Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 8, Episode 3 - Executed in Error - full transcript
The forensic evidence that lead to the conviction and execution of Dr. Hawley Crippen for the murder of his wife in 1910 is re-examined with modern methods resulting in some surprising new conclusions.
COMING UP ON
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD,"
IN 1910, DR HAWLEY CRIPPEN
WAS ACCUSED OF POISONING,
AND DISMEMBERING HIS WIFE.
Man: IT WAS THE O.J.
SIMPSON CASE OF 1910.
A MEDIA-DRIVEN FRENZY.
Narrator: CRIPPEN WAS
TRIED AND EXECUTED.
A CENTURY LATER, CAN MODERN
FORENSICS PROVE HE WAS INNOCENT?
Man: WHEN YOU EXAMINE
THE DNA EVIDENCE,
WE'VE GOT TO CONSIDER THE
CASE IN A WHOLLY DIFFERENT LIGHT.
Man: IT THROWS ALL THE
EVIDENCE IN THE TRIAL,
THROWS IT IN THE TRASH.
Narrator: "EXECUTED IN ERROR,"
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY
CONTRIBUTIONS TO
YOUR PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
Man: YOU WILL BE
HANGED BY THE NECK...
AN AMERICAN DOCTOR
NAMED HAWLEY CRIPPEN
WAS CONVICTED IN
ENGLAND OF POISONING
AND DISMEMBERING HIS WIFE.
THE VICIOUS MURDER AND
EXECUTION THAT FOLLOWED
MADE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES.
Man: WHAT WAS THERE
WAS A MASS OF FLESH.
Narrator: A HUNDRED YEARS LATER,
INVESTIGATORS HAVE
REOPENED THE FILES
ON A MURDER WHICH BECAME KNOWN
AS ONE OF THE CRIMES
OF THE CENTURY.
IT WAS A LANDMARK CASE.
THE FIRST TRIAL BY
MEDIA, AND THE FIRST
TO BE DOMINATED
BY FORENSIC SCIENCE.
BUT DID THE JURY GET IT RIGHT?
OR WAS CRIPPEN HANGED
FOR A CRIME HE DIDN'T COMMIT?
RECENTLY DECLASSIFIED CASE FILES
AND A NEW ANALYSIS OF DNA
EVIDENCE FROM THE CRIME SCENE
ARE CASTING SOME SERIOUS DOUBTS.
WE TESTED IT AND
TESTED IT AND TESTED IT.
I'M RUNNING SCENARIOS THROUGH
MY MIND OF PLANTED EVIDENCE.
Narrator: CAN A MODERN
FORENSIC INVESTIGATION
REWRITE ONE OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT CASES
IN CRIMINAL HISTORY?
THE GRUESOME BODY PARTS
WERE FOUND IN A SHALLOW GRAVE
INSIDE A SUBURBAN HOME.
THE ADDRESS WAS 39
HILLDROP CRESCENT
IN LONDON'S CAMDEN TOWN.
THE MEN WHO MADE
THE DISCOVERY...
HARDENED DETECTIVES...
WERE HORRIFIED BY THE FIND.
THEY REPORTED THAT THE
VICTIM HAD BEEN POISONED
AND THEN FILLETED
LIKE A SIDE OF BEEF.
NEWS OF THE KILLING SPREAD FAST.
FEARFUL LONDONERS WERE INSTANTLY
REMINDED OF JACK THE RIPPER,
WHO HAD TERRORIZED THE
CITY ONLY TWO DECADES EARLIER.
THIS MURDER WAS AS HORRIFIC
AS ANYTHING THE RIPPER
BUT THE PRIME SUSPECT
HARDLY FIT THE PROFILE
OF A VIOLENT OFFENDER.
HE WAS A MILD-MANNERED
GENTLEMAN,
A QUIET DOCTOR
LIVING IN SUBURBIA.
YET, DESPITE HIS
DEMURE APPEARANCE,
THERE HE STOOD, ACCUSED
OF KILLING HIS OWN WIFE
AND SLICING HER TO PIECES
THE HEINOUS CRIME
CAPTIVATED THE WORLD.
Man: ON THE GHASTLY AND WICKED
NATURE OF THE CRIME, I WILL NOT DWELL.
Narrator: TO THIS DAY,
CRIPPEN'S WAX LIKENESS
STANDS IN INFAMY IN LONDON'S
CHAMBER OF HORRORS.
IT WAS AN OPEN AND SHUT CASE.
CAPTURE, CONVICTION, EXECUTION.
BUT NOW, A CENTURY LATER,
FORENSIC TOXICOLOGIST JOHN
TRESTRAIL AND OTHER EXPERTS
ARE QUESTIONING THE CASE,
PUTTING THE EVIDENCE OF THE
PROSECUTORS BACK ON TRIAL.
HELLO, SIR. GOOD MORNING.
I NEED TO GO TO HILLDROP
CRESCENT IN CAMDEN.
Narrator: TRESTRAIL IS
AN EXPERT ON POISONING.
HIS TEXTBOOK ON THE SUBJECT
IS USED BY THE FBI.
HE STUDIED THE CRIPPEN CASE,
SOMETHING ABOUT THE DESCRIPTION
OF THE CRIME MADE
HIM UNCOMFORTABLE.
Trestrail: THE THING THAT
KEEPS ME COMING BACK
TO THIS CRIPPEN CASE IS THE
DISMEMBERMENT OF THE BODY.
IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE
TO DISMEMBER ONE'S VICTIM.
THIS IS THE ONLY CASE I KNOW OF
WHERE THE VICTIM
WAS DISMEMBERED.
A POISONER ATTEMPTS TO GET A
NATURAL DEATH CERTIFICATE SIGNED,
AND WALK AWAY FROM THE CRIME.
Narrator: THIS
GLARING INCONGRUITY
SPARKED TRESTRAIL'S CURIOSITY.
SO NINE YEARS AGO,
HE SET OUT TO REEXAMINE
ALL THE KNOWN EVIDENCE
FROM THE CASE.
HAWLEY CRIPPEN WAS BORN
IN COLDWATER, MICHIGAN.
HE ARRIVED IN LONDON IN 1897,
SELLING HOMEOPATHIC
PATENT MEDICINES.
HOMEOPATHY HAD JUST
CAUGHT ON IN ENGLAND,
AND CRIPPEN WAS
CAPITALIZING ON THE TREND.
Trestrail: HE WAS MAKING THE SUM
OF $220,000 IN TODAY'S DOLLARS.
THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY FOR
SELLING PATENT MEDICINE.
Narrator: HAWLEY AND HIS WIFE,
CORA, RENTED AN APARTMENT
IN LONDON'S UPSCALE
BLOOMSBURY DISTRICT.
ALTHOUGH CORA HAD
FOLLOWED HAWLEY TO LONDON,
THERE WERE CLEAR
SIGNS THAT THEIR MARRIAGE
WAS NOT A HAPPY ONE.
CORA WAS BORN IN BROOKLYN
AND WAS ONLY 19 WHEN
SHE MARRIED HAWLEY,
WHO WAS 12 YEARS HER SENIOR.
THEY HAD VERY DIFFERENT
TEMPERAMENTS AND INTERESTS
AND SEEMINGLY LITTLE IN COMMON.
Trestrail: SHE WAS VERY SHOWY,
VERY FLAMBOYANT AND FLIRTATIOUS.
VERY QUIET, NON-CONFRONTATIONAL.
JUST A COMPLETE
OPPOSITE IN THE MARRIAGE.
Narrator: WHILE HAWLEY BUILT
HIS HOMEOPATHY BUSINESS,
CORA STRUGGLED TO LAUNCH A
CAREER AS A VAUDEVILLE SINGER.
SHE DREAMED OF SEEING
HER NAME IN LIGHTS.
BUT SHE HAD LITTLE TALENT
AND NEVER MANAGED TO
ACHIEVE MUCH SUCCESS.
CORA'S CAREER FLOUNDERED
IN SECOND-RATE THEATERS.
THEN, IN 1905, HOMEOPATHY
SUDDENLY FELL OUT OF FASHION
AND HAWLEY'S COMFORTABLE
INCOME PLUMMETED.
THE CRIPPENS WERE FORCED
TO MOVE DOWNMARKET.
THEY TRADED THEIR FANCY
BLOOMSBURY APARTMENT
FOR A MODEST RENTAL
IN RUNDOWN CAMDEN.
IT IS HERE THAT JOHN
TRESTRAIL HAS COME
TO START PIECING
TOGETHER THE MANY DETAILS
OF THE HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD CRIME.
HE HOPES A CAREFUL ANALYSIS
OF THE COURT RECORDS
AND ADVANCED FORENSIC
TESTING ON THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
FROM THE CRIME SCENE CAN
SHED NEW LIGHT ON THE BODY
AND THE CONVICTION.
THE TRIAL TRANSCRIPT IS
A USEFUL STARTING POINT.
IT REVEALS CRIPPEN'S VERSION OF
THE CHAIN OF EVENTS LEADING UP
TO CORA'S DISAPPEARANCE
IN JANUARY OF 1910.
Trestrail: CORA WAS
DRINKING HEAVILY.
SHE'D BEEN KNOWN
TO HAVE AN AFFAIR.
HE WENT TO WORK,
CAME HOME, AND SHE WAS GONE.
THAT'S WHAT HE CLAIMED IN COURT.
THEY HAD A FIGHT, SHE
SAYS, "I'M LEAVING YOU,
I WILL NEVER BE BACK,
YOU WILL NEVER FIND ME."
Narrator: IN FEBRUARY,
CRIPPEN WROTE TO CORA'S
FRIENDS, TELLING THEM SHE WAS
VISITING RELATIVES IN AMERICA.
SIX WEEKS LATER, HE WROTE AGAIN
TO SAY THAT CORA HAD
COME DOWN WITH PNEUMONIA.
Trestrail: AND THEY SAID,
"OH, THAT'S TERRIBLE.
KEEP US POSTED."
HE SAID, OKAY, LATER ON,
SHE DIED IN AMERICA.
Narrator: FOR A HUSBAND WHO
SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN MOURNING,
CRIPPEN SEEMED
REMARKABLY INDIFFERENT.
AND THERE WAS GOOD REASON.
THE 47-YEAR-OLD DOCTOR,
SO OUTWARDLY RESPECTABLE,
WAS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH
HIS 26-YEAR-OLD SECRETARY,
ETHEL LE NEVE.
Trestrail: ETHEL AND
HAWLEY HAD AN AFFAIR
FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS
BEFORE CORA CRIPPEN DISAPPEARS.
SHE WAS YOUNG ENOUGH
TO BE HIS DAUGHTER, ACTUALLY.
SHE WAS QUIET, DEMURE.
SHE GAVE HIM THE EMOTIONAL
LOVE CORA COULD NOT.
Narrator: WITH CORA GONE,
ETHEL AND CRIPPEN
LIVED COMFORTABLY
AT HILLDROP CRESCENT
FOR SIX MONTHS.
THEN, ON FRIDAY THE 8th OF
JULY, THEY RECEIVED A VISITOR.
AT THE URGING OF CORA'S FRIENDS,
SCOTLAND YARD'S CHIEF
INSPECTOR, WALTER DEW, HAD COME
TO INVESTIGATE
CORA'S DISAPPEARANCE.
20 YEARS EARLIER,
DEW HAD BEEN INVOLVED
IN THE UNSUCCESSFUL
HUNT FOR JACK THE RIPPER.
Trestrail: CORA'S FRIENDS TOOK
THEIR CONCERNS TO SCOTLAND YARD
AND SAID, "WE'RE A
LITTLE SUSPICIOUS.
"OUR FRIEND HAS DISAPPEARED.
"HER HUSBAND SAID THAT
SHE'S DEAD IN AMERICA.
"WE CAN FIND NO PROOF OF THAT.
WE WOULD LIKE
YOU TO LOOK INTO IT."
Narrator: WHEN QUESTIONED,
CRIPPEN REVEALED
THAT HE HADN'T BEEN
HONEST WITH CORA'S FRIENDS.
HE SAID THAT CORA
HAD LEFT HIM FOR ANOTHER MAN,
THAT HE'D INVENTED THE STORY
OF HER ILLNESS TO SAVE FACE.
CLAIMING HE HAD NOTHING TO
HIDE, HE SHOWED THE OFFICERS
AROUND THE HOUSE.
HE EVEN TOOK THEM
TO THE COAL CELLAR.
EVERYTHING SEEMED
TO BE IN ORDER,
SO THE OFFICERS RETURNED
TO SCOTLAND YARD.
INSPECTOR DEW SHOWS UP TO
ASK CRIPPEN SOME MORE QUESTIONS
AND FINDS THE PREMISES VACANT.
Narrator: THIS WAS AN
UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS
AFTER CRIPPEN'S EXPLANATION
THE PREVIOUS FRIDAY.
