The Worlds of Burke and Hare But and ben wiï¿½ Burke and Hare. Burkeï¿½s the butcher, Hareï¿½s the thief, And Knox the boy who buys the beef. The Horrid and True Story of Burke and Hare On Monday, November 3, 1828, Edinburgh awoke to the horrifying news that the most atrocious murders of the decade -- of the century -- had been committed in the West Port district of the Old Town. William Burke and William Hare, together with Helen M'Dougal and Margaret Hare, were accused of killing 16 people over the course of 12 months, in order to sell their cadavers as "subjects" for dissection. Their purchaser was Dr. Robert Knox, a well-regarded anatomical lecturer with a flourishing dissecting establishment in Surgeon's Square. The ensuing criminal investigation and trial raised troubling questions about the common practices by which medical men obtained cadavers, about the lives of the poor in Edinburgh's back alleys, about the ability of the police to protect the public from deliberate, unprovoked murder for gain.

The murders were discovered when two of Burke's lodgers, Ann and James Gray, grew suspicious about the unexpected disappearance of a visitor, Madgy Docherty, whom they had met in Burke's house the night before. They found her dead body under the bed and went for the police. Burke, M'Dougal, and William and Margaret Hare were arrested for Docherty's murder. William and Margaret Hare turned King's witnesses, that is, witnesses for the prosecution, in return for immunity. Burke and M'Dougal were tried for murder on December 24, 1828. M'Dougal was acquitted with the distinctively Scots verdict, Not Proven. Burke was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed on January 28, 1829. His body was dissected and publicly exhibited. Their preferred method of murder, suffocation by leaning on and compressing the chest, has been known ever since as "burking." The story of Burke and Hare has made its way into popular culture through Edinburgh's Blackwood's Magazine, through Robert Louis Stevenson, and through Gil Grissom of CSI.

Popular movie versions include Robert Wise's The Body Snatcher, with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, Freddie Francis's The Doctor and the Devils, with Timothy Dalton and Jonathan Pryce, and John Landis's Burke and Hare, with Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis. Click on thumbnails to view slideshow. Trial of William Burke, 1829 | Wellcome Collection - Wellcome Trust Trial of William Burke, 1829 Article This page requires JavaScript The murders committed by William Burke and William Hare in the West Port district of Edinburgh in 1828 have become part of the city’s popular history. The two men worked together, with the assistance of Helen M’Dougal and Margaret Hare, to commit 16 murders in order to sell the bodies to the medical profession. The case has not only made its mark on the popular consciousness, but has also had an effect on the law: it was partly in response to these murders that the Anatomy Act of 1832 was passed to increase the legal supply of cadavers for medical dissection.

Burke and Hare were both Irish immigrants in Scotland employed variously as labourers, weavers, bakers, cobblers and workmen on the canal. The first body the pair sold was that of an old army pensioner who had died of natural causes in their lodging house. After the success of this first venture, Burke and Hare began tracking down, murdering and profiting from isolated travellers and beggars whose disappearance would not arouse suspicion. Almost all of the murders were carried out using a method that has now become known as ‘burking’, in which the victim is suffocated while pressure is applied to their chest. Over the course of a year the pair claimed 16 lives and were only caught when two fellow lodgers, Ann and James Grey, noticed the mysterious disappearance of a woman in the house. They searched the premises, found her body under a bed and immediately notified the police. The bodies were all sold to the eminent professor Dr Robert Knox, who put the bodies to use in his lectures at Edinburgh University. Throughout the trial Burke defended Knox, stating that the doctor had no knowledge of the origin of the bodies.

