“Good morning, Dr. Crippen. Do you know me? I’m Chief Inspector Dew from Scotland Yard.” “Thank God it’s over. The suspense has been too great. I couldn’t stand it any longer.” – Conversation between Chief Inspector Dew and Dr. Crippen upon Crippen’s arrest aboard the SS Montrose.
Hawley Harvey Crippen was born in Coldwater, MI to Andresse Skinner and Myron Augustus Crippen. His father was a merchant.
In 1870, Crippen was an only child. His father was 35 and already retired as a merchant. His mother was keeping house, with the help of servant Amanda Pulver. There was a physician on the block, but everyone else was in the service industry such as grocery clerks, wagonmakers, shoemakers, and carpenters. There was a Canadian and two people from England. Most were from other states, with 15 of the 40 residents being native Michiganders.
Later life
Crippen graduated from the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College in 1884. He married and had a son, but his wife died of a stroke. He had his parents, now living in San Jose, California, raise his son.
He moved to New York City to practice as a homeopathic doctor. He met and married Corrine “Cora” Turner (born Kunigunde Mackamotski), who was a music hall singer with the stage name Belle Elmore.
The couple moved to England in 1897 where Crippen was not qualified as a doctor. He worked as a distributor of patent medicines, and then as manager of Drouet’s Institution for the Deaf. Cora continued her stage career. The couple augmented their income by taking in lodgers, one of whom Cora had an affair with. Crippen had an affair of his own with Ethel Le Neve, a typist he hired at Drouet’s.
The Crippens threw a party on January 31, 1910, after which Cora disappeared. Crippen claimed she went back to America and later claimed she died there and had been cremated. Le Neve moved in with Crippen and began wearing Cora’s clothes and jewelry. Cora had friends who were personal friends of the Scotland Yard Superintendant. As a favor to them, he started an investigation. Nothing was found in Crippen’s home, but he told Chief Inspector Walter Dew that he made up the story about his wife’s death because he was embarrassed that she had run off with a lover. Dew was satisfied. Crippen, not knowing this, fled with La Neve to Antwerp and boarded the SS Montrose bound for Canada. Crippen’s disappearance caused the police to look again, and they found a torso, later identified as Cora buried in the basement.
Scotland Yard alerted the public to look for the fugitives. The Captain of the Montrose recognized them and wired the British authorities: “Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers. Mustache taken off growing beard. Accomplice dressed as boy. Manner and build undoubtedly a girl.”
Dew boarded a faster ship and arrived in Quebec before the Montrose. Disguised as a pilot, he boarded the Montrose and arrested the pair. They were returned to England where Crippen was tried, convicted, and hung at Pentonville within a 5-week period. Le Neve was charged as an accessory and acquitted. She died in 1967.
Arguments have been made that Crippen was not guilty of the crime. You can read about that here.
Other happenings on September 11, 1862:
Born: Mary Kingsley, English ethnographer and explorer who became the first European to enter parts of Gabon, Africa, born in London (d. 1900).
Tomorrow – Hitler’s Nightmare
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Sources
- Wikipedia.org
- Ancestry.com
- Onthisday.com
- Picryl.com
- Youtube.com
Famous People and Their First Census 