DEW IMMEDIATELY BEGAN
A MORE THOROUGH SEARCH
OF THE EMPTY HOUSE.
Trestrail: HE HAPPENS TO PRY UP
ONE OF THE STONES IN THE
FLOOR OF THE COAL CELLAR.
POKES DOWN FOUR
OR FIVE INCHES...
THEY FIND DECOMPOSING STUFF.
IT'S NOT A BODY IN
HERE, IT'S PIECES.
IT'S STOMACH AND TISSUE
AND HAIR, AND SOME CLOTHES,
AND IT'S JUST A MESS.
THEY PROBABLY HADN'T
SEEN STUFF LIKE THAT
SINCE THE RIPPER WAS AT WORK.
Narrator: BUT UNLIKE
WITH THE RIPPER,
THIS TIME THEY HAD
A PLAUSIBLE SUSPECT.
WITHIN DAYS, NEWS OF THE CRIME
WAS SPLASHED ACROSS
HEADLINES AROUND THE WORLD.
AND POLICE AND CITIZENS
ALIKE WERE HUNTING
FOR CRIPPEN AND HIS LOVER.
AMID HUNDREDS OF
MISTAKEN SIGHTINGS,
SCOTLAND YARD RECEIVED A
MESSAGE FROM THE CAPTAIN
OF AN OCEAN LINER
IN THE ATLANTIC.
"HAVE STRONG SUSPICION
THAT CRIPPEN AND ACCOMPLICE
ARE AMONG PASSENGERS."
CAPTAIN HENRY KENDALL
HAD SEEN THE WANTED POSTER
SOMETHING ABOUT TWO
OF HIS PASSENGERS...
A MR. ROBINSON AND
HIS TEENAGE SON...
AROUSED THE
CAPTAIN'S SUSPICIONS.
WHY DIDN'T THE YOUNGSTER'S
CLOTHES FIT PROPERLY?
AND WHY WAS HE FOREVER
CLUTCHING HIS FATHER'S HAND?
"MUSTACHE SHAVED OFF.
ACCOMPLICE DRESSED AS A BOY."
KENDALL WAS SURE HE
HAD THE WANTED COUPLE.
HE SNAPPED THIS PHOTO,
WITH ETHEL ON THE LEFT
IN HER ILL-FITTING CLOTHES.
KENDALL'S SHIP, THE MONTROSE,
WAS ONE OF ONLY
A FEW IN THE WORLD
FITTED WITH A BRAND-NEW
MARCONI WIRELESS.
HAD THE SHIP NOT CARRIED THIS
WONDER OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY,
CRIPPEN WOULD
LIKELY HAVE ESCAPED.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DEW BOARDED
A FASTER SHIP, THE LAURENTIC.
HE HAD TO INTERCEPT THE MONTROSE
BEFORE SHE REACHED CANADA.
THE CHASE WAS ON, AND
THE WORLD WAS WATCHING.
Trestrail: I DON'T THINK
ANY MURDER IN HISTORY
HAD BEEN COVERED THAT
MUCH BY THE NEWSPAPERS.
IT WAS BEING READ ABOUT
ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Narrator: CAPTAIN KENDALL
STRUCK A DEAL WITH THE PAPERS.
HE KEPT CLOSE
WATCH ON THE COUPLE
AND SENT UPDATES
EVERY FEW HOURS.
Trestrail: THE CRIPPEN CASE,
IT WAS THE O.J.
SIMPSON CASE OF 1910.
WE HAVE THE NEWS MEDIA
FOLLOWING THIS WHITE BRONCO
AS IT'S GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY.
IT'S THE SAME THING.
MEDIA-DRIVEN FRENZY
ON BOTH OF THESE CASES.
Narrator: UNBEKNOWN
TO THE FUGITIVES,
THEY WERE NOW WORLD-FAMOUS.
THE PAPERS EVEN REPORTED
WHAT BOOK CRIPPEN WAS READING,
A THRILLER CALLED
"THE FOUR JUST MEN,"
ABOUT A LONDON MURDER.
Trestrail: HAWLEY AND ETHEL
ARE THE LAST TO KNOW
THE WHOLE WORLD'S
WATCHING, WAITING, ANTICIPATING.
Narrator: THE LAURENTIC FINALLY
CAUGHT UP TO THE MONTROSE
AND BOTH LINERS DROPPED ANCHOR
OFF THE COAST OF QUEBEC.
DEW BOARDED AND QUICKLY
APPREHENDED CRIPPEN AND LE NEVE.
FOR READERS AROUND THE
WORLD, CRIPPEN'S ARREST
WAS THE CLIFFHANGER
OF A GRIPPING SOAP OPERA.
THE NEXT INSTALMENT CAME IN
LONDON'S CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT,
WHERE CRIPPEN WENT
ON TRIAL FOR HIS LIFE.
4,000 PEOPLE APPLIED
FOR 80 COURTROOM SEATS.
ON TUESDAY THE
18th OF OCTOBER 1910,
THE TRIAL BEGAN.
THE CROWDS CAME FOR
THE SPECTACLE AND SCANDAL.
BUT THEY WERE ALSO EXPOSED
TO AN UNFAMILIAR NEW TERM...
"FORENSIC SCIENCE."
NOBODY HAD SEEN CRIPPEN KILL
CORA AND HE HADN'T CONFESSED.
SO THE PROSECUTION HAD
TO BUILD THEIR ENTIRE CASE
AROUND WHAT WAS
FOUND IN THE COAL CELLAR.
BUT THERE WAS NO
HEAD OR FINGERPRINTS
TO IDENTIFY THE
BODY, JUST SOME SKIN
AND INTERNAL ORGANS,
SOME STRANDS OF HAIR,
AND A FEW SCRAPS OF CLOTH.
AT FIRST GLANCE,
THERE SEEMED LITTLE TO PROVE
THAT THESE PUTREFIED REMAINS
HAD BELONGED TO CORA.
AS HE HAD PREVIOUSLY STATED,
CRIPPEN CLAIMED CORA
HAD RUN OFF WITH A LOVER
BECAUSE HE PANICKED AFTER
THE VISIT FROM THE POLICE.
ABOUT THE REMAINS IN THE CELLAR
OR HOW THEY HAD GOTTEN THERE.
CRIPPEN'S LAWYERS SAID
THERE WASN'T ENOUGH
EVIDENCE TO CONVICT.
BUT THEN THE PROSECUTION
PRODUCED THEIR STAR WITNESS...
FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST
BERNARD SPILSBURY.
THIS CHARISMATIC YOUNG SCIENTIST
WITH A TRADEMARK RED
CARNATION IN HIS LAPEL
DAZZLED THE JURY.
WHAT SPILSBURY DID
WAS RADICAL AND NEW.
HE USED FORENSICS TO
OFFSET THE PERCEIVED LACK
OF INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE.
HE CLAIMED THAT THE SKIN
SEGMENT FROM THE CELLAR CONTAINED
A DISTINCTIVE SCAR LISTED
IN CORA'S MEDICAL RECORDS.
THE JURY ALSO HEARD
HOW CLOTH FRAGMENTS
FOUND WITH THE REMAINS MATCHED
A PAIR OF CRIPPEN'S PAJAMAS.
AND THE REMAINS WERE ALSO
SAID TO CONTAIN A RARE POISON
THAT CRIPPEN WAS KNOWN
TO HAVE HAD IN HIS POSSESSION.
WITH SUCH POWERFUL
SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY,
THE VERDICT CAME QUICKLY.
HAWLEY HARVEY CRIPPEN...
Trestrail: THE JURY
WAS OUT 27 MINUTES.
THEN THEY WALKED
BACK IN AND SAID,
"GUILTY."
YOU CRUELLY POISONED YOUR WIFE.
Narrator: THE FLEDGLING USE OF
FORENSIC SCIENCE HAD TRIUMPHED,
AND CRIPPEN WAS
SENTENCED TO DEATH.
THE HANGING WOULD BE
AT PENTONVILLE PRISON,
RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER
FROM HILLDROP CRESCENT.
UP UNTIL THE END, CRIPPEN
PROTESTED HIS INNOCENCE
IN A SERIES OF LETTERS
TO ETHEL LE NEVE.
SHE'D BEEN FOUND NOT
GUILTY AT A SEPARATE TRIAL
AND CAMPAIGNED IN VAIN
TO SAVE HER LOVER'S LIFE.
Trestrail: HAWLEY IS SENTENCED
AND IS HANGED FOUR WEEKS LATER.
FAST JUSTICE COMPARED TO TODAY.
FOUR WEEKS.
THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK.
Narrator: AND THAT'S HOW IT
STOOD FOR ALMOST A CENTURY.
AN EVIL KILLER HAD BEEN
BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.
BUT JOHN TRESTRAIL WASN'T
SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS.
THE PIECES JUST DIDN'T ADD UP.
Trestrail: I KEPT
COMING BACK, SAYING,
SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT...
SOMETHING'S WRONG IN HERE
WE'RE NOT UNDERSTANDING.
I HAVE MURDERED AND
DISMEMBERED MY WIFE
AND DISPOSED OF 99% OF HER BODY.
WHY DO I LEAVE 1% OF IT
UNDER THE COAL CELLAR?
THE MOST IMPORTANT
QUESTION IN THIS CASE
WAS, WAS THIS REALLY
CORA CRIPPEN OR NOT?
Man: WE NOW HAVE
PASSED SENTENCES...
Narrator: TRESTRAIL REALIZED
THAT TODAY'S ADVANCED
FORENSIC TECHNIQUES
COULD PROVIDE FAR
MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT A PERSON'S IDENTITY
THAN THE CRUDE TECHNIQUES
OF THE 1900s.
WHAT THEY NEEDED WAS
DNA FROM THE REMAINS
THAT THEY COULD TEST AGAINST
DNA FROM A LIVING RELATIVE
OF CORA CRIPPEN.
BUT ALL THAT DNA WOULD
NOT BE EASY TO COME BY.
I WANTED TO LOOK FOR RECORDS.
THERE WAS SHIPPING RECORDS.
Narrator: FIRST,
TRESTRAIL ENLISTED
BETH WILLS, A
MICHIGAN-BASED GENEALOGIST
WHO BEGAN THE PAINSTAKING
SEARCH FOR CORA'S LIVING RELATIVES.
Wills: I WAS PRESENTED
WITH BROOKLYN IN THE 1880s.
AND THAT WAS A HUGE
CONGLOMERATE OF PEOPLE,
OFTENTIMES MANY
FAMILIES LIVING TOGETHER.
PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T
WANT TO BE IDENTIFIED.
SO, WE HAD LOTS OF PROBLEMS.
Narrator: CORA'S CASE WAS
PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING.
BEFORE HER MARRIAGE, SHE HAD
CALLED HERSELF "CORA TURNER."
AT ANOTHER TIME, AS SHE TRIED
TO DEVELOP HER STAGE CAREER,
SHE WENT BY "BELLE ELMORE."
BUT SHE'D BEEN BORN WITH THE
NAME "KUNIGUNDE MACKAMOTZKI"
TO A POLISH IMMIGRANT FAMILY
WHO LATER CHANGED THEIR NAME
TO "MERSINGER."
Wills: I WAS POSTING
MESSAGES ON ANY AND ALL
GENEALOGY MESSAGE
BOARDS THAT I COULD FIND.
"PLEASE, PLEASE, DOES THIS NAME
MEAN ANYTHING TO ANYBODY?"
AND I DID GET A WONDERFUL
E-MAIL MESSAGE BACK
FROM A GAL WHO SAID, "MY DAD HAS
"A PICTURE OF CORA IN
HIS BOX OF TREASURES
"THAT HE KEEPS UP IN HIS CLOSET.
"ABOUT THE MURDER
AND ABOUT THE HANGING,
AND THIS IS MY FAMILY."
A GRANDMOTHER LIVING IN
SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA,
IS THE GREAT NIECE
OF CORA CRIPPEN.
Wills: LOOK AT THIS
PICTURE THAT SHE SENT.
AND THIS IS A PICTURE OF
MARIE AND HER MOTHER.
AND LOOK AT THE RESEMBLANCE
IN THE FACE BETWEEN
MARIE'S MOM AND
CORA... IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.
THEY HAVE AN IDENTICAL
FACIAL STRUCTURE.
IT'S AMAZING.
Narrator: BETH WILLS HAD
FOUND A LIVING DESCENDANT
TO PROVIDE THE MODERN DNA.
THE NEXT PRIORITY
WAS TO TRACK DOWN
SOME OF THE ORIGINAL
FORENSIC EVIDENCE
THAT WAS PRESENTED
AT CRIPPEN'S TRIAL.
