page_title: Burke and Hare murders
section_title: Developments: investigation and the path to court
hierarchical_section_title: Burke and Hare murders / Developments: investigation and the path to court
caption_attribution_description: English: "Burke declares that docter Knox Never incoureged him Nither taught or incoregd him to murder any person Neither any of his assistents that worthy gentleman Mr. Fergeson was the only man that ever mentioned any thing about the bodies He inquired where we got that young woman PatersonSined William Burke prisoner"
context_page_description: The Burke and Hare murders were a series of 16 killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures.
  Edinburgh was a leading European centre of anatomical study in the early 19th century, in a time when the demand for cadavers led to a shortfall in legal supply. 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. The shortage of corpses led to an increase in body snatching by what were known as "resurrection men". Measures to ensure graves were left undisturbed—such as the use of mortsafes—exacerbated the shortage. When a lodger in Hare's house died, Hare turned to his friend Burke for advice and they decided to sell the body to Knox. They received what was, for them, the generous sum of £7 10s. A little over two months later, when Hare was concerned that a lodger suffering from fever would deter others from staying in the house, he and Burke murdered her and sold the body to Knox.
context_section_description: On 3 November 1828 a warrant was issued for the detention of Burke, Hare and their wives; Broggan was released without further action. The four suspects were kept apart and statements taken; these conflicted with the initial answers given on the day of their arrests. After Dr Alexander Black, a police surgeon, examined Docherty's body, two forensic specialists were appointed, Robert Christison and William Newbigging; they reported that it was probable the victim had been murdered by suffocation, but this could not be medically proven. On the basis of the report from the two doctors, the Burkes and Hares were charged with murder. As part of his investigation Christison interviewed Knox, who asserted that Burke and Hare had watched poor lodging houses in Edinburgh and purchased bodies before anyone claimed them for burial. Christison thought Knox was "deficient in principle and heart", but did not think he had broken the law.
  Although the police were sure murder had taken place, and that at least one of the four was guilty, they were uncertain whether they could secure a conviction. Police also suspected there had been other murders committed, but the lack of bodies hampered this line of enquiry. As news of the possibility of other murders came to the public's attention, newspapers began to publish lurid and inaccurate stories of the crimes; speculative reports led members of the public to assume that all missing people had been victims. Janet Brown went to the police and identified her friend Mary Paterson's clothing, while a local baker informed them that Jamie Wilson's trousers were being worn by Constantine Burke's son. On 19 November a warrant for the murder of Jamie Wilson was made against the four suspects.
  Sir William Rae, the Lord Advocate, followed a regular technique: he focused on one individual to extract a confession on which the others could be convicted. Hare was chosen and, on 1 December, he was offered immunity from prosecution if he turned king's evidence and provided the full details of the murder of Docherty and any other; because he could not be brought to testify against his wife, she was also exempt from prosecution. Hare made a full confession of all the deaths and Rae decided sufficient evidence existed to secure a prosecution. On 4 December formal charges were laid against Burke and McDougal for the murders of Mary Paterson, James Wilson and Mrs Docherty.
  Knox faced no charges for the murders because Burke's statement to the police exonerated the surgeon. Public awareness of the news grew as newspapers and broadsides began releasing further details. Opinion was against the doctor and, according to Bailey, many in Edinburgh thought he was "a sinister ringmaster who got Burke and Hare dancing to his tune". Several broadsides were published with editorials stating that he should have been in the dock alongside the murderers, which influenced public opinion. A new word was coined from the murders: burking, to smother a victim or to commit an anatomy murder, and a rhyme began circulating around the streets of Edinburgh:
  Up the close and doon the stair,
  
  But and ben' wi' Burke and Hare.
  
  Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief,
  
  Knox the boy that buys the beef.
  — 19th century Edinburgh rhyme
caption: Statement by Burke in January 1829 to the Edinburgh Courant, "docter Knox Never incoureged him Nither taught or incoregd him to murder any person" [sic][99]
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