Knox was not prosecuted and was never called as a witness during the trial, although David Paterson, the keeper of Knox’s museum, was questioned in court and asked to provide evidence. Despite the scale of Burke and Hare’s villainous project, evidence for their guilt was scant. In order to guarantee a conviction, the Crown offered Hare a pardon in return for evidence against his partner in crime. Hare accepted the exchange and Burke was the only one to be put on trial, ultimately being found guilty. Burke was hanged on 28 January 1829 and, in a somewhat fitting reversal, his body was dissected and publicly exhibited. Visitor Information Burke and Hare murders - Serial Killers Profiles and News - Criminal Motives Serial Killers Profiles and News “William Burke” redirects here. For the American physicist, see William L. Burke. William Burke and William Hare Hare and Burke 28 January 1829 (aged 37) (Burke) Killings Country: Scotland The Burke and Hare murders (also known as the West Port murders) were serial murders perpetrated in Edinburgh, Scotland, from November 1827 to 31 October 1828.

The killings were attributed to Irish immigrants William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses of their 17 victims to provide material for dissection. Their purchaser was Doctor Robert Knox, a private anatomy lecturer whose students were drawn from Edinburgh Medical College. Their accomplices included Burke’s mistress, Helen M’Dougal, and Hare’s wife, Margaret Laird. [1] From their infamous method of killing their victims has come the word “burking”, meaning to purposefully smother and compress the chest of a victim. [2] Contents Historical background Main article: History of anatomy in the 19th century Before 1832, there were insufficient cadavers legitimately available for the study and teaching of anatomy in British medical schools. The University of Edinburgh was an institution universally renowned for medical sciences. As medical science began to flourish in the early 19th century, demand rose sharply, but at the same time, the only legal supply of cadavers—the bodies of executed criminals—had fallen due to a sharp reduction in the execution rate in the early 19th century, brought about by the repeal of the Bloody Code.

Only about 2 or 3 corpses per year were available for a large number of students, as compared with the 18th century. This situation attracted criminal elements who were willing to obtain specimens by any means. The activities of body-snatchers (also called resurrectionists) gave rise to particular public fear and revulsion. Burke and Hare Burke (1792 – 28 January 1829) was born in Urney, near Strabane, in the very west of County Tyrone, part of the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland. After trying his hand at a variety of trades and serving as an officer’s servant in the Donegal Militia, he left his wife and two children in Ireland and emigrated to Scotland about 1817, working as a navvy for the Union Canal. There he met Helen M’Dougal. Burke afterwards worked as a labourer, weaver, baker and a cobbler. Hare’s (born 1792 or 1804) birthplace is variously given as Newry or Derry, both of which are also in the Province of Ulster in Ireland.

Like Burke, he emigrated to Scotland and worked as a Union Canal labourer. He then moved to Edinburgh, where he met a man named Logue, who ran a lodging-house in the West Port. When Logue died in 1826, Hare married Margaret Laird, Logue’s widow. Margaret Hare continued to run the lodging house, and Hare worked on the canal. Murders Robert Knox c.1830 In late 1827, Burke and M’Dougal moved into Tanner’s Close, in the West Port area of Edinburgh, where Margaret Hare kept a lodging-house. Burke had met Margaret on previous trips to Edinburgh, but it is not known whether he was previously acquainted with Hare. Once Burke arrived in Tanner’s Corner, they became good friends. [3] According to Hare’s later testimony, the first body they sold was that of a tenant who had died of natural causes, an old army pensioner who owed Hare £4 rent. Instead of burying the body, they filled the coffin with bark and brought the cadaver to Edinburgh University, looking for a purchaser. According to Burke’s later testimony, a student directed them to Surgeon’s Square Dr.

Robert Knox, an ambitious Edinburgh anatomist. They sold the body for £7 10 shillings. [4] Burke and Hare’s next victim was a sick tenant, Joseph the Miller, whom they plied with whisky and then suffocated. When there were no other sickly tenants, they decided to lure a victim from the street. In February 1828, they invited pensioner Abigail Simpson to spend the night before her return to home. Using the same modus operandi, they served Simpson alcohol with the intention of intoxicating her, and then smothered her. They were paid £10. [4] Hare’s wife, Margaret, invited a woman to the inn, plied her with drink, and then sent for her husband. Next, Burke encountered two women in the section of Edinburgh known as the Canongate, Mary Patterson and Janet Brown. He invited them to breakfast, but Brown left when an argument broke out between M’Dougal and Burke. When she returned, she was told that Patterson had left with Burke; in fact, she, too, had been taken to Dr. Knox’s dissecting rooms. [4] The two women were described as prostitutes in contemporary accounts.