SCOTLAND YARD STILL HOLDS
SOME OF THE TRIAL EXHIBITS,
BITS OF HAIR AND
CLOTH IN A MUSEUM.
BUT THEY WEREN'T
PREPARED TO SEND THEM
TO THE UNITED
STATES FOR TESTING.
REMARKABLY, EVEN
AFTER ALL THIS TIME,
THERE WAS ANOTHER SOURCE.
THE ROYAL LONDON
HOSPITAL HAD RETAINED A SET
OF PATHOLOGICAL SPECIMENS
FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES.
Trestrail: THAT'S THE
KEY TO THE PROJECT.
SOMETHING TO MATCH
OR NOT MATCH AGAINST CORA'S DNA.
AND THESE PARTICULAR ONES...
Narrator: THESE
MICROSCOPE SLIDES,
PREPARED BY PATHOLOGIST
BERNARD SPILSBURY
CONTAIN ACTUAL PIECES OF SKIN
FROM THE REMAINS IN THE CELLAR.
THEY'RE ONE OF THE
CRUCIAL PIECES OF EVIDENCE
THAT HANGED CRIPPEN,
AND EXACTLY WHAT THE
MODERN DNA EXPERTS NEED.
THE SAMPLES ARE SENT TO
THE FORENSIC BIOLOGY UNIT
AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY,
ONE OF AMERICA'S LEADING
FORENSIC DNA RESEARCH LABS.
LAB DIRECTOR DR. DAVID
FORAN HAS WORKED
ON A NUMBER OF
HIGH-PROFILE CASES,
INCLUDING THAT OF
THE BOSTON STRANGLER.
HIS TEAM WOULD NOW
BEGIN A COMPLICATED
AND TIME-CONSUMING SERIES
OF TESTS ON THE 1910 REMAINS.
A SINGLE MICROSCOPE
SLIDE WOULD PROVIDE
MORE THAN ENOUGH TISSUE,
BUT AFTER A HUNDRED YEARS,
COULD VIABLE DNA BE EXTRACTED?
Foran: THE TISSUE HAD BEEN
PROCESSED QUITE A BIT BACK THEN,
ON THE OTHER HAND, IT HAD
BEEN STORED IN A MUSEUM,
AND IF WE COMPARE THAT TO
BONES THAT HAVE BEEN BURIED
IN THE GROUND FOR
A HUNDRED YEARS,
THIS WAS MUCH BETTER
THAN THAT TYPE OF MATERIAL.
Narrator: WHAT THE TEAM
NEEDS IS MITOCHONDRIAL DNA,
WHICH PASSES FROM
MOTHER TO CHILD VIA THE EGG.
UNLIKE NUCLEAR DNA, IT'S NOT
DILUTED OVER GENERATIONS,
SO IF THE SAMPLE FROM THE CELLAR
MATCHES THE MODERN
SAMPLES, IT WILL BE
A GOOD INDICATION THAT THE
REMAINS REALLY WERE CORA'S.
FORAN HAD OBTAINED
DNA FROM MARIE HAMEL.
AND, AS A FURTHER
CONTROL, FROM HER SISTER
AND DAUGHTER AS WELL.
WHAT HE WAS NOW LOOKING FOR
WAS ANY SIGN OF MISMATCHES
IN THE GENETIC CODES.
AND HE FOUND THEM.
Foran: NOT JUST A SINGLE
DIFFERENCE WHERE WE MIGHT SAY,
"WELL, THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
A MUTATION THAT HAPPENED."
WE FOUND A SUBSTANTIAL
NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES,
WHICH READILY INDICATE
THAT THESE ARE NOT
MATERNALLY RELATED.
Narrator: EVEN ONE MISMATCH
WOULD HAVE SIGNALED
THAT THE REMAINS HAD
NOT COME FROM CORA.
THE TEAM FOUND FIVE.
WITH SUCH HUGE IMPLICATIONS,
THEY DECIDED TO
REPEAT ALL THE TESTS.
I STEPPED BACK,
WAITED A FEW WEEKS,
AND STARTED OVER FROM SCRATCH.
GOT A NEW TISSUE,
PROCESSED THAT AGAIN,
COMPARED THAT TO THE
EARLIER DNA RESULTS.
THEY'RE IDENTICAL.
Narrator: BUT FORAN
HAD TO CONSIDER
ANOTHER POSSIBLE
CAUSE FOR THE MISMATCH.
COULD THE PATHOLOGIST IN 1910
HAVE CONTAMINATED THE SAMPLE
Foran: EVEN THOUGH IT'S A
VERY THIN SLICE OF TISSUE,
FROM WHOEVER'S BODY THAT
WAS, AND IF SOMEONE HAD
TOUCHED THAT
SAMPLE TO PROCESS IT,
THE AMOUNT OF DNA THAT
THEY WOULD HAVE LEFT BEHIND
DNA FROM TISSUE ON THE
SLIDE WOULD HAVE SWAMPED OUT
ANY MATERIAL THAT MAY HAVE
BEEN LEFT BY PATHOLOGISTS.
Trestrail: I REMEMBER
GETTING THE CALL FROM DAVID.
HE SAYS, "ARE YOU SITTING DOWN?"
I SAID, "YES."
HE SAYS, "THEY DON'T
MATCH. IT'S NOT HER."
AND I HAD THIS KIND OF
REAL SURREAL FEELING OF,
"OH, MY GOD!"
Narrator: JUST AS IT HAD
A FULL CENTURY EARLIER,
THE CRIPPEN CASE WAS ONCE
AGAIN MAKING INTERNATIONAL NEWS.
IN THE SMALL TOWN OF
COLDWATER, MICHIGAN,
THE REVELATIONS
FROM DR. FORAN'S LAB
WERE MORE THAN JUST HEADLINES.
THEY WERE PERSONAL.
BACK IN THE 1900s,
THE CRIPPENS HAD BEEN
ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST,
MOST WELL-RESPECTED
FAMILIES IN COLDWATER.
BUT THEIR REPUTATION HAD
BEEN TARNISHED BY THE MURDER.
NOW CRIPPEN'S DESCENDANTS
SAW AN OPPORTUNITY
TO EXONERATE THEIR ANCESTOR
AND CLEAR THE FAMILY NAME.
Man: I AM THE CLOSEST
LIVING MALE RELATIVE.
WHEN YOU SEE THE EVIDENCE
THAT HAS TURNED UP NOW,
IT WAS WRONG TO HANG HIM.
AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE ASKING
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT,
IN ALL HONESTY,
OWES IT TO US.
Narrator: BASED ON
THE DNA RESULTS,
A PARDON SEEMS JUSTIFIED
SINCE CRIPPEN WAS
CONVICTED OF KILLING HIS WIFE.
BUT IF THE REMAINS WEREN'T
CORA'S, WHOSE WERE THEY?
Trestrail: WHAT ARE THESE THINGS
DOING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?
HOW COULD THEY GET THERE?
IF IT'S NOT HIS WIFE, THEN
WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?
Narrator: TRESTRAIL THINKS
THE ANSWERS MAY LIE
IN THE POISON SAID TO HAVE
BEEN FOUND IN THE REMAINS.
THERE WAS A LITTLE-KNOWN
DRUG CALLED HYOSCINE.
THIS IS THE ONLY HYOSCINE
MURDER CASE I'M FAMILIAR WITH.
MOST PEOPLE HAVE NEVER
HEARD OF THIS DRUG AT ALL.
BUT IT WAS USED IN
OBSTETRICS, ABORTION,
OBSTETRICAL PROCEDURE.
AH, THAT MAKES SENSE.
Narrator: WHEN MONEY GOT TIGHT,
COULD CRIPPEN HAVE TURNED
TO BACKROOM ABORTIONS
FOR EXTRA CASH?
RECORDS SHOW HE PERFORMED
DENTAL WORK ON THE SIDE,
SO WHY NOT ILLEGAL
ABORTIONS AS WELL?
PERFORMING SUCH PROCEDURES WAS
DANGEROUS BUSINESS FOR DOCTORS,
WHO FACED LIFE
SENTENCES IF CAUGHT.
BUT WITH BOTH A WIFE AND
A MISTRESS TO SUPPORT,
COULD CRIPPEN HAVE FELT
THAT WAS A NECESSARY RISK?
IN 1910, WHEN ALL
SURGERIES WERE DANGEROUS,
A BOTCHED ABORTION
COULD EASILY HAVE LEFT
AN INCRIMINATING
BODY TO BE DISPOSED OF.
SO IS THAT WHERE THE BODY PARTS
IN THE CELLAR HAD COME FROM?
DAVID FORAN'S TEAM
WILL TRY TO FIND OUT.
THEIR FIRST TEST
WILL BE TO ESTABLISH
GENDER TESTS ARE SIMPLE WITH
FRESH DNA, BUT THESE OLD SAMPLES
WILL REQUIRE A SPECIAL
TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED BY HIS LAB.
Foran: IF YOU HAVE
A FRESH SAMPLE,
DETERMINING THE
SEX OF AN INDIVIDUAL
IS PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD.
WE DO THAT IN
FORENSICS ALL THE TIME.
IT'S WHEN YOU HAVE THESE
LESS-THAN-OPTIMAL SAMPLES...
OLD BONES, IN THIS
CASE A PRESERVED SLIDE...
WHERE THAT GETS
MUCH MORE DIFFICULT.
THE SEXING ASSAY
THAT WE'RE USING
IS BRAND-NEW.
APPROXIMATELY 4,000
TIMES MORE SENSITIVE
THAN THE NORMAL ASSAY THAT
WE DO IN FORENSIC LABORATORIES.
THIS IS OUR FEMALE CONTROL.
Narrator: IT TAKES TWO WEEKS
TO COMPLETE THE TEST CYCLE.
WHEN THE DATA IS COMPILED,
JOHN TRESTRAIL IS INVITED
IN TO HEAR THE RESULTS.
CONFIRMATION THAT THE BODY
WAS FEMALE WOULD NOT PROVE
CRIPPEN HAD BOTCHED AN
ABORTION AND DISPOSED OF THE BODY,
BUT IT WOULD INDICATE
THE THEORY WAS FEASIBLE.
Foran: WE HAVE SOME RESULTS.
UM, THIS IS A REALTIME ASSAY.
AND THOSE ARE THE
RESULTS FROM THE SLIDE DNA.
SO, THAT WOULD BE
POSITIVELY FEMALE?
THIS ONE?
NO, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TWO LINES.
THIS IS YOUR AREA, NOT MINE.
FEMALE GIVES YOU ONE RESULT.
WHAT HAVE WE GOT?
THIS IS AN "X" AND THAT'S A "Y."
SO, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
IT MEANS IT'S MALE.
OH, MY GOD.
WE TESTED IT MULTIPLE TIMES.
WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT
THE PATHOLOGIST'S DNA,
BY ANY CHANCE?
NO, I’M CONFIDENT OF THAT.
WE TESTED IT AND
TESTED IT AND TESTED IT.
OH, BOY!
SO, IDEAS?
I KNOW YOU'VE HAD
SOME TIME TO THINK ABOUT
WHAT MALES MAY BE THERE.
GOD, YOU KNOW, IT ALMOST...
I'M RUNNING SCENARIOS
THROUGH MY MIND
OF PLANTED EVIDENCE NOW.
IT CERTAINLY TAKES OUT
THE QUESTION OF THE
ABORTION PROBLEM.
YES, THAT DOES
TAKE OUT THAT ONE.
SO, WE'VE CLOSED THAT DOOR.
THEN HOW DO WE EXPLAIN HYOSCINE?
OH, MAN.
IT THROWS ALL THE
EVIDENCE FROM THE TRIAL
THAT ULTIMATELY HANGED HAWLEY,
IT THROWS IT IN THE TRASH CAN.
AS FAR AS THAT TRIAL GOES.
I AGREE.
Narrator: TRESTRAIL
IS NOT THE ONLY ONE.
SHOCKED BY THE NEWS.
HI, DAVID, GOOD. HOW ARE YOU?
MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE,
IT TYPED AS MALE.
OH, MY GOSH!
THAT REALLY... WOW!
THAT JUST KIND OF
PUTS A WHOLE NEW...
YOU KNOW, WOW!
IT'S NOT ONLY NOT CORA,
BUT IT'S NOT EVEN
CORA'S SEX, IT'S MALE DNA.
YES! THAT IS SO COOL.
Narrator: FOR JAMES
PATRICK CRIPPEN,
IT'S FURTHER CONFIRMATION
OF HIS ANCESTOR'S INNOCENCE.
THE TISSUE ON THAT
SLIDE IS MALE IN ORIGIN.
IT'S NOT A FEMALE SAMPLE AT ALL.
IT'S DEFINITELY TYPED AS MALE.
YOU HAVE JUST MADE MY DAY.
