On this day in 1910, a jury convicted Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen (September 11, 1862 - November 23, 1910) of murdering his wife. A month later, he was hanged, still maintaining his innocence. Now, new DNA evidence casts doubt on his guilt. Was another innocent man executed by a blood thirsty justice system?
According to history, Michigan-born American Crippen brought his second wife Cora Turner (aka Belle Elmore) to London. She pursued a career as an opera singer and had numerous indiscrete affairs. One day Belle disappeared and Crippen the cuckold said she had returned to America and died. Afterwards, Crippen took up with a lover, Ethel le Neve, and moved her into his home. She wore the ex-wife's clothes and jewelry which caused suspicion. Eventually, the police investigated. Crippen and Ethel ran for it. They took a ship to Canada. Meanwhile, the police found a female corpse under Crippen's brick basement. Using wireless radio, the authorites contacted the ship captain and confirmed that Crippen and Ethel were on board. The police took a faster boat and met Crippen and Ethel when their ship landed in Quebec. (Crippen has gone down in history as the first fugitive criminal to be captured with the assistance of wireless radio communication.) Despite his pleas of innocence and his confession that Belle took off with a lover, Crippen was found guilty and hanged.
In October 2007, Michigan State University forensic scientists, using mitochondrial DNA studies, found that the body discovered under Crippen's basement was not his wife. Was an innocent man hanged by the government or did Crippen successfully dispose of Belle's corpse? Who was the woman under the bricks and did Crippen put her there? If Belle was not killed, what happened to her? Why did she let innocent Crippen be executed? Who owned the house prior to Crippen? Are the rumors that Crippen was an abortionist true? Could Crippen have been a serial killer and this corpse was the only victim found? Was Crippen innocent? All we now know for sure is that the woman under the bricks was not Belle and that Crippen's conviction and execution were wrong. Is this yet another death penalty travesty? This is yet another reason the death penalty is suspect. You can't reverse death, even if you made a boo-boo. There are no makeovers in real life. You can't fix it in post.
Hawley Harvey Crippen - wiki
Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen: Of Passion and Poison by Joseph Geringer - Crime Library
Dr. Crippen - Marconi Calling
Science Casts Doubt on Famous British Murder Case - Physorg
Crippen Mystery Remains Despite DNA Claim - BBC
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