GET YOUR CONFERENCE TICKETS!
MATTHEW CONIAM
It was an 'open and shut' case. Hawley Harvey Crippen, an American quack doctor, had murdered his wife, the music hall performer Belle Elmore, and buried parts of her body in the coal cellar of their North London home.
But by the time the remains were discovered he had fled the country with his mistress disguised as his son. After a thrilling chase across the ocean he was caught, returned to England, tried and hanged, remembered forever after as the quintessential domestic murderer.
But if it was as straightforward as the prosecution alleged, why did he leave only some of the body in his house, when he had successfully disposed of the head, limbs and bones elsewhere? Why did he stick so doggedly to a plea of complete innocence, when he might have made a sympathetic case for manslaughter? Why did he make no effort to cover his tracks if he really had been planning a murder?
These and other questions remained tantalising mysteries for almost a century, until new DNA tests conducted in America exploded everything we thought we knew for sure about the story.
Matthew Coniam considers the implications for our understanding of the case, and where the real truth might lie.
Matthew Coniam is an author, lecturer and podcaster who has written seven books on subjects ranging from the Marx Brothers to Jane Austen and Egyptology. His book Mr Crippen, published by Pen & Sword in 2021, is now in paperback. He is preparing a study of the Lord Lucan mystery for publication in 2026.
Sorry, one or more products are out of stock. Your shopping cart has been updated.
Your cart is empty
This website uses cookies. These are small files that help us understand how you’re using our services so we can make your experience even better. You can find out more about these cookies and control how they are used by clicking "Cookie Settings". You can also check our cookie policy.
Some cookies are needed for the website to work. Others are optional performance cookies that help us understand how our users interact with the website. By accepting the use of these cookies, you help us offer you a better website. For more information about cookies used on this website, see our cookie policy.
These count website visits and can see where visitors come from, so we can improve the performance of our site. The cookies tell us which pages are the most and least popular and show us how people move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated, therefore anonymous. If you don’t allow these cookies, we won’t be able to understand how the website is performing.