Narrator: WITH CLEAR
EVIDENCE FROM DAVID FORAN
THAT THE REMAINS WERE NOT CORA'S
AND THE ABORTION THEORY
CONVINCINGLY DISPROVED,
TRESTRAIL BEGINS TO
EXPLORE ANOTHER POSSIBILITY,
THAT CRIPPEN MAY
HAVE BEEN FRAMED.
HE'S ON HIS WAY TO
CONSULT ANDREW ROSE,
A LEGAL EXPERT WHO'S
MADE A SPECIAL STUDY
OF THE CRIPPEN CASE.
ROSE IS AN EXPERIENCED
DEFENSE BARRISTER
AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO
PROVIDE SOME INSIGHTS
INTO THE LEGAL
ASPECTS OF THE CASE.
WHEN YOU EXAMINE
THE DNA EVIDENCE,
THEN THAT'S PRETTY STRONG STUFF.
WE'VE GOT TO CONSIDER THE
CASE IN A WHOLLY DIFFERENT LIGHT.
Narrator: CRIPPEN TESTIFIED THAT
THE REMAINS MUST HAVE BEEN THERE
BEFORE HE MOVED INTO THE HOUSE,
PERHAPS FROM AN EARLIER CRIME
BY A PREVIOUS TENANT.
HE TOLD THE COURT
THAT HE AND CORA HAD ONLY BEEN
AT HILLDROP CRESCENT SINCE 1905.
THAT DATE, AND A PIECE
OF BLOODSTAINED CLOTH,
WOULD QUICKLY COME
BACK TO HAUNT HIM.
TANGLED IN THE ROTTING
REMAINS, POLICE SAID THEY FOUND
PIECES OF A PAJAMA SHIRT.
AN OFFICER ALSO TESTIFIED
THAT UPSTAIRS WITH
CRIPPEN'S CLOTHES
HE FOUND MATCHING PAJAMA PANTS.
THIS WAS THE SMOKING
GUN THE POLICE NEEDED,
A DIRECT LINK BETWEEN
CRIPPEN AND THE REMAINS.
BUT THERE WAS MORE.
THE CLOTH BORE
A LABEL INDICATING
WHERE IT WAS FROM... A
STORE CALLED JONES BROTHERS.
Rose: THE PAJAMA
BOTTOM WERE EXAMINED
BY A REPRESENTATIVE
OF JONES BROTHERS
TOGETHER WITH THE
REMAINS OF THE TOP,
AND HE'D FORMED A VIEW
FROM THE TYPE OF CLOTH USED
THAT IT COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN
ACQUIRED BY JONES BROTHERS
AROUND ABOUT THE END OF 1908.
Narrator: THAT MEANT THAT
IF THE PAJAMAS AND REMAINS
HAD BEEN PLACED IN THE
CELLAR AT THE SAME TIME,
THEY COULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE
PRIOR TO CRIPPEN'S
ARRIVAL IN 1905.
THEY SAY THAT
THIS CONVICTED HIM.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? HOW
BAD WAS THIS EVIDENCE?
IT WAS SERIOUS EVIDENCE
AGAINST CRIPPEN.
THERE WAS, OF COURSE,
THE EVIDENCE OF THE SCAR,
WHICH WAS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE.
SO THE SCAR PROVED THE "WHO."
ABSOLUTELY. AND THE
PAJAMAS PROVED THE "WHEN."
THAT WAS THE IDEA.
Narrator: THE SCAR
ROSE IS REFERRING TO
WAS ONE OF THE MOST
DAMNING PIECES OF EVIDENCE
PRESENTED BY THE PROSECUTION.
FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST
BERNARD SPILSBURY
CLAIMED IT WAS ON A PIECE
OF SKIN FROM THE ABDOMEN
AND CONSISTENT WITH AN OPERATION
CORA CRIPPEN WAS
KNOWN TO HAVE UNDERGONE
Rose: HE SAID, "I HAVE NO
DOUBT THAT IT IS SCAR TISSUE,"
AND HE REPEATED THAT, AND
HIS EVIDENCE OBVIOUSLY HAD
A REMARKABLE IMPACT.
WITHOUT THIS EVIDENCE,
CRIPPEN MIGHT WELL HAVE
WALKED FREE FROM COURT.
Narrator: CRIPPEN'S LAWYERS
ARGUED IT WASN'T A SCAR AT ALL,
JUST A MARK WHERE THE
SKIN HAD BEEN FOLDED.
THE NOTES FROM THE DEFENSE'S
EXPERT WITNESS STILL EXIST.
Trestrail: HE'S SEEING
SEBACEOUS GLANDS, WHICH
ARE LIKE SWEAT GLANDS.
AND WE KNOW THAT'S NOT
CONSISTENT WITH SCAR TISSUE.
YOU DON'T HAVE
THOSE IN SCAR TISSUE,
AND SO WHAT HE'S TRYING
TO SAY TO THE JURY IS,
"I DON'T THINK THIS IS A SCAR.
I THINK IT'S A FOLD IN
THE SKIN, THAT'S ALL IT IS."
Narrator: AFTER HIS MODERN-DAY
PERUSAL OF THE TISSUE,
DAVID FORAN AGREES
WITH THE DEFENSE.
Foran: THERE ARE SEVERAL
SLIDES AT THE MUSEUM.
THREE OR FOUR OF THOSE
REPRESENT THE SO-CALLED SCAR,
OTHER ONES REPRESENT WHAT
ARE LABELED AS FOLDS IN THE SKIN.
COULD LOOK AT THOSE
AND DIFFERENTIATE THEM.
SO, IT SEEMS QUITE
POSSIBLE THAT DR. SPILSBURY
FOUND WHAT HE WANTED TO FIND.
Narrator: UNFORTUNATELY,
FOR CRIPPEN,
THE JURY FOUND
SPILSBURY'S CONCLUSION
ABOUT THE SCAR MORE CONVINCING
THAN THE DEFENSE EXPERT'S
FOLDED SKIN THEORY.
BUT FOR ROSE AND TRESTRAIL,
THERE IS SOMETHING A
LITTLE TOO CONVENIENT
ABOUT THE EVIDENCE
THAT WAS PRESENTED.
NO BODY, BUT A PIECE OF SKIN
WITH A RECOGNIZABLE SCAR,
AND JUST ENOUGH FABRIC
TO TIE CRIPPEN TO THE CRIME.
Rose: IT'S A REMARKABLE
FEATURE OF THE CRIPPEN CASE
THAT THE REMAINS
SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOUND
IN THE WAY THAT THEY WERE
ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED.
IT'S EXTRAORDINARY.
IF I WERE DEFENDING CRIPPEN,
I WOULD MAKE GREAT
PLAY ON THE FACT
THAT THE ALLEGED
MURDERER HAD DISPOSED
OF LARGE QUANTITIES OF
THE BODY IN SOME OTHER WAY
AND YET LEFT A FILLETED
SECTION IN HIS OWN HOUSE.
A VERY STRANGE THING TO DO,
TO LEAVE INCRIMINATING MATERIAL
TOGETHER, OF COURSE, WITH
ITEMS OF YOUR OWN CLOTHING.
IF WE UNDERSTAND
WHAT'S NOT IN THIS GRAVE,
HE HAD TO BE HAULING BODY
PARTS SOMEWHERE IN TOWN
INTO A CANAL OR
SOMEWHERE TO GET RID OF IT.
A HEAD, HIS WIFE'S
HEAD, ET CETERA, LIMBS.
AND THESE ARE LITTLE
PIECES LEFT OVER.
I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY
NOT JUST GET RID OF THEM, TOO,
AND THERE'S NO EVIDENCE.
Narrator: IT DOESN'T
SEEM LOGICAL
TO EITHER ROSE OR TRESTRAIL
THAT CRIPPEN WOULD HAVE RETAINED
JUST THE FEW ITEMS NECESSARY
TO INCRIMINATE HIMSELF.
BUT IF HE HADN'T PUT THE
REMAINS IN THE CELLAR,
COULD THE POLICE TESTIMONY
HAVE BEEN INACCURATE?
TRESTRAIL THINKS THE ACTIONS
OF THE 1910 INVESTIGATORS
WARRANT A CLOSER LOOK.
HE'S BEEN GIVEN ACCESS
TO THE PROSECUTION'S
ORIGINAL CASE FILES,
WHICH HAVE BEEN STORED IN
BRITAIN'S NATIONAL ARCHIVES.
THE POLICE REPORTS
AND WITNESS STATEMENTS
HAVE ONLY RECENTLY
BEEN DECLASSIFIED.
THEY CONTAIN
IMPORTANT NEW EVIDENCE.
Trestrail: HERE WE HAVE A REPORT
TO THE METROPOLITAN POLICE
SAYING THAT A
WOMAN OF CORA'S AGE,
OF HER STATURE,
WAS ASKING A CARRIAGE
MAN TO REMOVE
FIVE TRUNKS FROM
39 HILLDROP CRESCENT
TO ANOTHER LOCATION.
THIS IS A CRUCIAL DATE BECAUSE
IT'S ABOUT TWO WEEKS BEFORE
SHE ACTUALLY DISAPPEARED.
Narrator: ANOTHER
DOCUMENT DETAILS HOW,
AROUND THAT SAME TIME, AND
WITHOUT HER HUSBAND'S CONSENT,
CORA ATTEMPTED TO WITHDRAW,
THE COUPLE'S LIFE
SAVINGS FROM THE BANK.
VERY IMPORTANT STUFF, I THINK,
FOR THE DEFENSE COUNSEL TO SAY,
"LOOK, SOMEONE'S ATTEMPTING
"TO MOVE STUFF OUT
OF HILLDROP CRESCENT.
THAT'S WHAT MY
CLIENT SAYS HAPPENED."
Rose: THE POLICE, IN
EFFECT, SUPPRESSED
THAT PIECE OF EVIDENCE
BECAUSE IT DIDN'T SUPPORT
THEIR INTERPRETATION
OF THE FACTS.
Narrator: THERE ARE
OTHER IRREGULARITIES
IN THE PROSECUTION’S CASE.
39 HILLDROP CRESCENT
WAS OBLITERATED
BY GERMAN BOMBS IN WORLD WAR II.
BUT IT HAS THE SAME LAYOUT
AS THE NEIGHBORING HOUSE,
AND THE FLOOR
PLANS STILL SURVIVE.
Trestrail: WHAT WE HAVE HERE
IS A LAYOUT OF THE GROUND FLOOR
OF HILLDROP CRESCENT.
IT SAYS "COAL CELLAR,"
BUT IT'S NOT A CELLAR.
OTHER THAN SLEEPING, THE
CRIPPENS BASICALLY LIVED
ON THIS FLOOR OF THE HOUSE,
THE GROUND LEVEL FLOOR.
THEY HAD BREAKFAST
EVERY DAY AND DINNER HERE.
THEY HAD A KITCHEN THEY
COOKED IN EVERY DAY HERE.
THEY SLEPT UPSTAIRS, BUT
THEY ATE DINNER AND BREAKFAST
RIGHT NEXT TO THE COAL
CELLAR UNDER THE STEPS.
Narrator: CRIPPEN
AND ETHEL LE NEVE
HAD LIVED TOGETHER IN
THE HOUSE FOR SIX MONTHS
AFTER CORA DISAPPEARED,
BUT WHEN THE POLICE
FOUND THE REMAINS, THEY SAID
THE STENCH WAS SO OVERPOWERING,
THEY SPRAYED THE AREA
WITH A POWERFUL DISINFECTANT
TO TRY AND KILL THE SMELL.
Trestrail: THEY'VE GOT A DOG
RUNNING AROUND THE HOUSE, TOO...
DOGS ARE VERY
SENSITIVE TO SMELL.
Narrator: PERHAPS THE CLAY SOIL
PROVIDED AN ODOR-PROOF BARRIER
UNTIL IT WAS REMOVED,
BUT TRESTRAIL STILL THINKS
THE CELLAR WAS AN
UNLIKELY BURIAL PLACE
GIVEN THE LIVING ARRANGEMENTS.
THAT WOULD BE STUPID.
WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE
PUTREFYING REMAINS
RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE
EVERYONE'S LIVING?
Narrator: EVEN MORE
CONCERNING, THE POLICE
ONLY MADE THEIR DISCOVERY
AFTER THEY'D BEEN SEARCHING
FOR THREE DAYS, AND ONLY
DEW AND ONE OTHER OFFICER
WERE PRESENT WHEN
THE REMAINS WERE FOUND.
DEW AND HIS SERGEANT
WERE ALONE IN THE HOUSE
FOR A PERIOD OF TIME
AND HAD THE OPPORTUNITY
TO PLANT EVIDENCE IN THE CELLAR.
