As part of my research for an upcoming book, I’ve been reading old newspaper accounts of murderers, including an infamous poisoning case that happened in London, in 1910. Here are the quick details: Doctor Hawley Harvey Crippen (1862 – 1910) was an American-born “doctor” (well he had some medical training, anyway) who married a brash, heavy-drinking, music-hall singer named Cora Turner. Here’s Cora (in an impressive corset).
The marriage was an unhappy one, to say the least. One day, Cora Turner disappeared. Concerned friends notified Scotland Yard, and Crippen was questioned. Soon after that, he and his mistress, a young woman named Ethel Le Neve, fled England on a ship bound for Canada. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard inspectors searched Crippen’s home and found bits and pieces of a human body, buried in the basement.
The news quickly spread that the fugitives had escaped. The captain of the ship grew suspicious of the couple and telegraphed a message back to Scotland Yard by the new Marconi telegraph, alerting them that Crippen and Le Neve were on board. A Scotland Yard inspector boarded a faster ship. Newspapers reported breathlessly about the “race across the Atlantic.” Would the ship overtake Crippen’s? It did. The inspector was waiting for the fugitive couple as their ship arrived in Canada. They were arrested and taken back to England. Crippen was found guilty and hanged on November 23, 1910. (Le Neve was found not guilty.)
I was struck by the police report of Crippen and Le Neve, as reprinted in The Times (Friday, July 15th 1910, page 9). It’s just not the sort of police report you read every day (wait, not everyone reads police reports every day?). I omitted the long, detailed descriptions of what they were wearing for space, but those are fascinating, too. The details really evoke the era. Fiction writers, you could get some good material reading old newspaper reports.
Here’s Crippen:
“Wanted for murder and mutilation of a woman: Hawley Harvey Crippen…an American doctor; age 50; height 5ft 3 in; complexion fresh; hair light brown, inclined sandy, scanty and bald on top; long sandy moustache, rather straggly…eyes grey; flat on bridge of nose; false teeth; wears gold-rimmed spectacles; may be dressed in dark-brown jacket …[etc]…rather slovenly appearance; throws his feet out when walking; speaks with slight American accent; wears hat back of head; very plausible and quiet-spoken; speaks French; carries firearms; shows his teeth much when talking.”
And here’s the description of Ethel:
“Will go as Crippen’s wife, age 27, height 5ft, 5 in; complexion pale; hair light brown; large grey eyes; good teeth; good looking; medium build; pleasant appearance; quiet, subdued manner; looks intently when in conversation; walks slowly; reticent; …[etc]”
“Throws his feet out when walking??” “Looks intently when in conversation?”” Who wrote this police report for Scotland Yard? Was it one rogue guy who had aspirations as a fiction writer? Whoever it was, he had quite the flair for description.