Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen was born in America and moved to England in 1900 with his wife Cora. He set up a homeopathic medical practice in London and his wife pursued her musical career.
Dr. Crippen’s Wife an Unpleasant Person
Born Kunigunde Mackamotski, Cora Crippen preferred to be known by her stage name, Belle Elmore. According to a Crippen family genealogy website, Belle Elmore had a mean streak and a disagreeable temperament. Although a woman of a robust build her singing talent was of a lesser size. She openly entertained gentleman callers when her husband was at work, and Dr. Crippen, in turn, sought comfort in the arms of his lover Edith Le Neve.
Mrs. Crippen Disappears
The Crime and Investigation Network in the United Kingdom provides complete details about Dr. Crippen. After a house party on January 31, 1910, Cora disappeared. Her husband said she had returned to the United States, but suspicions were raised when Edith Le Neve moved in with Crippen.
The police interviewed Hawley Crippen and searched his house and left, apparently satisfied that no crime had been committed. However, Crippen and Le Neve were so unnerved by the visit that they took flight, boarding the SS Montrose, which was bound for Canada. This set off a great hue and cry.
Famous Use of Wireless Telegraph
The Times retold the story of the doctor's capture on October 17, 2007: “The captain (of the Montrose) had recognized the doctor from newspapers and had become suspicious of Le Neve, who had disguised herself as a boy, and he famously used the newly-invented wireless telegraph to alert the British police.”
The chase was on. Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard boarded a faster ship and set off to capture the fugitives when they reached Canada. The pursuit was covered breathlessly by the world's press.
Crippen was arrested and brought back to England. A mutilated body had been found under the cellar of Dr. Crippen’s home.
Sensational Trial of Dr. Crippen
On October 10, 1910, Dr. Crippen’s trial opened in London’s Old Bailey Central Criminal Court. (A dramatized audiobook of “The Trial of Dr. Crippen” has been published).
There was a heavy weight of evidence against him; he had bought poison in January 1910, he had pawned some of his wife’s jewelry, expert witnesses said the body had been professionally dissected, and the doctor had run away. Interestingly though, the pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury was unable to say whether the corpse was that of a male or a female.
Hawley Crippen maintained his innocence throughout the five-day trial, but it took the jury only 27 minutes to find him guilty of murder. He was sentenced to be executed by hanging and met his fate a month later in Pentonville Prison.
New Evidence May Exonerate Crippen
On June 7, 2009, The Observer reported that, “The case of one of the most notorious murderers in British history, Hawley Crippen, is to be referred to the Court of Appeal, where the infamous doctor may secure a posthumous pardon 99 years after he was hanged.”
An examination of tissue from the body found in Crippen’s cellar has been compared with the DNA of Belle Elmore’s relatives. The samples don’t match.
Lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano is acting for the Crippen family, which is trying to clear the doctor’s name. He told The Observer, “We have been told categorically that the case is being referred and we are now just waiting for the paperwork. The body was a man and so the pardon is deserved.”
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