IT DOESN'T MEAN TO
SAY THAT THEY DID,
BUT CERTAINLY IT'S A
FACTOR THAT WOULD NOW,
MUST NOW BE TAKEN
INTO ACCOUNT IN RELATION
TO ANY MODERN ASSESSMENT
OF WHAT TOOK PLACE IN 1910.
Narrator: BUT WHAT
POSSIBLE MOTIVE
WHY WOULD THEY HAVE WANTED
CTO FRAME THE GOOD DOCTOR?
THE MEDIA GLARE AND
CLOSE GOVERNMENT SCRUTINY
PUT SCOTLAND YARD UNDER
INTENSE PRESSURE TO SOLVE THE CASE.
THE HOME SECRETARY HIMSELF,
A YOUNG WINSTON CHURCHILL,
WAS FOLLOWING THE INVESTIGATION.
Trestrail: WHAT WE HAVE HERE
IS AN AUGUST 1910 DOCUMENT
THAT'S A REQUEST TO THE POLICE
FROM THE HOME SECRETARY.
IT SAYS HERE, "MR. CHURCHILL."
AND HE WANTS TO BE KEPT ABREAST
OF EVERYTHING ON THIS CASE.
AT HIS HOME, OR EVEN
AT THE GOLF CLUB.
INTERESTING REQUEST.
THIS SHOWS YOU THE HIGH PROFILE
IT WAS THE FIRST OF THE
MEDIA-DRIVEN TRIALS EVER.
Rose: THIS CASE BALLOONED INTO
A REALLY INTERNATIONAL STORY,
WITH, THEREFORE, ENORMOUS
PRESSURE ON THE POLICE
TO PRODUCE A CONVICTION
AT THE END OF THE DAY.
Narrator: THERE WAS
PRESSURE AND OPPORTUNITY.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DEW
BECAME A CELEBRITY.
WITHIN DAYS OF CRIPPEN'S
CONVICTION, HE LEFT THE POLICE
TO BECOME A PRIVATE DETECTIVE.
AND LATER HE WROTE
A BEST-SELLING BOOK
SIMPLY TITLED "I
CAUGHT CRIPPEN."
Man: HE COLD-BLOODEDLY
KILLED HIS WIFE...
Narrator: FORENSIC
PATHOLOGIST BERNARD SPILSBURY
ALSO BENEFITED FROM
HIS NEWFOUND FAME.
HE HELPED PROSECUTORS
GAIN CONVICTIONS
IN 250 MURDER TRIALS
AND WAS KNIGHTED IN 1923.
WERE SOMETIMES CALLED INTO
QUESTION, JUST AS THEY HAD BEEN
BY CRIPPEN'S LAWYERS WHEN
HE SAID HE HAD IDENTIFIED A SCAR.
Rose: FROM INSTANCE
LATER IN SPILSBURY'S CAREER,
WE CAN SEE HE'S GOT FORM,
REALLY, FOR RESPONDING
TO POLICE PRESSURE.
IN THIS CASE, HE WAS
UNDER ENORMOUS PRESSURE
TO DELIVER THE GOODS.
AND HE DELIVERED THEM.
Narrator: IT SEEMS SPILSBURY
MAY NOT HAVE BEEN
THE ONLY ONE TO
CONVENIENTLY DELIVER
WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDED.
FORENSIC TOXICOLOGIST
WILLIAM WILLCOX
DISCOVERED THE
POISON IN THE REMAINS,
A PROCESS TRESTRAIL FEELS
WAS SUSPICIOUSLY EASY.
WE COULDN'T EVEN DO THIS TODAY,
AND ALL OF THE SUDDEN,
BINGO, WE'RE RIGHT ON TOP
OF THE POISON RIGHT
AWAY, AND THIS WAS WHEN
ANALYTICAL TOXICOLOGY
WAS IN ITS INFANCY, IN 1910.
Narrator: CRIPPEN ADMITTED
HE'D BOUGHT THE POISON,
A RARE ALKALOID CALLED HYOSCINE.
HE SAID HE USED THE DRUG,
IN SOME OF HIS PATENT MEDICINES.
BUT HYOSCINE HAS NEVER BEFORE
OR SINCE BEEN DOCUMENTED
IN A POISONING CASE.
YET WILLCOX SEARCHED FOR
AND IDENTIFIED IT
WITH LITTLE TROUBLE.
Trestrail: TODAY,
WE WOULD START OUT
LOOKING FOR HEAVY METALS,
THEN WE'D GO TO OPIATE
COMPOUNDS, ET CETERA.
AND IT SAYS HERE
IN HIS TESTIMONY,
HE IMMEDIATELY MOVES ON
TO THE COMMON ALKALOIDS.
"HOW DID YOU DO
THAT SO QUICKLY?"
AND I THINK HE WAS GUIDED
IN WHAT TO LOOK FOR.
AND ACTUALLY,
HE FOUND WHAT
THEY WANTED TO HEAR.
AMAZING STUFF.
Narrator: WITH ALL THE
FORENSIC EVIDENCE
FINGERING HIM AS THE KILLER,
CRIPPEN'S ONLY HOPE
WAS TO CONVINCE THE JURY
THAT CORA REALLY HAD
RUN OFF WITH A LOVER.
TO THAT END,
HIS LAWYER SUMMONED FROM CHICAGO
A THEATER FRIEND OF
CORA'S NAMED BRUCE MILLER.
Trestrail: HERE HE IS
BEING INTERROGATED
AND HE'S SAYING,
"I HAVE KISSED HER."
THERE WAS A RELATIONSHIP THERE.
AND HE ALSO HAS A LETTER
THAT HE'D WRITTEN TO HER
SIGNED "WITH LOVE AND
KISSES, TO BROWN EYES."
THAT'S HOW HE REFERRED TO CORA.
BOY, THIS SOUNDS LIKE A
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP TO ME.
AND WHEN HAWLEY
SAYS HE CAME HOME
AND SHE'D RUN OFF
TO ANOTHER MAN,
NAMELY BRUCE MILLER,
HERE HE IS IN COURT.
MOVE THE TRUNKS,
GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.
SHE'S GONE, AND THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT HAWLEY SAID HAPPENED.
Narrator: MILLER DENIED KNOWLEDGE
OF CORA'S WHEREABOUTS,
BUT HIS HOMETOWN OF
CHICAGO FEATURED AGAIN
IN NOVEMBER OF 1910 AS
CRIPPEN SAT ON DEATH ROW
AWAITING EXECUTION.
Trestrail: WHAT I HAVE
HERE IS A LETTER
ADDRESSED TO HAWLEY
CRIPPEN FROM HIS WIFE.
FROM CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 1910.
AND IN IT, SHE'S SAYING,
"I SAW YOUR CONVICTION
COUPLED WITH THE DEATH PENALTY.
"UNFORTUNATELY, I'M NOT GOING
TO COME FORWARD TO HELP YOU.
GOOD LUCK," IN SO MANY WORDS.
SIGNED BELLE ELMORE CRIPPEN.
Narrator: BELLE ELMORE
WAS CORA'S STAGE NAME.
CHICAGO WAS WHERE
BRUCE MILLER LIVED.
THE PRISON RECEIVED
MANY OTHER LETTERS
FROM CRANKS AND PRANKSTERS,
BUT THIS ONE CAUGHT THE
INVESTIGATORS' ATTENTION.
Trestrail: THE INTERESTING
THING ARE THE INITIALS
OF PEOPLE WHO WERE
SIGNING OFF ON THIS,
AND SITTING RIGHT HERE,
DATED NOVEMBER 3, 1910,
WE SEE THE INITIALS OF
WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL.
SO EVEN HE IS READING THIS
AND IS AWARE OF THIS LETTER.
Narrator: CHURCHILL'S
OFFICIALS COMMISSIONED
A HANDWRITING COMPARISON
USING A POSTCARD
THAT CORA WAS KNOWN
TO HAVE WRITTEN IN 1908.
A MODERN-DAY ANALYSIS CONFIRMED
WHAT THE ORIGINAL STUDY FOUND,
THAT THE HANDWRITING
ON THE LETTER
THE "C" IN CRIPPEN WAS
JUST ONE CLEAR EXAMPLE
OF MANY INCONSISTENCIES.
BUT REMARKABLY, THE POLICE
NEVER EVEN SHOWED THE LETTER
TO CRIPPEN OR HIS LAWYERS.
Trestrail: HE SAYS, "WE
THINK THIS IS A HOAX."
AND SOMEONE'S WRITTEN HERE,
THE HANDWRITING IS NOT HERS.
AND I SAY, WELL, SHE CAN
ALWAYS DICTATE A LETTER.
Narrator: IT'S EVEN
POSSIBLE THE HANDWRITING
WAS BRUCE MILLER'S, BUT
CRIPPEN'S DEFENSE TEAM
WAS NEVER GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY
TO COMMISSION ANY TESTS.
THE AUTHORITIES CLEARLY
WANTED NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION.
Trestrail: IF YOU
WERE HIS ATTORNEY,
YOU'D SAY, "WAIT A MINUTE,
YOU'RE NOT HANGING MY CLIENT,
"UNTIL YOU PROVE THIS IS
A FAKE OR THIS IS TRUE."
Narrator: THE LETTER WAS
NEVER ENTERED INTO EVIDENCE,
BUT THERE ARE OTHER SIGNS
THAT CORA MAY HAVE BEEN
SAFELY WATCHING HER
HUSBAND'S TRIAL FROM ABROAD.
INTRIGUING CLUES COME
FROM GENEALOGIST BETH WILLS,
WHO TRAWLED THE U.S.
CENSUS RECORDS FOR 1920,
10 YEARS AFTER CRIPPEN WAS HUNG.
Wills: I WAS AMAZED TO FIND
AN ENTRY OF TWO LADIES
LIVING TOGETHER... ONE OF
THEM, BERTHA MERSINGER,
THE NAME OF CORA'S
YOUNGEST SISTER,
AND LIVING WITH HER, BELLE ROSE.
NOW, "BELLE" WAS
CORA'S STAGE NAME.
AND AS I TRACED THE ENTRY
ACROSS THE PAGE TO THE
OCCUPATION, IT LISTED BELLE
AS A SINGER.
HOW MANY BELLES
LIVING WITH MERSINGERS
IN BROOKLYN WERE SINGERS?
Narrator: THE CENSUS WASN'T
THE ONLY REFERENCE
TO BELLE ROSE.
THE U.S. KEPT RECORDS
OF IMMIGRANTS,
AND EVEN THE SHIPS
THEY ARRIVED ON,
SO WILLS SEARCHED
THE DATA FROM 1910.
BELLE ROSE TRAVELING
ON THE SHIP THE BERMUDIAN,
JUST DAYS AFTER CRIPPEN HAD
BEEN ARRESTED FOR MURDER.
IS IT THE SAME BELLE ROSE THAT'S
LIVING WITH BERTHA MERSINGER
IN 1920?
Narrator: NO ONE
CAN SAY FOR SURE.
THE MYSTERIOUS BELLE ROSE
DISAPPEARS FROM THE RECORDS.
THE HAMELS, VERIFIED
RELATIVES OF CORA CRIPPEN,
KNOW NOTHING ABOUT
THE MYSTERY WOMAN.
Wills: I WANT TO SEE HER
OBITUARY AND SEE WHO SHE LEFT,
WHO WERE HER FAMILY,
WHO WAS BELLE ROSE?
IS IT CORA?
I DON'T KNOW.
Narrator: IT'S POSSIBLE THE
PAPER TRAIL ON BELLE ROSE
IS JUST A REMARKABLE
COINCIDENCE.
BUT EVEN IF IT IS, THE
NEW EVIDENCE TURNED UP
BY THE MODERN INVESTIGATION
DEMANDS A RADICAL REVIEW
OF THIS LANDMARK CASE.
THE ORIGINAL JUDGE
HIMSELF CLEARLY LAID OUT
THE REQUIRED BURDEN OF
PROOF FOR A CONVICTION.
Trestrail: THIS IS REALLY
A BOMBSHELL HERE.
THIS IS LORD ALVERSTONE,
THE CHIEF JUSTICE,
SUMMING UP TO THE JURY
BEFORE THEY'RE ABOUT TO GO
OUT TO DELIBERATE, AND HE SAYS,
"GENTLEMEN, I THINK I
MAY PASS TO THE QUESTION
"OF WHETHER IT WAS
A MAN OR A WOMAN.
"OF COURSE, IF IT WAS A MAN,
THE DEFENDANT IS ENTITLED
TO WALK OUT OF THAT DOCK."
Narrator: THOSE WORDS MEAN
MORE TODAY THAN LORD ALVERSTONE
COULD EVER HAVE IMAGINED.
IF THE JURY HAD KNOWN
WHAT WE KNOW NOW,
CRIPPEN WOULD NEVER
HAVE BEEN EXECUTED.
DNA ANALYSIS HAS REVEALED
AA MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE,
IN ONE OF THE MOST
NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL CASES
OF THE 20th CENTURY.