[5] [6] The story later arose that some of Knox’s students recognized the dead Patterson. [7] The next victim was an acquaintance of Burke, a beggar woman called “Effie”. They were paid £10 for her body. Then Burke “saved” a woman from police by claiming that he knew her. He delivered her body to the medical school just hours later. The next two victims were an old woman and her grandson. Both bodies were ultimately sold for £8 each. The next two victims were Burke’s acquaintance “Mrs. Ostler” and one of M’Dougal’s relatives, Ann Dougal. The next victim was Elizabeth Haldane, a former lodger who, down on her luck, asked to sleep in Hare’s stable. Burke and Hare also murdered her daughter Peggy Haldane a few months later. Burke and Hare’s next victim was an even better-known person, a mentally retarded young man with a limp, named James Wilson, called “Daft Jamie”, who was 18 at the time of his murder. The boy resisted, and the pair had to kill him together. His mother began to ask for her boy. When Dr.

Knox uncovered the body the next morning, several students recognized Jamie. His head and feet were cut off after Knox had shown his students the body. Knox denied that it was Jamie, but he apparently began to dissect his face first. The last victim was Marjory Campbell Docherty. Burke lured her into the lodging house by claiming that his mother was also a Docherty, but he had to wait because of James and Ann Gray, who were lodging with them. The Grays left for the night and neighbours heard the noise of a struggle. Detection The next day, Ann Gray became suspicious when Burke would not let her approach a bed where she had left her stockings. When the Grays were left alone in the house in the early evening, they checked the bed and found Docherty’s body under it. On their way to alert the police, they ran into M’Dougal who tried to bribe them with an offer of £10 a week. They refused. Burke and Hare had removed the body from the house before the police arrived; however, under questioning, Burke claimed that Docherty had left at 7:00 am, but then MacDougal claimed that she had left in the evening. The police arrested them.

An anonymous tip-off led them to Knox’s classroom where they found Docherty’s body, which James Gray identified. William and Margaret Hare were arrested soon thereafter. The murder spree had lasted twelve months. When an Edinburgh paper wrote about the disappearances on 6 November 1828, Brown heard about it and went to the police. She identified Patterson’s clothing. The execution of William Burke on The Lawnmarket, 28 January 1829 The evidence against the pair was not overwhelming, so Lord Advocate Sir William Rae offered Hare immunity from prosecution if he confessed and agreed to testify against Burke. Hare’s testimony led to Burke’s death sentence in December 1828. He was hanged on 28 January 1829, after which he was publicly dissected at the Edinburgh Medical College. [8] His skeleton, death mask, and items made from his tanned skin are displayed at the college’s museum. [9] [10] M’Dougal was released, since her complicity to the murders was not provable. Knox was not prosecuted, despite public outrage at his role in providing an incentive for the 16 murders.

Burke swore in his confession that Knox had known nothing of the origin of the cadavers. [4] Aftermath M’Dougal returned to her house but was attacked by an angry mob. She may have returned to her family in Stirling. She was rumoured to have left for Australia where she died around 1868. Margaret Hare also escaped lynching and reputedly returned to Ireland. Nothing more is known about her. Hare was released in February 1829, and many popular tales tell of him as a blind beggar on the streets of London, having been mobbed and thrown in a lime pit. However, none of these reports was ever confirmed. The last known sighting of him was in the English town of Carlisle. Knox kept silent about his dealings with Burke and Hare, and he continued to employ Edinburgh body-snatchers while lecturing on anatomy. After the Anatomy Act was passed in 1832, his popularity among students decreased. His applications for formal positions in the Edinburgh Medical School were rejected. He moved to the Cancer Hospital in London and died in 1862.

