Hawley Harvey Crippen

Usually known as Dr Crippen, Hawley Harvey Crippen, was an Englishman of American origin. He was born in Michigan, USA, in 1862 and hanged in Pentonville, England, on November 23, 1910 for murdering his wife.

Brief biography

In 1885 he became a doctor and started working for a pharmaceutical company. His second wife was Cora Turner, born Kunigunde Mackamotski to a German mother and a Polish-Russian father. She was a would-be opera singer, who went under the name of Belle Elmore. In 1900, Crippen and his spouse moved to England. Unfortunately for him, his U.S. medical qualification was insufficient to obtain a doctor's position in the UK. The couple moved to 39 Hilldrop Crescent,

where they had lodgers to compensate Crippen's rather measly income.

Murder

After a party at their home on January 31, 1910, Belle 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, had moved into Hilldrop Crescent openly wearing Belle's clothes and jewellery. The police were informed of Belle's disappearance, the house was searched but nothing was found. Crippen and le Neve fled to Antwerp, where they took the SS Montrose to Canada.

Transatlantic arrest

Their disappearance led Scotland Yard to do another search of the house, and this time they found the remains of a human body in the basement. Sir Bernard Spilsbury found traces of hyoscine, a calming drug. Mrs. Crippen had to be identified from a piece of skin from her belly, because her head, limbs and skeleton were never recovered. Crippen and le Neve fled across the Atlantic on the SS Montrose, with le Neve disguised as a boy. Unfortunately for them, the captain of the ship was keeping abreast of the news by wireless and recognised the couple. He contacted the British authorities and Crippen and le Neve were arrested as they alighted the SS Montrose on July 31, 1910.

Trial and execution

They were tried separately in Old Bailey. Dr Crippen was found guilty of murder and hanged in November. Ethel le Neve was acquitted.

Crippen's trial revealed the startlingly meticulous manner in which he had disposed of his wife. After killing her, he professionally removed her bones and limbs, which he then 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. Throughout the proceedings and at his sentencing, Crippen showed no remorse, only concern for Ethel's reputation and prospects. At his request, her photograph was placed in his coffin and buried with him.

Question of doubt

There remains considerable controversy over whether Dr Crippen had in fact murdered his wife. One theory is that it was an accidental overdose which he had covered up. In 1981 Hugh Rhys Rankin was claimed to have met Ethel le Neve in 1930 in Australia. At that occasion, she is said to have told him that Crippen murdered his wife because she had syphilis.

References

J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, The New Murderer's Who's Who, 1996, Harrap Books, London

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