The family of 20th Century killer Dr Crippen – who gained a reputation as one of the most notorious murderers in British history – want his body to be returned to the United States where he was born.
Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen murdered his opera singer wife Cora in their home in London in July 1910, and then told everyone she had gone to America before fleeing Britain with his mistress Ethel Le Neve.
Now, nearly 110 years after he was hanged for the killing, Dr Crippen’s family want his body to be exhumed from the grounds of Pentonville Prison in Islington, north London and returned to Dayton, Ohio in the US.
Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen (pictured) murdered his opera singer wife Cora in their home in London in July 1910, and then told everyone she had gone to America before fleeing Britain with his mistress
Mild-mannered Dr Crippen was found guilty of poisoning and dismembering his wife – before burying her mutilated body under his basement floor (pictured, Dr Crippen and his mistress Ethel Le Neve on trial in London in 1910)
A wanted poster for information leading to the apprehension of Dr. Crippen. He was wanted for the murder of his wife Cora. Crippen was eventually caught and hanged
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister and seen by The Daily Telegraph, a descendant of Dr Crippen, retired marketing executive Patrick Crippen, writes that his ancestor is innocent and that he wants the body buried in the family plot.
He asks Mr Johnson and justice secretary Robert Buckland QC for the incoming British government to take a new look at the case.
Mr Crippen writes: ‘My request is for the exhumation of Hawley’s body for reburial in Coldwater, Michigan, United States, where he was born. The cemetery has a “Crippen” section with three available grave spots.
‘Now, as his cousin, I would like to request exhumation of his remains for reburial. Our Crippen families would like to bury him with his relatives in his birth city. It will be more fitting for us as family.’
The Ministry of Justice said the request had been received and would be examined ‘in due course’.
A disguised Dr Crippen (second from right) is escorted off a ship after his arrest for the murder of his wife. Mild-mannered Dr Crippen had poisoned and dismembered his wife, stage actress Belle Elmore, before burying her mutilated body under his basement floor. Dr Crippen immediately moved his lover Ethel into the couple’s home in Holloway, North London
Mild-mannered Dr Crippen was found guilty of poisoning and dismembering his wife – before burying her mutilated body under his basement floor.
Dr Crippen immediately moved his lover Ethel into the couple’s home in Holloway, North London. When Cora’s friends alerted the police about his wife’s disappearance, Dr Crippen and Ethel fled to Canada disguised as father and son on the SS Montrose. The gruesome crime gripped Britain and a huge manhunt ensued.
Wanted posters famously helped catch the illicit couple when the ship’s captain noticed Dr Crippen and Ethel and alerted the police using the newly invented wireless telegraph.
Crippen was convicted and hanged for his wife’s murder at Pentonville Prison in London in November of that year.
The American was put to death after a trial at the Old Bailey which captivated the Edwardian public at the time.
Two of Dr Harvey Hawley Crippen’s prescription books containing a list of posions which were used as evidence to send him to the gallows were unearthed in 2014.
The gruesome crime gripped Britain and a huge manhunt ensued. Crippen was convicted and hanged for the murder of his wife, stage actress Cora aka Belle Elmore (pictured), at Pentonville Prison in London in November 1910
His ledgers mainly contain worthless ‘quack’ remedies which were promoted by the notorious conman James Munyon, but they also feature prescriptions and poisons.
Crippen made a fortune peddling potions – which were usually nothing more than sugar and alcohol – to a gullible public towards the end of the 19th century.
He became Mr Munyon’s first London manager until he was sacked in 1899 – 11 years before he was hanged – for spending too much time managing his wife’s stage career.
Crippen went on trial in October 1910 and was found guilty by a jury after just 27 minutes of deliberation. He was hanged at Pentonville Prison, London, on November 23, 1910.
Police found the remains of Crippen’s wife’s body buried under the brick floor of the basement of their London home after searching it for the fourth time.
Large quantities of the toxic compound hyoscine were found in her remains and the court heard Crippen had bought the drug before the murder from a local chemist.
Le Neve was acquitted of being an accessory to murder and emigrated to the U.S on the morning of Crippen’s execution.