Political consequences The murders highlighted the crisis in medical education and led to the subsequent passing of the Anatomy Act 1832, which expanded the legal supply of medical cadavers to eliminate the incentive for such behaviour. About the law, the Lancet editorial stated: “Burke and Hare … it is said, are the real authors of the measure, and that which would never have been sanctioned by the deliberate wisdom of parliament, is about to be extorted from its fears … It would have been well if this fear had been manifested and acted upon before sixteen human beings had fallen victims to the supineness of the Government and the Legislature. It required no extraordinary sagacity, to foresee that the worst consequences must inevitably result from the system of traffic between resurrectionists and anatomists, which the executive government has so long suffered to exist. Government is already in a great degree, responsible for the crime which it has fostered by its negligence, and even encouraged by a system of forbearance.” [11] Burke and Hare in media portrayals The Burke and Hare murders are referenced in Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story, “The Body Snatcher”, which portrays two doctors in Robert Knox’s employ responsible for buying the corpses from the killers.

The 1945 film The Body Snatcher, directed by Robert Wise, stars B ela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. [12] The murders were adapted into a 1948 film with the working title Crimes of Burke and Hare; however, the British Board of Film Censors deemed its topic too disturbing and insisted that references to Burke and Hare be excised. The film was redubbed with alternative dialogue and characters, and was released as The Greed of William Hart. [13] The 1960 film The Flesh and the Fiends starred Peter Cushing as Knox, Donald Pleasence as Hare and George Rose as Burke. [14] The following year, The Anatomist featured Alastair Sim as Knox. [15] The 23 November 1964 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, “The McGregor Affair” featured Burke and Hare as characters. Andrew Duggan starred as McGregor, a man who hauls items for Burke and Hare. Burke was played by Arthur Malet, and Hare by Michael Pate. The 1972 film Burke & Hare starred Derren Nesbitt.

In 1985, Freddie Francis directed a film version of the events entitled The Doctor and the Devils. [16] References ^ The Doctor and the Devils (1985) at the Internet Movie Database Works referenced Howard, Amanda; Martin Smith (2004). “William Burke and William Hare”. River of Blood: Serial Killers and Their Victims. Universal. ISBN 1581125186. Further reading Adams, Norman (2002). Scottish Bodysnatchers. Goblinshead. ISBN 1899874402. Bailey, Brian (2002). Burke and Hare: The Year of the Ghouls. Mainstream. ISBN 1840185759. Conaghan, Martin; Pickering, Will (2009). Burke and Hare. Insomnia Publications. ISBN 1905808127. Douglas, Hugh (1973). Burke and Hare. Hale. ISBN 070913777X. Edwards, Owen Dudley (1993). Burke and Hare.

Mercat Press. ISBN 1873644256. MacDonald, Helen (2005). Human Remains: Episodes in Human Dissection. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0522851576. Menefee, Samuel Pyeatt; Simpson, Allen D.C. (1994). “The West Port Murders and the Miniature Coffins from Arthur’s Seat”. Book of the Old Edinburgh Club. 3. The Old Edinburgh Club. pp. ns 63–81. Richardson, Ruth (2001). Death, Dissection and the Destitute: The Politics of the Corpse in Pre-Victorian Britain. Chicago University Press. ISBN 0226712400. Rosner, Lisa (2009). The Anatomy Murders: Being the True and Spectacular History of Edinburgh’s Notorious Burke and Hare and of the Man of Science Who Abetted Them in the Commission of Their Most Heinous Crimes. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812241914. Roughead, William; Sante, Luc (2000).

