Burke and Hare

 Burke and Hare are often called grave robbers. In reality, they did not rob graves. Instead, they murdered people and then sold the victims’ bodies to surgeons for dissection. Today, many people donate their bodies to science but in the early 19th century, attitudes were very different. Most people were horrified by the idea of being cut up after they were dead. As a result, surgeons found it hard to find bodies to dissect in lectures. So some were willing to pay large amounts of money for dead bodies, without asking too many questions. Burke and Hare are believed to have murdered 16 people. 

William Burke was born in Ireland around 1792, and it’s believed he came to Scotland to work as a navvy on the canals. He eventually settled in Edinburgh, where he worked as a cobbler, repairing shoes. It’s not certain when William Hare was born. He was probably from Ireland. At any rate, by 1827, he owned a lodging house in Edinburgh and he had befriended William Burke. 

The murders began in stages. In November 1827, a boarder known as Old Donald died in Hare’s lodging house. He died owing £4 (a considerable sum of money in those days). Hare told Burke and they decided to sell the body to anatomists to recoup the money. They told the authorities that Old Donald was dead. A carpenter made a coffin for him. Burke and Hare filled it with bark (normally used for tanning). They sold the body to a surgeon, Dr Robert Knox, for £7 and 10 shillings (there were 20 shillings in a pound). So they made a handsome profit from his death.

The next step was to murder a man who was ill but still alive. A tenant called Joseph, a miller, fell ill with an infectious disease. That would drive away other tenants from the lodging house. The two men gave Joseph whisky, then suffocated him.

This time, Burke and Hare sold the body for £10. Suffocating him meant there were no marks on the body. When the body was dissected, it would not be obvious that the person had been murdered.

Burke and Hare began regularly killing people and selling the victims’ bodies. It’s not certain in what order they killed the victims, but the third victim was probably a woman named Abigail Simpson. In February 1828, she was lured to the lodging house and given whisky. She was then suffocated. Once again, they sold the body for £10. Over the next months, Burke and Hare continued luring people to the lodging house, giving them whisky, then suffocating them, and then selling the bodies. 

One of the victims was a mentally disabled man, James Wilson. He was called ‘Daft Jamie’. He was well known in Edinburgh. He was often seen begging. The unfortunate man was lured to the lodging house, where he was given whisky and suffocated. They sold the body, as usual, but this time several medical students recognised the dead person. Local people also noticed James was missing. Dr Knox likely suspected the truth because he ordered the immediate dissection of James’ body. Like so many other murderers, Burke and Hare became overconfident and started being careless.

The last victim was an Irishwoman named Margaret Docherty. She was murdered on 31 October 1828. Burke and Hare befriended her. She was invited to stay at the lodging house. Two other lodgers, James and Ann Gray, were told they must move out to make room for her. Margaret Docherty was suffocated in the usual way and her body was hidden under some straw. The Grays returned the next day to collect their belongings. They were left alone in the house and they looked under the straw, discovering the dead body. 

The Grays immediately alerted the authorities but while they were away, Burke and Hare removed the body and took it to be dissected. 

On 3 November, Burke and Hare were arrested. But the authorities were not sure if they could secure convictions.

So Hare was offered immunity from prosecution if he turned King’s evidence, that is if he testified against Burke. On 25 December 1828, William Burke was found guilty of murder and he was sentenced to death. 

He was hanged in public in Edinburgh on 28 January 1829. Burke’s body was publicly dissected, as his victims' bodies were. His skeleton was given to the Anatomical Museum of the Edinburgh Medical School. 

William Hare moved to England. What happened to him after that is not known. No action was taken against the surgeon, Dr Robert Knox.

The dreadful crimes were remembered in a rhyme:

‘Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief, Knox the boy that buys the beef’

Dr Marcel Petiot

 Dr Marcel Petiot was a French doctor who killed 27 people. Petiot was born on 17 January 1897. Like many murderers Petiot had a history of petty crime before he started killing people. At the age of 17 he robbed a post box. In 1916 he was conscripted into the French army. However Petiot showed many signs of mental illness. In July 1919 he was discharged from the army with a disability pension. 

Despite that he was able to study medicine under an accelerated education programme for war veterans. and he qualified as a doctor in 1921. Petiot practiced medicine in Villeneuve.

Marcel Petiot became mayor of Villeneuve in 1926. In 1927 he married and they had a son the next year. Following many accusations of stealing he was suspended as mayor in 1931. He later resigned and in 1933 he moved to Paris. He purchased a building in Rue Lesueur. 

In 1940 the Germans conquered France. The German army occupied northern France, including Paris. From November 1942 they occupied the whole country. Dr Petiot thought of an ingenious way to make money. Many rich people were desperate to escape from occupied France. Dr Petiot offered to arrange to smuggle them out of France to South America in return for a large sum of money. 

He told them they would need a vaccination against malaria or some other infectious disease. He told them that, as a doctor he could give them the vaccination himself.

When the victim arrived at his surgery Petiot told them he would give them the required vaccination. Instead he injected them with cyanide. When the victim was dead Petiot would dispose of the body with quicklime or he burned them in a stove. 

Dr Petiot killed people during 1942 and the early months of 1943. In May 1943 Petiot was arrested by the Gestapo and held on suspicion of helping people to escape from France. However he was released in December 1943. Why they released him is not certain but Dr Petiot soon returned to killing people. 

Hic crimes came to light On 11 March 1944. Black smoke was pouring from a chimney of a house in Rue Lesuer. A neighbour called the police. The police phoned Dr Petiot who promised to come to the building. Thinking a chimney must be on fire the police called the fire brigade. Firemen who entered the building discovered human remains burning in a stove. When Dr Petiot arrived he informed the police that the dead bodies were those of traitors. The police allowed him to go. Petiot promptly disappeared. 

Dr Petiot was arrested on 31 October 1944. He claimed he was a member of the resistance and that all the people he killed were collaborators. 

However the police could find no evidence that he had ever been part of the resistance. Dr Petiot went on trial on 19 March 1946. On 4 April he was convicted of 26 murders. 

(He was acquitted of one of the murders he was charged with though it is very likely he was guilty). Marcel Petiot was guillotined on 26 May 1946. 

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