THE BODY PARTS FROM
THE CELLAR WERE BURIED
AT SAINT PANCRAS CEMETERY
IN LONDON, AT A FUNERAL
ORGANIZED BY CORA'S FRIENDS.
THEY INCLUDED HER FORMER
STAGE NAME ON HER GRAVESTONE.
BUT IT IS NOW CLEAR
THAT NEITHER
INSCRIPTION IS ACCURATE.
Trestrail: WE DON'T KNOW
WHERE CORA CRIPPEN IS,
BUT I CAN TELL YOU
SHE'S NOT HERE.
WHO WAS BURIED
BENEATH CORA'S HEADSTONE
FURTHER FORENSIC TESTING MIGHT
REVEAL MORE THAN HIS GENDER,
BUT IT IS DOUBTFUL
WE WILL EVER DISCOVER
HOW HE MET HIS TRAGIC END.
Foran: THERE ARE SOME OTHER
TESTS WE COULD POTENTIALLY DO
TO FIGURE OUT IF A
PERSON IS CAUCASIAN
OR OF AFRICAN
DESCENT, ASIAN DESCENT,
AND THERE ARE ASSAYS NOW TO
LOOK AT THINGS LIKE EYE COLOR,
HAIR COLOR THAT
POTENTIALLY COULD BE DONE.
SO WE HAVE THE
POSSIBILITY OF GETTING MORE
OF A BIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF
WHOEVER THAT PERSON WAS.
Narrator: WHAT THE
TESTS WILL NEVER REVEAL
IS HOW THE REMAINS ENDED
UP IN CRIPPEN'S CELLAR,
WHO PUT THEM THERE AND WHY.
BUT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT
ALL THE KNOWN EVIDENCE,
TRESTRAIL FEELS HE CAN
AT LEAST OFFER AN
EDUCATED GUESS.
Trestrail: I THINK
THEY'RE PLANTED.
AND I THINK IT WAS PLANTED BY...
THE POLICE AUTHORITIES
AT THIS POINT.
I THINK THEY HAD
THE OPPORTUNITY.
NOW, WHETHER THEY PLANTED
THE TISSUE, I DON'T KNOW,
BUT I THINK THE
PAJAMA TOPS, AT LEAST,
WERE PLANTED BY THE AUTHORITY
TO TIE CRIPPEN TO THESE REMAINS.
WITHOUT THE PAJAMAS,
WE DON'T LINK CRIPPEN.
WITHOUT THE PAJAMAS,
WE DON'T LINK THE DATE.
HOW IT GOT THERE... PLANTED.
THAT'S MY BEST
GUESS AT THIS POINT.
Narrator: PERHAPS DEW HONESTLY
BELIEVED CRIPPEN WAS GUILTY
AND TRIED TO STRENGTHEN HIS
CASE BY PLANTING THE PAJAMAS
ALONGSIDE REMAINS
THAT WERE ALREADY THERE.
TODAY WE CALL THAT
"NOBLE CAUSE CORRUPTION."
OR, IN A WORST CASE SCENARIO,
DEW AND HIS SERGEANT, UNDER
PRESSURE TO CLOSE THE CASE,
PLANTED ALL THE EVIDENCE.
EITHER ALTERNATIVE, IF
TRUE, CASTS A DARK SHADOW
ON AN INVESTIGATOR
WHO ORCHESTRATED
THE EXECUTION OF A MAN FOR
A CRIME HE DID NOT COMMIT.
SCOTLAND YARD STILL RETAINS
EXHIBITS FROM CRIPPEN'S TRIAL,
THE SAMPLES OF HAIR AND
SOME BLOODSTAINED CLOTH.
WITH THE NEW EVIDENCE IN
HAND, TRESTRAIL IS RENEWING
HIS REQUEST FOR ACCESS
TO THESE MATERIALS.
BUT PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY,
CRIPPEN'S FAMILY IN AMERICA
HAS NOW DECIDED TO PURSUE
MORE THAN JUST AN OFFICIAL PARDON.
THEY WANT CRIPPEN'S BODY
EXHUMED AND REPATRIATED.
THIS PINK MARKER
OVER HERE IS A MARKER
PUT HERE TO SIGNIFY
THE FUTURE BURIAL PLACE
OF HAWLEY CRIPPEN.
WE WISH TO REMOVE THE BODY
FROM THE PENTONVILLE PRISON
AND BRING IT HERE
TO THE UNITED STATES
WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS OVER HERE.
Narrator: BEFORE HE WAS HANGED,
CRIPPEN WROTE LETTERS
TO ETHEL LE NEVE.
IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT FINDS,
ONE IN PARTICULAR
SEEMS EERILY PROPHETIC.
HE SAID, "I MAKE A LAST APPEAL
"TO THE WORLD NOT TO
THINK THE WORST OF ME.
"FACE TO FACE WITH
GOD, I BELIEVE THAT FACTS
WILL BE FORTHCOMING
TO PROVE MY INNOCENCE."
REOPEN INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE PAST AT PBS ONLINE.
HISTORY IS REVEALING
ITS FORGOTTEN SECRETS
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD,"
IN 1910, DR HAWLEY CRIPPEN
WAS ACCUSED OF POISONING,
AND DISMEMBERING HIS WIFE.
Man: IT WAS THE O.J.
SIMPSON CASE OF 1910.
A MEDIA-DRIVEN FRENZY.
Narrator: CRIPPEN WAS
TRIED AND EXECUTED.
A CENTURY LATER, CAN MODERN
FORENSICS PROVE HE WAS INNOCENT?
Man: WHEN YOU EXAMINE
THE DNA EVIDENCE,
WE'VE GOT TO CONSIDER THE
CASE IN A WHOLLY DIFFERENT LIGHT.
Man: IT THROWS ALL THE
EVIDENCE IN THE TRIAL,
THROWS IT IN THE TRASH.
Narrator: "EXECUTED IN ERROR,"
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY
CONTRIBUTIONS TO
YOUR PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
Man: YOU WILL BE
HANGED BY THE NECK...
AN AMERICAN DOCTOR
NAMED HAWLEY CRIPPEN
WAS CONVICTED IN
ENGLAND OF POISONING
AND DISMEMBERING HIS WIFE.
THE VICIOUS MURDER AND
EXECUTION THAT FOLLOWED
MADE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES.
Man: WHAT WAS THERE
WAS A MASS OF FLESH.
Narrator: A HUNDRED YEARS LATER,
INVESTIGATORS HAVE
REOPENED THE FILES
ON A MURDER WHICH BECAME KNOWN
AS ONE OF THE CRIMES
OF THE CENTURY.
IT WAS A LANDMARK CASE.
THE FIRST TRIAL BY
MEDIA, AND THE FIRST
TO BE DOMINATED
BY FORENSIC SCIENCE.
BUT DID THE JURY GET IT RIGHT?
OR WAS CRIPPEN HANGED
FOR A CRIME HE DIDN'T COMMIT?
RECENTLY DECLASSIFIED CASE FILES
AND A NEW ANALYSIS OF DNA
EVIDENCE FROM THE CRIME SCENE
ARE CASTING SOME SERIOUS DOUBTS.
WE TESTED IT AND
TESTED IT AND TESTED IT.
I'M RUNNING SCENARIOS THROUGH
MY MIND OF PLANTED EVIDENCE.
Narrator: CAN A MODERN
FORENSIC INVESTIGATION
REWRITE ONE OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT CASES
IN CRIMINAL HISTORY?
THE GRUESOME BODY PARTS
WERE FOUND IN A SHALLOW GRAVE
INSIDE A SUBURBAN HOME.
THE ADDRESS WAS 39
HILLDROP CRESCENT
IN LONDON'S CAMDEN TOWN.
THE MEN WHO MADE
THE DISCOVERY...
HARDENED DETECTIVES...
WERE HORRIFIED BY THE FIND.
THEY REPORTED THAT THE
VICTIM HAD BEEN POISONED
AND THEN FILLETED
LIKE A SIDE OF BEEF.
NEWS OF THE KILLING SPREAD FAST.
FEARFUL LONDONERS WERE INSTANTLY
REMINDED OF JACK THE RIPPER,
WHO HAD TERRORIZED THE
CITY ONLY TWO DECADES EARLIER.
THIS MURDER WAS AS HORRIFIC
AS ANYTHING THE RIPPER
BUT THE PRIME SUSPECT
HARDLY FIT THE PROFILE
OF A VIOLENT OFFENDER.
HE WAS A MILD-MANNERED
GENTLEMAN,
A QUIET DOCTOR
LIVING IN SUBURBIA.
YET, DESPITE HIS
DEMURE APPEARANCE,
THERE HE STOOD, ACCUSED
OF KILLING HIS OWN WIFE
AND SLICING HER TO PIECES
THE HEINOUS CRIME
CAPTIVATED THE WORLD.
Man: ON THE GHASTLY AND WICKED
NATURE OF THE CRIME, I WILL NOT DWELL.
Narrator: TO THIS DAY,
CRIPPEN'S WAX LIKENESS
STANDS IN INFAMY IN LONDON'S
CHAMBER OF HORRORS.
IT WAS AN OPEN AND SHUT CASE.
CAPTURE, CONVICTION, EXECUTION.
BUT NOW, A CENTURY LATER,
FORENSIC TOXICOLOGIST JOHN
TRESTRAIL AND OTHER EXPERTS
ARE QUESTIONING THE CASE,
PUTTING THE EVIDENCE OF THE
PROSECUTORS BACK ON TRIAL.
HELLO, SIR. GOOD MORNING.
I NEED TO GO TO HILLDROP
CRESCENT IN CAMDEN.
Narrator: TRESTRAIL IS
AN EXPERT ON POISONING.
HIS TEXTBOOK ON THE SUBJECT
IS USED BY THE FBI.
HE STUDIED THE CRIPPEN CASE,
SOMETHING ABOUT THE DESCRIPTION
OF THE CRIME MADE
HIM UNCOMFORTABLE.
Trestrail: THE THING THAT
KEEPS ME COMING BACK
TO THIS CRIPPEN CASE IS THE
DISMEMBERMENT OF THE BODY.
IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE
TO DISMEMBER ONE'S VICTIM.
THIS IS THE ONLY CASE I KNOW OF
WHERE THE VICTIM
WAS DISMEMBERED.
A POISONER ATTEMPTS TO GET A
NATURAL DEATH CERTIFICATE SIGNED,
AND WALK AWAY FROM THE CRIME.
Narrator: THIS
GLARING INCONGRUITY
SPARKED TRESTRAIL'S CURIOSITY.
SO NINE YEARS AGO,
HE SET OUT TO REEXAMINE
ALL THE KNOWN EVIDENCE
FROM THE CASE.
HAWLEY CRIPPEN WAS BORN
IN COLDWATER, MICHIGAN.
HE ARRIVED IN LONDON IN 1897,
SELLING HOMEOPATHIC
PATENT MEDICINES.
HOMEOPATHY HAD JUST
CAUGHT ON IN ENGLAND,
AND CRIPPEN WAS
CAPITALIZING ON THE TREND.
Trestrail: HE WAS MAKING THE SUM
OF $220,000 IN TODAY'S DOLLARS.
THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY FOR
SELLING PATENT MEDICINE.
Narrator: HAWLEY AND HIS WIFE,
CORA, RENTED AN APARTMENT
IN LONDON'S UPSCALE
BLOOMSBURY DISTRICT.
ALTHOUGH CORA HAD
FOLLOWED HAWLEY TO LONDON,
THERE WERE CLEAR
SIGNS THAT THEIR MARRIAGE
WAS NOT A HAPPY ONE.
CORA WAS BORN IN BROOKLYN
AND WAS ONLY 19 WHEN
SHE MARRIED HAWLEY,
WHO WAS 12 YEARS HER SENIOR.
THEY HAD VERY DIFFERENT
TEMPERAMENTS AND INTERESTS
AND SEEMINGLY LITTLE IN COMMON.
Trestrail: SHE WAS VERY SHOWY,
VERY FLAMBOYANT AND FLIRTATIOUS.
VERY QUIET, NON-CONFRONTATIONAL.
JUST A COMPLETE
OPPOSITE IN THE MARRIAGE.
Narrator: WHILE HAWLEY BUILT
HIS HOMEOPATHY BUSINESS,
CORA STRUGGLED TO LAUNCH A
CAREER AS A VAUDEVILLE SINGER.
SHE DREAMED OF SEEING
HER NAME IN LIGHTS.
BUT SHE HAD LITTLE TALENT
AND NEVER MANAGED TO
ACHIEVE MUCH SUCCESS.
CORA'S CAREER FLOUNDERED
IN SECOND-RATE THEATERS.