“The West Port Murders”. Classic Crimes: A Selection from the Works of William Roughead. New York Review of Books. ISBN 0940322463. External links Burke & Hare 02.14.pptx at Island Coast High School - StudyBlue StudyBlue File Size: 48 Views: 16 Advertisement Advertisement Burke & Hare The West Port Murders Docent Zehnder Edinburgh, Scotland The year is 1828. Edinburgh is a center of medical science, research, and teaching of the medical arts. West Port is the poorest, dirtiest, most wretched part of Edinburgh. If we needed to compare it to another city we would have to use Mos Eisley. Docent Zehnder The Bloody Code English law between 1688 – 1815 is often now called “The Bloody Code” though at the time, it did not have a special name.

Refers to the high number of capital crime (crimes punishable by death) In 1776 there were over 220 crimes that England considered capital crimes Docent Zehnder The Problem Due to the Judgment of Death Act of 1823 the death penalty was suddenly reduced capital crimes were now confined to acts of murder, piracy, espionage (spying), or high treason. This meant that relatively few people, maybe a dozen in a city Edinburgh’s size were now being executed annually. Docent Zehnder Enter the Resurrectionists Docent Zehnder The Resurrectionists also called “Resurrection Men” were, simply put, grave robbers or body-snatchers. They would wait until mourning parties left the cemetery grounds after a funeral and, under the cover of darkness, disinter the fresh(ish) corpse. The fact the grave was newly dug kept sextons (gravediggers) from noticing that the ground had been disturbed. The Resurrection Men then sold the body for medical usage.

Docent Zehnder A Tale of Two Williams Docent Zehnder A Tale of Two Williams Born in Ulster, [Northern] Ireland (1792 – 1829) Worked a number of jobs, including a servant to a militia officer.

Left wife & two kids and went to Scotland to work as a navvy on the Union Canal Born in another town in Ulster (1792 or 1804 – ?) Also emigrated to Scotland Worked as a laborer on the Union Canal Married a lodging-house owner’s widow, Margaret Laird Docent Zehnder The Navvies Canals in Great Britain were often called “navigations” so it was natural that the men working on the canal be called “Navigational Engineers,” or “navvies” (singular: navvy) Work ~ Ford Madox Brown 1865 Docent Zehnder A Tale of Two Williams Burke “took up with” a woman named Helen McDougal Left the canal work and worked as a day laborer, weaver, baker, and a cobbler Moved into Margaret’s lodging-house with his girlfriend The lodging-house was located in the West Port area and catered to beggars, vagrants, and ne'er-do-wells Margaret ran the lodging-house while William worked on the canal Docent Zehnder Alexander Monro (tertius) Professor Alexander Monro III, was a well-known anatomist and teacher at Edinburgh Medical College Docent Zeh

nder Alexander Monro (tertius) Born in Edinburgh in 1773, he was the third man of his name to teach at Edinburgh Medical Unfortunately for his students, he was a dull and uninspired anatomist riding the coattails of a brilliant father and grandfather, both excellent anatomists and teachers at the college.

FYI – a young Charles Darwin was his student and stated that Monro “made his lectures on human anatomy as dull as he was himself.” Docent Zehnder Docent Zehnder The Williams hatch a plan The Williams became fast friends after meeting in November of 1827 Later that month, Hare finds one of his tenants, an old soldier named Donald (who hasn’t yet paid the month’s rent), dead in his bed from natural causes Instead of informing the police to dispose of the body properly, they decide to try to sell Donald’s body to Professor Monro Where it all went right Better than they could have planned it, after they asked a student in Surgeon’s Square for directions to Prof. Monro, they were misinformed and found themselves at the door of Doctor Robert Knox, another well-respected surgeon and anatomist. Docent Zehnder Dr.

Robert Knox Born in Edinburgh, Scotland (1791 – 1862) Taught by John Barclay, the greatest teacher of Anatomy in all of Great Britain in the 1800s Graduated MD from Edinburgh University in 1814 and joined the army as an assistant surgeon Began his army work at the Brussels military hospital near Waterloo and decided that for any surgery to be successful, the surgeon must have a firm grasp of anatomy Docent Zehnder Knox Blocks During the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he was assigned as assistant surgeon to well-respected and connected chief surgeon, Charles Bell. Knox was highly intelligent, but he was also highly critical – true to form, he pointed out to army superiors that the chief surgeon, Charles Bell's surgical abilities were sorely lacking (Bell’s mortality rate on amputations was nearly 90%) and then continued on to be just as critical of Bell’s knowledge of anatomy. Docent Zehnder Knox – The Return Dr.

