The Burke and Hare murders involved 16 killings committed over a period of ten months. This occurred in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland, by William Burke and William Hare. They sold corpses to Robert Knox, a lecturer on anatomy in Edinburgh, the corpses were used for dissection at his anatomy lectures.
Edinburgh was a leading European centre of anatomical study at the time, the demand for cadavers led to illegal supply. 1828 Scottish law required that corpses used for medical research should only come from those who had died in prison, suicide victims, or from foundlings and orphans. This came from the Judgement of Death Act in 1823.
Burke and Hare were from the north of Ireland; they moved to Scotland to work on the Union Canal. Burke abandoned his wife and his two children in the process. Burke and Hare quickly became friends and they started to provide bodies for medical school in 1827. one of their tenants, Old Donald died (reports say from natural causes), they then met Professor Robert Knox. He offered them 7 pounds for the body, this is when they realised that quick money could be made.
A little while later another tenant became ill, his name was joseph. Burke and Hare became impatient waiting for him to die, so they “helped him along”. This was achieved through whiskey and suffocation; this would be how they would kill their victims. This method for murder would also be known as “Burking”, it was a preferred method as it didn’t leave much evidence or marks.
After joseph, not many tenants would be fatally ill, this is when they decided to kill individuals from the poorer communities. Two prostitutes went to Burke and Hares boarding house, Janet Brown and Mary Patterson. Janet
had left earlier on in the evening, returning to find her friend missing, Mary was in fact dead.
Burke and Hare became greedy, they ended up using painkillers and breaking a back of a child and murdering a woman called Ann McDougal. Their greed led to them being found out, Professor Robert Knox’s students noticed evidence of murder on the bodies. Distrust has started to come to light, distrust was the main reason for the quarrels.
On Halloween 1828, Burke and Hare’s last victim, Marjory Campbell Docherty, was invited to stay. Another couple known as the greys, became increasingly suspicious, they discovered Marjory’s dead body hidden under the bed. They were bribed £10 (2020 = £1,095.48) per week to keep quiet, they declined and informed the police.
Hare was offered immunity in return for testifying against Burke and Helen, which he took no hesitation in doing.
Burke and Hare as well as their partners, Helen and Margaret were arrested. The trail began on Christmas eve (24th Dec) 1928, Burke and Helen were both charged with
murder; however Helen’s involvement couldn’t be proven so she was released. William Burke was hanged, on 28th January 1829, in an ironic turn event, burkes body was donated to medical science.
Aftermath.
Since burke took the fall for hare, Helen and Margaret. They were all free to walk, plenty of rumours surrounding them, it was suggested that Hare became a blind beggar after being attacked by a mob. Helen allegedly emigrated to Australia and Margaret to Ireland.
Professor Robert Knox was cleared of all involvement; however, his reputation was in ruins, he made plenty attempts to re-build his reputation. He continued to practice as anatomist in Edinburgh. It’s said that generally a blind eye was turned, Robert probably also benefited from the fresh bodies as well as Burke and Hare.
Copycats:
The London Burkers (John Bishop, Thomas Williams, Michael Shields, and James May) copied the actions of Burke and Hare. The two men were hanged in December 1831 for the crime.
Further information:
https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/burke-and-hare
Solved Crimes. 