When a boneless torso possibly belonging to a woman named Cora Turner is found in the cellar of a London home, the culprit seems almost obvious. Her husband, Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, seems to have disappeared with his mistress. But the true answer isn’t that easy. Nearly a hundred years later, some people are still wondering whether the police caught the right person. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the context of the murder discussed in this episode?
This episode includes discussions of murder. Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen. In 2025, a manhunt for a killer likely involves CCTV and facial recognition, GPS and digital intelligence, and advanced DNA testing. With so much surveillance and evidence, it's not easy to get away with a crime. But in 1910, the hunt for a fugitive was much harder and slower.
Chapter 2: How did forensic science impact criminal investigations in 1910?
The police depended on unreliable eyewitness memory, fingerprint science was in its infancy, and the world's first crime laboratory just opened that year. So how did you catch a criminal in 1910? For Scotland Yard, it took a brand new invention, wireless telegraphy. It was revolutionary. Criminal investigations could now take place between two countries or on a transatlantic ship.
But science still had a long way to go. And over a century later, people have wondered, did forensic shortcomings send an innocent man to death? Welcome to Serial Killers, a Spotify podcast. Every Monday we bring you the true crime stories that stand out. I'm Janice Morgan. We'd love to hear from you. Follow us on Instagram at Serial Killers Podcast and share your thoughts on this week's episode.
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Chapter 3: Who was Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen?
Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen had ample opportunity to avoid infamy. If it were not for his horrific crime, he'd largely be forgotten. Even then, records of his life before his 30s are sparse, like most men born in 1862. We do know Crippen's father was a wealthy merchant, which allowed Hawley to enroll in the University of Michigan's College of Homeopathy.
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine partially based on the idea that like cures like. If a natural substance causes a symptom in a healthy person, a small amount of the same substance may help relieve symptoms of the illness. For example, cutting onions usually makes chefs tear up, but homeopaths believe a diluted onion extract called allium sepa can treat watery eyes caused by allergies.
But there's risk involved. Some of the substances used in homeopathic practice can be deadly if administered incorrectly. Many experts are skeptical about their effectiveness. As of early 2025, the FDA has not approved any homeopathic products. But when Crippen enrolls in medical school in 1882, homeopathy is growing increasingly popular in Europe and the United States.
His studies take him to a mental hospital in London, where he treats violent patients with natural remedies. Crippen graduates in 1884 and spends the next few years working in homeopathic practices across the states. He meets a nurse, Charlotte, whom he marries in 1887. Charlotte gives birth to a son, Otto, but dies two years later of a stroke.
Dr. Crippen isn't willing to step up to single fatherhood. He leaves Otto with his parents and moves to New York alone. When he arrives, Dr. Crippen finds a burgeoning world of possibilities. In the city, streetcars have replaced the horse-drawn carriage. Life literally moves at a faster pace. Innovation is everywhere, and Crippen is eager to be a part of it.
He finds work in a medical practice and lives in the head doctor's home. And in the fall of 1892, he marries a patient named Cora Turner. Cora aspires to be an opera singer, and Crippen is happy to help finance her dreams. But the following May, the country experiences a financial crisis known as the Panic of 1893.
Demand for homeopathy wanes, and Dr. Crippen is forced to stop paying for Cora's singing lessons. Worse, Cora has been ill, so she undergoes an operation to remove her ovaries. She won't be able to bear children. According to Eric Larson, author of Thunderstruck, it contributes to a strain on the marriage. But by 1897, things are starting to look up for the couple.
The homeopathic clinic Dr. Crippen has been working for promotes him to manager of a new office in London. The job comes with a significant pay raise. It's also promising for Cora. She hasn't found success in the New York opera scene, so perhaps England will be a nice change of pace. For the next few years, things appear to be going well for the Crippens.
The Doctor is making more money than he's ever made before, and Cora is booking roles. But Cora's not the star she wants to be. Newspaper reviews pan her performances, and one of her shows is shut down within a week of its debut. She decides to set aside her dream career and focus on her social life.
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Chapter 4: What were the circumstances leading to Cora Crippen's disappearance?
Beneath them, they find ripped, bloodied pajama bottoms wrapped around a headless, limbless, boneless torso. Though Inspector Dew can't immediately identify the victim, he has a hunch that it's Cora. and the killer, her husband, Dr. Crippen. Now it's up to Scotland Yard to track him down. The remains in the pajamas are sent in for analysis and autopsy.
In the process, one of Scotland Yard's senior scientific analysts finds something else unusual in the remains, traces of the drug hyosine hydrobromide. In modern medicine, hyosine is sometimes used to treat motion sickness. In the 19th century, it was occasionally used as a sedative, but the drug was only rarely prescribed as it was a strong poison that could be deadly in large amounts.
With this terrifying find, Scotland Yard issues a warrant for Dr. Crippen's arrest. Combine that with the fact that Dr. Crippen's wife had been missing for months, and now Dr. Crippen himself is missing, the story quickly becomes headline news. It strikes a chord with Londoners, who are still shocked from Jack the Ripper's killing spree just 20 years prior.
And like Jack the Ripper's crimes, this horror soon finds an international audience. With growing attention, Scotland Yard faces great pressure to crack the case. Even Britain's Home Secretary, a young Winston Churchill, offers a £250 reward for the capture of the fugitives. Crippen and Ethel are on equal footing with the most wanted criminals in London, and they have no idea.
Floating across the ocean aboard the SS Montrose, they think they've successfully escaped detection. They don't know that just before the ship's departure, two Scotland Yard officers told Captain Henry George Kendall to be on the lookout for the suspects. Even more, their faces are plastered on the cover of the Daily Mail.