Knox came back to Edinburgh in 1822 and began to work with his former mentor Barclay, fully taking over the Barclay Anatomy School in 1826 following Barclay’s death from a long illness. Knox became an extremely wealthy man and made very good money charging a fee to view his dissections and attend his lectures. Unlike Monro, Knox was sociable and well-spoken. He regularly had more than 400 students in the anatomy theater for his lectures. Docent Zehnder Knox by the Numbers So the fee for attending one dissection demonstration with Know was 3£ 5ʃ…in 1826. In today’s money (and converted to USD) that is $3717.64 He regularly had more than 400 students in the anatomy theater for his lectures. Docent Zehnder Dr. Robert Knox Created and served as the first curator of the Surgeon’s Hall Museum at Edinburgh University Docent Zehnder Knox’s Needs Because of the fact that dissections formed the basis of his scholarly pursuits of anatomical knowledge and his public dissections to instruct (and make $$$), Dr.

Knox found himself in need of many more bodies than the legally executed corpses that were available to him, et al. So he; like many other doctors, surgeons, anatomists, and professors of his time; turned to the Resurrectionists. Docent Zehnder Knox’s Needs Met Knox never bought the corpses directly, always having an assistant make the actual purchase, but Knox was the man who set the price, and Knox was the man that paid the bill When his assistant brought in the corpse of old Donald, the corpse was significantly “fresher” than what Resurrectionists had been providing, so Knox was willing to pay a premium – 7£ 1ʃ.

Knox also offered to buy any other bodies that the pair might find… Docent Zehnder A Primer on British Currency (Pre-Decimal) 1 Pound Sterling (£) 1 guinea = 21 shillings 1 crown = 5 shillings (4 crowns = 1£) 1 half crown (2/6 or 2s6d) 1 shilling = 12 pence (20 shillings = £) 1 sixpence = 6 pence AKA half-shilling (40 sixpence = £) [40 x 6=240] 1 double florin = 4 pence 1 florin = 2 pence 1 pence or penny (240d = pound) 3penny 1⁄80 of a pound or ¼ of a shilling Halfpenny = ½ d 1 farthing = ¼ penny (1⁄960 pound) Half-farthing = 1⁄8 of a penny, 1⁄1920 of a pound Quarter-farthing = 1⁄16 penny (0.0625d), or 1⁄

3840 pound (£0.000 260 416 666).

What were the names of the Irishmen about whom we have been speaking? Docent Zehnder The Williams’ New Business Burke & Hare began “obtaining” even fresher corpses. Their typical modus operandi was to lure drunken individuals back to the lodging-house and smother them, as this left no marks of violence on the body This technique is still referred to in Great Britain as “Burking” meaning to smother or compress; or figuratively, to suppress something quietly Docent Zehnder A Busy Ten Months (1828) 1 Abigail Simpson ofGilmerton(£10) 9 Femalelodger(£?) 2 Joseph, the miller (£10) 10 MargaretHaldane, a bawdyhouse girl (£8) 3 Drunken female lodger (£10) 11 PeggyHaldane, Margaret sisters(£10) 4 An Englishman from Cheshire (£10) 12 Mary Paterson [Mitchell], a street-walker(£8) 5 Mary Haldane, a lodger (£?) 13 Mrs.