THEN, IN 1905, HOMEOPATHY
SUDDENLY FELL OUT OF FASHION
AND HAWLEY'S COMFORTABLE
INCOME PLUMMETED.
THE CRIPPENS WERE FORCED
TO MOVE DOWNMARKET.
THEY TRADED THEIR FANCY
BLOOMSBURY APARTMENT
FOR A MODEST RENTAL
IN RUNDOWN CAMDEN.
IT IS HERE THAT JOHN
TRESTRAIL HAS COME
TO START PIECING
TOGETHER THE MANY DETAILS
OF THE HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD CRIME.
HE HOPES A CAREFUL ANALYSIS
OF THE COURT RECORDS
AND ADVANCED FORENSIC
TESTING ON THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
FROM THE CRIME SCENE CAN
SHED NEW LIGHT ON THE BODY
AND THE CONVICTION.
THE TRIAL TRANSCRIPT IS
A USEFUL STARTING POINT.
IT REVEALS CRIPPEN'S VERSION OF
THE CHAIN OF EVENTS LEADING UP
TO CORA'S DISAPPEARANCE
IN JANUARY OF 1910.
Trestrail: CORA WAS
DRINKING HEAVILY.
SHE'D BEEN KNOWN
TO HAVE AN AFFAIR.
HE WENT TO WORK,
CAME HOME, AND SHE WAS GONE.
THAT'S WHAT HE CLAIMED IN COURT.
THEY HAD A FIGHT, SHE
SAYS, "I'M LEAVING YOU,
I WILL NEVER BE BACK,
YOU WILL NEVER FIND ME."
Narrator: IN FEBRUARY,
CRIPPEN WROTE TO CORA'S
FRIENDS, TELLING THEM SHE WAS
VISITING RELATIVES IN AMERICA.
SIX WEEKS LATER, HE WROTE AGAIN
TO SAY THAT CORA HAD
COME DOWN WITH PNEUMONIA.
Trestrail: AND THEY SAID,
"OH, THAT'S TERRIBLE.
KEEP US POSTED."
HE SAID, OKAY, LATER ON,
SHE DIED IN AMERICA.
Narrator: FOR A HUSBAND WHO
SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN MOURNING,
CRIPPEN SEEMED
REMARKABLY INDIFFERENT.
AND THERE WAS GOOD REASON.
THE 47-YEAR-OLD DOCTOR,
SO OUTWARDLY RESPECTABLE,
WAS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH
HIS 26-YEAR-OLD SECRETARY,
ETHEL LE NEVE.
Trestrail: ETHEL AND
HAWLEY HAD AN AFFAIR
FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS
BEFORE CORA CRIPPEN DISAPPEARS.
SHE WAS YOUNG ENOUGH
TO BE HIS DAUGHTER, ACTUALLY.
SHE WAS QUIET, DEMURE.
SHE GAVE HIM THE EMOTIONAL
LOVE CORA COULD NOT.
Narrator: WITH CORA GONE,
ETHEL AND CRIPPEN
LIVED COMFORTABLY
AT HILLDROP CRESCENT
FOR SIX MONTHS.
THEN, ON FRIDAY THE 8th OF
JULY, THEY RECEIVED A VISITOR.
AT THE URGING OF CORA'S FRIENDS,
SCOTLAND YARD'S CHIEF
INSPECTOR, WALTER DEW, HAD COME
TO INVESTIGATE
CORA'S DISAPPEARANCE.
20 YEARS EARLIER,
DEW HAD BEEN INVOLVED
IN THE UNSUCCESSFUL
HUNT FOR JACK THE RIPPER.
Trestrail: CORA'S FRIENDS TOOK
THEIR CONCERNS TO SCOTLAND YARD
AND SAID, "WE'RE A
LITTLE SUSPICIOUS.
"OUR FRIEND HAS DISAPPEARED.
"HER HUSBAND SAID THAT
SHE'S DEAD IN AMERICA.
"WE CAN FIND NO PROOF OF THAT.
WE WOULD LIKE
YOU TO LOOK INTO IT."
Narrator: WHEN QUESTIONED,
CRIPPEN REVEALED
THAT HE HADN'T BEEN
HONEST WITH CORA'S FRIENDS.
HE SAID THAT CORA
HAD LEFT HIM FOR ANOTHER MAN,
THAT HE'D INVENTED THE STORY
OF HER ILLNESS TO SAVE FACE.
CLAIMING HE HAD NOTHING TO
HIDE, HE SHOWED THE OFFICERS
AROUND THE HOUSE.
HE EVEN TOOK THEM
TO THE COAL CELLAR.
EVERYTHING SEEMED
TO BE IN ORDER,
SO THE OFFICERS RETURNED
TO SCOTLAND YARD.
INSPECTOR DEW SHOWS UP TO
ASK CRIPPEN SOME MORE QUESTIONS
AND FINDS THE PREMISES VACANT.
Narrator: THIS WAS AN
UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS
AFTER CRIPPEN'S EXPLANATION
THE PREVIOUS FRIDAY.
DEW IMMEDIATELY BEGAN
A MORE THOROUGH SEARCH
OF THE EMPTY HOUSE.
Trestrail: HE HAPPENS TO PRY UP
ONE OF THE STONES IN THE
FLOOR OF THE COAL CELLAR.
POKES DOWN FOUR
OR FIVE INCHES...
THEY FIND DECOMPOSING STUFF.
IT'S NOT A BODY IN
HERE, IT'S PIECES.
IT'S STOMACH AND TISSUE
AND HAIR, AND SOME CLOTHES,
AND IT'S JUST A MESS.
THEY PROBABLY HADN'T
SEEN STUFF LIKE THAT
SINCE THE RIPPER WAS AT WORK.
Narrator: BUT UNLIKE
WITH THE RIPPER,
THIS TIME THEY HAD
A PLAUSIBLE SUSPECT.
WITHIN DAYS, NEWS OF THE CRIME
WAS SPLASHED ACROSS
HEADLINES AROUND THE WORLD.
AND POLICE AND CITIZENS
ALIKE WERE HUNTING
FOR CRIPPEN AND HIS LOVER.
AMID HUNDREDS OF
MISTAKEN SIGHTINGS,
SCOTLAND YARD RECEIVED A
MESSAGE FROM THE CAPTAIN
OF AN OCEAN LINER
IN THE ATLANTIC.
"HAVE STRONG SUSPICION
THAT CRIPPEN AND ACCOMPLICE
ARE AMONG PASSENGERS."
CAPTAIN HENRY KENDALL
HAD SEEN THE WANTED POSTER
SOMETHING ABOUT TWO
OF HIS PASSENGERS...
A MR. ROBINSON AND
HIS TEENAGE SON...
AROUSED THE
CAPTAIN'S SUSPICIONS.
WHY DIDN'T THE YOUNGSTER'S
CLOTHES FIT PROPERLY?
AND WHY WAS HE FOREVER
CLUTCHING HIS FATHER'S HAND?
"MUSTACHE SHAVED OFF.
ACCOMPLICE DRESSED AS A BOY."
KENDALL WAS SURE HE
HAD THE WANTED COUPLE.
HE SNAPPED THIS PHOTO,
WITH ETHEL ON THE LEFT
IN HER ILL-FITTING CLOTHES.
KENDALL'S SHIP, THE MONTROSE,
WAS ONE OF ONLY
A FEW IN THE WORLD
FITTED WITH A BRAND-NEW
MARCONI WIRELESS.
HAD THE SHIP NOT CARRIED THIS
WONDER OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY,
CRIPPEN WOULD
LIKELY HAVE ESCAPED.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DEW BOARDED
A FASTER SHIP, THE LAURENTIC.
HE HAD TO INTERCEPT THE MONTROSE
BEFORE SHE REACHED CANADA.
THE CHASE WAS ON, AND
THE WORLD WAS WATCHING.
Trestrail: I DON'T THINK
ANY MURDER IN HISTORY
HAD BEEN COVERED THAT
MUCH BY THE NEWSPAPERS.
IT WAS BEING READ ABOUT
ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Narrator: CAPTAIN KENDALL
STRUCK A DEAL WITH THE PAPERS.
HE KEPT CLOSE
WATCH ON THE COUPLE
AND SENT UPDATES
EVERY FEW HOURS.
Trestrail: THE CRIPPEN CASE,
IT WAS THE O.J.
SIMPSON CASE OF 1910.
WE HAVE THE NEWS MEDIA
FOLLOWING THIS WHITE BRONCO
AS IT'S GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY.
IT'S THE SAME THING.
MEDIA-DRIVEN FRENZY
ON BOTH OF THESE CASES.
Narrator: UNBEKNOWN
TO THE FUGITIVES,
THEY WERE NOW WORLD-FAMOUS.
THE PAPERS EVEN REPORTED
WHAT BOOK CRIPPEN WAS READING,
A THRILLER CALLED
"THE FOUR JUST MEN,"
ABOUT A LONDON MURDER.
Trestrail: HAWLEY AND ETHEL
ARE THE LAST TO KNOW
THE WHOLE WORLD'S
WATCHING, WAITING, ANTICIPATING.
Narrator: THE LAURENTIC FINALLY
CAUGHT UP TO THE MONTROSE
AND BOTH LINERS DROPPED ANCHOR
OFF THE COAST OF QUEBEC.
DEW BOARDED AND QUICKLY
APPREHENDED CRIPPEN AND LE NEVE.
FOR READERS AROUND THE
WORLD, CRIPPEN'S ARREST
WAS THE CLIFFHANGER
OF A GRIPPING SOAP OPERA.
THE NEXT INSTALMENT CAME IN
LONDON'S CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT,
WHERE CRIPPEN WENT
ON TRIAL FOR HIS LIFE.
4,000 PEOPLE APPLIED
FOR 80 COURTROOM SEATS.
ON TUESDAY THE
18th OF OCTOBER 1910,
THE TRIAL BEGAN.
THE CROWDS CAME FOR
THE SPECTACLE AND SCANDAL.
BUT THEY WERE ALSO EXPOSED
TO AN UNFAMILIAR NEW TERM...
"FORENSIC SCIENCE."
NOBODY HAD SEEN CRIPPEN KILL
CORA AND HE HADN'T CONFESSED.
SO THE PROSECUTION HAD
TO BUILD THEIR ENTIRE CASE
AROUND WHAT WAS
FOUND IN THE COAL CELLAR.
BUT THERE WAS NO
HEAD OR FINGERPRINTS
TO IDENTIFY THE
BODY, JUST SOME SKIN
AND INTERNAL ORGANS,
SOME STRANDS OF HAIR,
AND A FEW SCRAPS OF CLOTH.
AT FIRST GLANCE,
THERE SEEMED LITTLE TO PROVE
THAT THESE PUTREFIED REMAINS
HAD BELONGED TO CORA.
AS HE HAD PREVIOUSLY STATED,
CRIPPEN CLAIMED CORA
HAD RUN OFF WITH A LOVER
BECAUSE HE PANICKED AFTER
THE VISIT FROM THE POLICE.
ABOUT THE REMAINS IN THE CELLAR
OR HOW THEY HAD GOTTEN THERE.
CRIPPEN'S LAWYERS SAID
THERE WASN'T ENOUGH
EVIDENCE TO CONVICT.
BUT THEN THE PROSECUTION
PRODUCED THEIR STAR WITNESS...
FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST
BERNARD SPILSBURY.
THIS CHARISMATIC YOUNG SCIENTIST
WITH A TRADEMARK RED
CARNATION IN HIS LAPEL
DAZZLED THE JURY.
WHAT SPILSBURY DID
WAS RADICAL AND NEW.
HE USED FORENSICS TO
OFFSET THE PERCEIVED LACK
OF INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE.
HE CLAIMED THAT THE SKIN
SEGMENT FROM THE CELLAR CONTAINED
A DISTINCTIVE SCAR LISTED
IN CORA'S MEDICAL RECORDS.
THE JURY ALSO HEARD
HOW CLOTH FRAGMENTS
FOUND WITH THE REMAINS MATCHED
A PAIR OF CRIPPEN'S PAJAMAS.
AND THE REMAINS WERE ALSO
SAID TO CONTAIN A RARE POISON
THAT CRIPPEN WAS KNOWN
TO HAVE HAD IN HIS POSSESSION.
WITH SUCH POWERFUL
SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY,
THE VERDICT CAME QUICKLY.
HAWLEY HARVEY CRIPPEN...
Trestrail: THE JURY
WAS OUT 27 MINUTES.
THEN THEY WALKED
BACK IN AND SAID,
"GUILTY."
YOU CRUELLY POISONED YOUR WIFE.
Narrator: THE FLEDGLING USE OF
FORENSIC SCIENCE HAD TRIUMPHED,
AND CRIPPEN WAS
SENTENCED TO DEATH.