Assuming they're safe, Dr. Crippen and Ethel do little to keep up with their disguises aboard the steamship. While they remain dressed as father and son, they are oddly affectionate with one another and frequently hold hands. And on top of that, Ethel's boy clothes clearly don't fit her body. Captain Kendall notices.
He instructs his wireless operator to telegraph the British authorities immediately. The message states, quote, Notably, this is the first time wireless telegraphy, or radio telegraphy, is used to track a criminal, bringing even more notoriety to the chase. After receiving the telegram, Inspector Dew boards a White Star liner, the SS Laurentic.
It's faster than the SS Montrose, which means Dew will arrive in Canada before Dr. Crippen does. Once there, Canadian authorities bring him to the criminal's ship. On July 31, 1910, as the SS Montrose enters the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Inspector Dew and his fellow officers come aboard disguised as harbor pilots, the officials who guide ships into port.
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Chapter 5: How did Dr. Crippen try to cover up Cora's disappearance?
Meanwhile, Captain Kendall asks Dr. Crippen if he'd like to greet the pilots. Delighted, Dr. Crippen agrees, but he's in for a harsh discovery. When the so-called pilots enter the room, one steps forward and removes his cap. He introduces himself as Chief Inspector Dew of Scotland Yard. After a pause, Dr. Crippen apparently replies, Thank God the suspense is over.
Inspector Dew arrests Crippen and his accomplice, Ethel. Within days, Crippen is back in England awaiting trial for the murder of his wife. Dr. Crippen's trial begins in October 1910, three months after his arrest on the Montrose. Filled with salacious details and a thrilling search, newspapers describe the tragic tale of an unfaithful wife slain by her bitter husband.
Though the body in the cellar still hasn't been proven to be Cora's, everyone in London has their mind made up. When Dr. Crippen's first day in court finally comes on October 18th, 1910, 4,000 people line up to hear the case play out. Dr. Crippen's defense holds to the doctor's claims that Cora had left him for another man. It was Crippen, the jilted husband, who was the victim.
The defense argues that the boneless torso had been buried by some unknown person, possibly before the Crippens had moved into their house. But a significant piece of evidence from the prosecution seems to disprove this. The pajamas that the human remains were wrapped in matched pajamas that Cora gifted to Dr. Crippen the previous year.
To further corroborate this, the clothes manufacturer testifies that the specific pattern found on the fragment was not sold prior to 1908. This means that the remains couldn't have been placed in the house before Dr. Crippen and Cora first moved in in 1905. Additional witnesses for the prosecution include several pathologists who shed light on hyacine found in the corpse.
Prior to the murder, Dr. Crippen had purchased significant quantities of the drug from a local chemist. This certainly made it appear as though Crippen hadn't just killed his wife, but had premeditated it. A major sticking point is that the body can't be confirmed as Cora's until one of the prosecution's pathologists gives the remains another look. He finds a mark on the body's abdomen, a scar.
It's consistent with scars left over after surgery to remove ovaries. Cora had undergone that very procedure in 1893. It's not a smoking gun, but it's pretty compelling. Ultimately, science can't prove beyond reasonable doubt that the body is Cora's. However, the mounting circumstantial evidence is overwhelming. And during the four days of trial, Dr. Crippen has little to add to his defense.
On October 22, 1910, after only 27 minutes of deliberation, the jury delivers a verdict. They find Dr. Crippen guilty of murdering his wife Cora. He's sentenced to death. Ethel is tried shortly after Dr. Crippen's conviction, but the jury determines she had nothing to do with the murder and sets her free.
Dr. Crippen's last request is for a photograph of Ethel and some of her letters to be buried with him in his unmarked grave. The request is granted. On November 23, 1910, Holly Harvey Crippen is hanged at the Pentonville prison. After the trial, Londoners put forth many theories as to why and how Dr. Crippen might have killed his wife. With the doctor dead, we'll never know the exact story.
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Chapter 6: What evidence led to the discovery of Cora's remains?
He discovered the body might not even be female. Turi King is a renowned geneticist who led the verification of Richard III's body in 2012. She acknowledges Trestrail's findings may be correct, but she also contends there's several issues with the way the evidence was tested. the DNA tests were done on a single sample in a single lab.
King says current standards of practice require testing at least two samples in two different labs. That helps validate the results and also buffer against possible contamination of the DNA. Technology has come such a long way in the last 15 years that King suggests the DNA be re-examined in depth to put to bed the question, whose body was in the cellar?
It's that question, the many unknowns, the cinematic chase, and the historical use of a telegraph that make this story so intriguing, even 115 years later. It's why, just a few days after we recorded this episode, Crippen's leather-bound prayer book sold at a British auction for 240 pounds, or approximately 318 US dollars.
It's why I will continue to follow the case, and if there are any updates, you can be sure to hear about them here on Serial Killers.
Thank you for listening to Serial Killers. We're here with a new episode every Monday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at Serial Killers Podcast. And if you're listening on Spotify, swipe up and give us your thoughts or email us at SerialKillerStories at Spotify.com.
For more information on Dr. Holly Harvey-Crippen, amongst the many sources we used, we found Thunderstruck by Eric Larson and Molecules of Murder by John Emsley, extremely helpful to our research. Stay safe out there.
This episode was written by Amy Paulette Hartman, edited by Chelsea Wood, researched by Chelsea Wood, fact-checked by Bennett Logan, and video edited and sound designed by Alex Button. I'm your host, Janice Morgan.
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