Hostler, a washerwoman (£8) 6 Effie, the cinder-gatherer (£10) 14 Ann McDougal,a cousin of Helen(£10) 7 Glaswegian woman (£8) 15 James Wilson [Daft Jaime] (£10) 8 Glaswegian woman’s son/grandson (£8) 16 Mary Docherty [Margery Campbell] (–) The “ranks” of ladies of the evening in Britain Courtesan Mistress Bawdyhouse girl/brothel worker Prostitute/harlot/doxy/trull/chippy/tart Trollop/strumpet/scarlet/hussy/wanton Streetwalker/drab/slattern* Dolly-mop *( which really just means dirty) Docent Zehnder The Jig’s Up (Halloween) With Docherty, the Williams’ luck ran out. Two lodgers, James & Ann Gray became suspicious of Docherty’s sudden disappearance and searched the house, finding her hidden underneath a bed.

While the Gray’s ran for the police, Burke & Hare moved the body to the school When the police questioned Burke & McDougal separately about Docherty, Burke said she had left the house at 7 a.m. and McDougal said she left that evening Docent Zehnder The Jig’s Up Given the inconsistences in their stories, Burke & McDougal were arrested A tip then led police to Docherty’s body in Knox’s dissecting room and James Gray was able to identify it Both William and Margaret Hare arrested soon after Docent Zehnder Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet As the great Scottish poet and novelist, Sir Walter Scott commented: “Our Irish importation [immigrants] have made a great discovery of Oeconomicks [Economics], namely, that a wretch who is not worth a farthing while alive, becomes a valuable article when knock’d on the head & carried to an anatomist; and acting on this principle, have clear’d the streets of some of those miserable off-casts of society, whom nobody miss’d because nobody wish’d to see them again” The Investigation After months of investigation the police still have nothing in terms of evidence.

The Hares, Burke, & McDougal fall into a pattern of claiming personal ignorance of all wrongdoing and then pointing fingers at all the other co-defendants. The Trial I The trial begins and is a public sensation. All the broadsheets* are following the case. But in the courtroom, it is all flash – no crash, i.e. for all the work the prosecution is doing, there are too many alternate theories of the crime. The defendants are using everything from ridiculous distractions to delaying techniques. The Deal Finally, in desperation, Lord Justice-Clerk, David Boyle (the head judge at the trial) decided to make a deal… Boyle offers full immunity for all crimes related to the events of the Burke-Hare-Knox conspiracy. In other words, someone accepting the deal would never be prosecuted for any of the crimes they had committed, regardless of any future evidence against them. Boyle only offers the deal to Mr. & Mrs. Hare…the public is outraged. The Deal II William Hare is notoriously hot-tempered – once shooting a horse to death in the middle of a street for walking too slowly. The Deal III Mrs. Hare was likewise reviled by the community.

She was almost as ill-tempered as her husband, and many thought that she had more involvement in the murders than she was claiming – after all, the killings occurred in her “inn” and the victims were plied with her alcohol. Innkeepers were generally assumed to be following a “code of hospitality” that required them to keep their guests safe and well-cared-for. The Deal IV The whooping-cough baby stunt wasn’t winning her any brownie points, either. The Deal V Burke on the other hand, was likeable – well-spoken, adroit, and generally – pretty likeable for someone that almost everyone agreed was a serial killer. The public was not pleased.

The Trial IV Tertius Triumphant Due to the involvement of Knox in the Burke & Hare affair, Monro was chosen as the anatomist to carry out the orders of the man that passed the death sentence on Burke, the Lord Justice-Clerk, David Boyle So the day after Burke’s hanging, his body was publically dissected by Monro in the anatomy theatre of the University’s Old College Docent Zehnder Docent Zehnder So many people showed up for the dissection (which lasted over two hours), a minor riot broke out To keep the peace, the university decided to have individuals want to watch to “pass through the theatre” in batches of 50. A number of Burke relics exist today – a death mask* made by phrenologists; calling card cases and wallets made from Burke’s skin*; and his skeleton are all displayed at Surgeons’ Hall* and the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Museum, respectively Docent Zehnder Docent Zehnder The London Burkers A pair of men from a larger group of Resurrectionists operating in the London area.

