraw money from their joint back account because she planned to divorce him- which was exactly when Crippen purchased the poison. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT PBS. Crippen was a cold blooded murderer, and his relatives just can’t deal with the truth so they hired some researchers to find someone to pretend to be Cora’s “long lost relatives” and pretend the DNA doesn’t match. Jesus. This is a really bad conspiracy theory show and I expect more from you. BTW, as of 2011, the UK has denied all efforts to clear Crippen’s name or exhume his body, and rightly so. Man was guilty. Just because he was a “kindly murderer” and Cora was annoying, doesn’t justify the fact that he administered poison to his wife and then panicked when things didn’t go as planned.
As for the DNA supposedly being “male..” well, I hate to break it to you, but there are ladies out there today who are born with both male and female parts. It’s rare, but it happens, and it happened back then. It was well known at the time that Belle (Cora) had had an operation in the area where her uterus would have been because something had gone majorly wrong. It’s possible she had undescended testicles like happens in, well, people with both types of sexual organs. She may have been passing as female her entire life. That’s what people like that had to do back in Victorian times- they couldn’t very well say, “I’m a he/she.” They went AS FEMALE and they got married. And that would also explain why Cora never bore a child. You don’t have the ovaries, you can’t have babies. Period. And your DNA shows up male even though you married Dr. Crippen.
Perhaps the male remains found in Dr. Crippin’s coal cellar are the remains of his mistresse’s aborted fetus?
It seems to me that Dr. Crippen could still have been the murderer… while the evidence found in the cellar could likely have been planted by the police or investigators after they did not find evidence in their initial searches, Dr. Crippen still had motives to kill his wife, and he did act very suspiciously before his capture. He had the means and knowledge to kill his wife, and could have disposed of the complete body in a way that was never discovered. Had the jury known that evidence was planted [if indeed that was the case], it likely would have led to Dr. Crippen’s acquittal, but that would not have proved his complete innocence. With his real motives for murder [the affair, the poor marriage, his wife trying to take the contents of their bank account and possessions, possible divorce and loss of money] and his access to the means of murder [poisons, knowledge of medicine, etc.] I could easily see a situation of Dr. Crippen’s guilt as well as police corruption in the planting of ‘evidence’ in order to seal a case they could not prove otherwise. It seems very odd that this scenario was not considered in the program… but then, it also seems the researcher for the program was more interested in proving his own theory instead of exploring all options and leaving scenarios that were possible but not provable. This oversight combined with the unconvincing theory of the wife’s later existence after Dr. Crippen’s execution creates significant suspicion of the researcher’s theory in the program. This approach perhaps creates interesting television, but indicates poor research methodology. I expect better from a PBS program.
After the police began questioning him, Dr. Crippen fled England as fast as he could with his mistress dressed as a boy. His wife, Cora Crippen, disappeared suddenly, and his explanation that she got sick and died, makes him look even more guilty. I want the other remains that Scotland Yard to be tested as well, but, Dr. Crippen’s actions make me think he was guilty. I am not convinced he was innocent, because, he acted like a guilty person. Innocent people usally do not try and run away to another country in disguise, and his letters as to what happened to his wife prove that he would lie, if he thought he could get away with it. I like Hester’s explanation that Cora Crippen would Not have left her clothes and Jewelery behind, If she had left of her own free will.
What kind of woman would leave her husband without taking her most-prized possessions, especially a vain woman like Cora Crippen??? It makes no sense. Also, given the importance today of chain of custody of evidence, I find the forensic analysis in this program completely suspect and unpersuasive. There is nothing here to make me question Crippen’s guilt. I am against the death penalty here in the United States, so I am always receptive to stories about wrongly convicted men who are executed despite their innocence. This is not such a case.
Isn’t England the same place that even executed children for things such as theft up until the 19th century?
Certainly a spellbinding short film, masterfully composed, with numerous fascinating angles, and various unanswered questions. One proven fact is that the police withheld critical information from the defense. Also, the supposed discovery by the police of unidentifiable partial remains buried together with the pajama top of the accused almost surely indicates planted evidence — the body parts could have come from any corpse the police had in the morgue — resulting in a possible victimless murder conviction. Of course, the missing wife is a puzzle, but if she were intentionally hiding to allow her husband’s execution, she could never again come forward, and would have used pseudonyms to prevent being traced in census or passenger lists, and would have disguised her appearance when out in public. Let’s see if additional new evidence will be forthcoming now that the red flags are up. And why can’t Dr. Crippen be reinterred in the family cemetery plot in Michigan regardless of our conjecture about his guilt or innocence?
To me it sounds more like Cora and her lover had gotten some of his [Cora's lovers] flesh from his stomach area or someone else [possibly from a dead body at the morgue] and planted the flesh in the house, because she hated her husband that much and wanted to have him killed.
On the off chance that it may have been planted by the detectives then a look must be looked at the detectives to see what other cases they might have planted or tampered with evidence? Was evidence tampering common in England at the time? And if I was one of the Crippen family members that remain now, personally I would sue for the wrongful conviction and execution (if there was evidence tampering).
On the questioned of a botched abortion, maybe it could have been the remains of an aborted fetus [male baby], but this I highly doubt.
There are so many murderers that get off with a lot more evidence in these days. He should not have been convicted.
It was so creepy and shocking. Goodness this makes me think if I’m going to buy a car not just twice but more than 10 times =( Or maybe those people just don’t know how to follow rules? But some of them are just plain accident. So we never really know. And by the way I stumble this good for share. Thanks ^_^
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Great blog and podcast show! Psychology is so important to success. So many of us just self-sabotage. The only real obstacles we have in life are the internal ones, not the external ones. When you overcome the internal obstacles, results just flow.
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THIS IS SOME BULLSHIT HE DIDNT DO SHIT N TO FORGET IT . . . HELL NAW HE WAS S UP N FOR PEOPLE TODAY THATS STILL DOIN THE DUM SHIT RIP MR.CRIPPEN
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