Their crew, consisting of John Bishop; Thomas Williams; a local Porter (just called “Porter”); and an unemployed butcher, James May AKA Jack Stirabout AKA Black Eyed Jack disinterred and sold for profit ~500 and 1000 corpses over a period of twelve years ending in 1830. The London Burkers In November 5th of 1831, Bishop & Williams, who had begun a side business in “burking” delivered an especially (suspiciously) fresh corpse of a 14 year-old Italian boy. They were caught after asking for £12 at the second college they tried to sell the body to. The college counter offered with £9. Later, when anatomist Richard Partridge was inspecting the body, he came to suspect it had never been buried and summoned police. The Fallout After their arrests, Bishop & Williams confessed that only they had commit any murders. They were hanged before of an audience of 30,000. Lead to the Anatomy Act of 1832 Up the close and down the stair, But and ben with Burke and Hare.

Burke’s the butcher, Hare’s the thief, Knox, the boy who buys the beef. — 1800’s Edinburgh jump-rope rhyme What was the nationality of the Williams about whom we have been speaking? What was the nationality of Dr. Robert Knox? In your considered opinion was the verdict against William Burke, one of the West Port murderers, ethically reached? Why or why not? In your considered opinion was the granting of immunity to William Hare and his wife, both involved in the West Port murderers, ethically reached? Why or why not? In your considered opinion was the verdict against John Bishop & Thomas Williams, the London Burkers, ethically reached? Why or why not? Words From Our Students "StudyBlue is great for studying. I love the study guides, flashcards and quizzes. So extremely helpful for all of my classes!" Alice , Arizona State University "I'm a student using StudyBlue, and I can 100% say that it helps me so much. Study materials for almost every subject in school are available in StudyBlue.

It is so helpful for my education!" Tim , University of Florida "StudyBlue provides way more features than other studying apps, and thus allows me to learn very quickly!??I actually feel much more comfortable taking my exams after I study with this app. It's amazing!" Jennifer , Rutgers University "I love flashcards but carrying around physical flashcards is cumbersome and simply outdated. StudyBlue is exactly what I was looking for!" Justin , LSU William Burke News | Wiki - UPI.com William Burke News ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 3 (UPI) -- St. Paul, Minn., attorney Jeffrey Anderson filed suits Wednesday against the Vatican, three Catholic dioceses and two religious orders charging them with moving Wiki The Burke and Hare murders (also known as the West Port murders) were serial murders perpetrated in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom in 1827 and 1828. The killings were attributed to Irish immigrants William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses of their 17 victims to the Edinburgh Medical College for dissection. Their principal customer was Doctor Robert Knox, and their accomplices included Burke's mistress, Helen MacDougal, and Hare's wife, Margaret.

From their infamous method of killing their victims has come the word "burking", meaning to purposefully smother and compress the chest of a victim. Before 1832, there were insufficient cadavers legitimately available for the study and teaching of anatomy in British medical schools. The University of Edinburgh was an institution universally renowned for medical sciences. As medical science began to flourish in the early 19th century, demand rose sharply, but at the same time, the only legal supply of cadavers—the bodies of executed criminals—had fallen due to a sharp reduction in the execution rate in the early 19th century, brought about by the repeal of the Bloody Code. Only about 2 or 3 corpses per year were available for a large number of students, as compared with the 18th century. This situation attracted criminal elements who were willing to obtain specimens by any means. The activities of body-snatchers (also called resurrectionists) gave rise to particular public fear and revulsion. Burke (1792 – 28 January 1829) was born in Urney, County Tyrone, Ireland.

After trying his hand at a variety of trades and serving as an officer's servant in the Donegal Militia, he left his wife and two children in Ireland and emigrated to Scotland about 1817, working as a navvy for the Union Canal. He acquired a mistress, Helen MacDougal, and afterwards worked as a labourer, weaver, baker and a cobbler.

Question: Who committed what became known as the West Port murders in Edinburgh in 1828?
Answer: Burke & Hare