THE HANGING WOULD BE
AT PENTONVILLE PRISON,
RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER
FROM HILLDROP CRESCENT.
UP UNTIL THE END, CRIPPEN
PROTESTED HIS INNOCENCE
IN A SERIES OF LETTERS
TO ETHEL LE NEVE.
SHE'D BEEN FOUND NOT
GUILTY AT A SEPARATE TRIAL
AND CAMPAIGNED IN VAIN
TO SAVE HER LOVER'S LIFE.
Trestrail: HAWLEY IS SENTENCED
AND IS HANGED FOUR WEEKS LATER.
FAST JUSTICE COMPARED TO TODAY.
FOUR WEEKS.
THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK.
Narrator: AND THAT'S HOW IT
STOOD FOR ALMOST A CENTURY.
AN EVIL KILLER HAD BEEN
BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.
BUT JOHN TRESTRAIL WASN'T
SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS.
THE PIECES JUST DIDN'T ADD UP.
Trestrail: I KEPT
COMING BACK, SAYING,
SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT...
SOMETHING'S WRONG IN HERE
WE'RE NOT UNDERSTANDING.
I HAVE MURDERED AND
DISMEMBERED MY WIFE
AND DISPOSED OF 99% OF HER BODY.
WHY DO I LEAVE 1% OF IT
UNDER THE COAL CELLAR?
THE MOST IMPORTANT
QUESTION IN THIS CASE
WAS, WAS THIS REALLY
CORA CRIPPEN OR NOT?
Man: WE NOW HAVE
PASSED SENTENCES...
Narrator: TRESTRAIL REALIZED
THAT TODAY'S ADVANCED
FORENSIC TECHNIQUES
COULD PROVIDE FAR
MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT A PERSON'S IDENTITY
THAN THE CRUDE TECHNIQUES
OF THE 1900s.
WHAT THEY NEEDED WAS
DNA FROM THE REMAINS
THAT THEY COULD TEST AGAINST
DNA FROM A LIVING RELATIVE
OF CORA CRIPPEN.
BUT ALL THAT DNA WOULD
NOT BE EASY TO COME BY.
I WANTED TO LOOK FOR RECORDS.
THERE WAS SHIPPING RECORDS.
Narrator: FIRST,
TRESTRAIL ENLISTED
BETH WILLS, A
MICHIGAN-BASED GENEALOGIST
WHO BEGAN THE PAINSTAKING
SEARCH FOR CORA'S LIVING RELATIVES.
Wills: I WAS PRESENTED
WITH BROOKLYN IN THE 1880s.
AND THAT WAS A HUGE
CONGLOMERATE OF PEOPLE,
OFTENTIMES MANY
FAMILIES LIVING TOGETHER.
PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T
WANT TO BE IDENTIFIED.
SO, WE HAD LOTS OF PROBLEMS.
Narrator: CORA'S CASE WAS
PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING.
BEFORE HER MARRIAGE, SHE HAD
CALLED HERSELF "CORA TURNER."
AT ANOTHER TIME, AS SHE TRIED
TO DEVELOP HER STAGE CAREER,
SHE WENT BY "BELLE ELMORE."
BUT SHE'D BEEN BORN WITH THE
NAME "KUNIGUNDE MACKAMOTZKI"
TO A POLISH IMMIGRANT FAMILY
WHO LATER CHANGED THEIR NAME
TO "MERSINGER."
Wills: I WAS POSTING
MESSAGES ON ANY AND ALL
GENEALOGY MESSAGE
BOARDS THAT I COULD FIND.
"PLEASE, PLEASE, DOES THIS NAME
MEAN ANYTHING TO ANYBODY?"
AND I DID GET A WONDERFUL
E-MAIL MESSAGE BACK
FROM A GAL WHO SAID, "MY DAD HAS
"A PICTURE OF CORA IN
HIS BOX OF TREASURES
"THAT HE KEEPS UP IN HIS CLOSET.
"ABOUT THE MURDER
AND ABOUT THE HANGING,
AND THIS IS MY FAMILY."
A GRANDMOTHER LIVING IN
SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA,
IS THE GREAT NIECE
OF CORA CRIPPEN.
Wills: LOOK AT THIS
PICTURE THAT SHE SENT.
AND THIS IS A PICTURE OF
MARIE AND HER MOTHER.
AND LOOK AT THE RESEMBLANCE
IN THE FACE BETWEEN
MARIE'S MOM AND
CORA... IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.
THEY HAVE AN IDENTICAL
FACIAL STRUCTURE.
IT'S AMAZING.
Narrator: BETH WILLS HAD
FOUND A LIVING DESCENDANT
TO PROVIDE THE MODERN DNA.
THE NEXT PRIORITY
WAS TO TRACK DOWN
SOME OF THE ORIGINAL
FORENSIC EVIDENCE
THAT WAS PRESENTED
AT CRIPPEN'S TRIAL.
SCOTLAND YARD STILL HOLDS
SOME OF THE TRIAL EXHIBITS,
BITS OF HAIR AND
CLOTH IN A MUSEUM.
BUT THEY WEREN'T
PREPARED TO SEND THEM
TO THE UNITED
STATES FOR TESTING.
REMARKABLY, EVEN
AFTER ALL THIS TIME,
THERE WAS ANOTHER SOURCE.
THE ROYAL LONDON
HOSPITAL HAD RETAINED A SET
OF PATHOLOGICAL SPECIMENS
FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES.
Trestrail: THAT'S THE
KEY TO THE PROJECT.
SOMETHING TO MATCH
OR NOT MATCH AGAINST CORA'S DNA.
AND THESE PARTICULAR ONES...
Narrator: THESE
MICROSCOPE SLIDES,
PREPARED BY PATHOLOGIST
BERNARD SPILSBURY
CONTAIN ACTUAL PIECES OF SKIN
FROM THE REMAINS IN THE CELLAR.
THEY'RE ONE OF THE
CRUCIAL PIECES OF EVIDENCE
THAT HANGED CRIPPEN,
AND EXACTLY WHAT THE
MODERN DNA EXPERTS NEED.
THE SAMPLES ARE SENT TO
THE FORENSIC BIOLOGY UNIT
AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY,
ONE OF AMERICA'S LEADING
FORENSIC DNA RESEARCH LABS.
LAB DIRECTOR DR. DAVID
FORAN HAS WORKED
ON A NUMBER OF
HIGH-PROFILE CASES,
INCLUDING THAT OF
THE BOSTON STRANGLER.
HIS TEAM WOULD NOW
BEGIN A COMPLICATED
AND TIME-CONSUMING SERIES
OF TESTS ON THE 1910 REMAINS.
A SINGLE MICROSCOPE
SLIDE WOULD PROVIDE
MORE THAN ENOUGH TISSUE,
BUT AFTER A HUNDRED YEARS,
COULD VIABLE DNA BE EXTRACTED?
Foran: THE TISSUE HAD BEEN
PROCESSED QUITE A BIT BACK THEN,
ON THE OTHER HAND, IT HAD
BEEN STORED IN A MUSEUM,
AND IF WE COMPARE THAT TO
BONES THAT HAVE BEEN BURIED
IN THE GROUND FOR
A HUNDRED YEARS,
THIS WAS MUCH BETTER
THAN THAT TYPE OF MATERIAL.
Narrator: WHAT THE TEAM
NEEDS IS MITOCHONDRIAL DNA,
WHICH PASSES FROM
MOTHER TO CHILD VIA THE EGG.
UNLIKE NUCLEAR DNA, IT'S NOT
DILUTED OVER GENERATIONS,
SO IF THE SAMPLE FROM THE CELLAR
MATCHES THE MODERN
SAMPLES, IT WILL BE
A GOOD INDICATION THAT THE
REMAINS REALLY WERE CORA'S.
FORAN HAD OBTAINED
DNA FROM MARIE HAMEL.
AND, AS A FURTHER
CONTROL, FROM HER SISTER
AND DAUGHTER AS WELL.
WHAT HE WAS NOW LOOKING FOR
WAS ANY SIGN OF MISMATCHES
IN THE GENETIC CODES.
AND HE FOUND THEM.
Foran: NOT JUST A SINGLE
DIFFERENCE WHERE WE MIGHT SAY,
"WELL, THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
A MUTATION THAT HAPPENED."
WE FOUND A SUBSTANTIAL
NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES,
WHICH READILY INDICATE
THAT THESE ARE NOT
MATERNALLY RELATED.
Narrator: EVEN ONE MISMATCH
WOULD HAVE SIGNALED
THAT THE REMAINS HAD
NOT COME FROM CORA.
THE TEAM FOUND FIVE.
WITH SUCH HUGE IMPLICATIONS,
THEY DECIDED TO
REPEAT ALL THE TESTS.
I STEPPED BACK,
WAITED A FEW WEEKS,
AND STARTED OVER FROM SCRATCH.
GOT A NEW TISSUE,
PROCESSED THAT AGAIN,
COMPARED THAT TO THE
EARLIER DNA RESULTS.
THEY'RE IDENTICAL.
Narrator: BUT FORAN
HAD TO CONSIDER
ANOTHER POSSIBLE
CAUSE FOR THE MISMATCH.
COULD THE PATHOLOGIST IN 1910
HAVE CONTAMINATED THE SAMPLE
Foran: EVEN THOUGH IT'S A
VERY THIN SLICE OF TISSUE,
FROM WHOEVER'S BODY THAT
WAS, AND IF SOMEONE HAD
TOUCHED THAT
SAMPLE TO PROCESS IT,
THE AMOUNT OF DNA THAT
THEY WOULD HAVE LEFT BEHIND
DNA FROM TISSUE ON THE
SLIDE WOULD HAVE SWAMPED OUT
ANY MATERIAL THAT MAY HAVE
BEEN LEFT BY PATHOLOGISTS.
Trestrail: I REMEMBER
GETTING THE CALL FROM DAVID.
HE SAYS, "ARE YOU SITTING DOWN?"
I SAID, "YES."
HE SAYS, "THEY DON'T
MATCH. IT'S NOT HER."
AND I HAD THIS KIND OF
REAL SURREAL FEELING OF,
"OH, MY GOD!"
Narrator: JUST AS IT HAD
A FULL CENTURY EARLIER,
THE CRIPPEN CASE WAS ONCE
AGAIN MAKING INTERNATIONAL NEWS.
IN THE SMALL TOWN OF
COLDWATER, MICHIGAN,
THE REVELATIONS
FROM DR. FORAN'S LAB
WERE MORE THAN JUST HEADLINES.
THEY WERE PERSONAL.
BACK IN THE 1900s,
THE CRIPPENS HAD BEEN
ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST,
MOST WELL-RESPECTED
FAMILIES IN COLDWATER.
BUT THEIR REPUTATION HAD
BEEN TARNISHED BY THE MURDER.
NOW CRIPPEN'S DESCENDANTS
SAW AN OPPORTUNITY
TO EXONERATE THEIR ANCESTOR
AND CLEAR THE FAMILY NAME.
Man: I AM THE CLOSEST
LIVING MALE RELATIVE.
WHEN YOU SEE THE EVIDENCE
THAT HAS TURNED UP NOW,
IT WAS WRONG TO HANG HIM.
AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE ASKING
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT,
IN ALL HONESTY,
OWES IT TO US.
Narrator: BASED ON
THE DNA RESULTS,
A PARDON SEEMS JUSTIFIED
SINCE CRIPPEN WAS
CONVICTED OF KILLING HIS WIFE.
BUT IF THE REMAINS WEREN'T
CORA'S, WHOSE WERE THEY?
Trestrail: WHAT ARE THESE THINGS
DOING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?
HOW COULD THEY GET THERE?
IF IT'S NOT HIS WIFE, THEN
WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?
Narrator: TRESTRAIL THINKS
THE ANSWERS MAY LIE
IN THE POISON SAID TO HAVE
BEEN FOUND IN THE REMAINS.
THERE WAS A LITTLE-KNOWN
DRUG CALLED HYOSCINE.
THIS IS THE ONLY HYOSCINE
MURDER CASE I'M FAMILIAR WITH.
MOST PEOPLE HAVE NEVER
HEARD OF THIS DRUG AT ALL.
BUT IT WAS USED IN
OBSTETRICS, ABORTION,
OBSTETRICAL PROCEDURE.
AH, THAT MAKES SENSE.
Narrator: WHEN MONEY GOT TIGHT,
COULD CRIPPEN HAVE TURNED
TO BACKROOM ABORTIONS
FOR EXTRA CASH?
RECORDS SHOW HE PERFORMED
DENTAL WORK ON THE SIDE,
SO WHY NOT ILLEGAL
ABORTIONS AS WELL?
PERFORMING SUCH PROCEDURES WAS
DANGEROUS BUSINESS FOR DOCTORS,
WHO FACED LIFE
SENTENCES IF CAUGHT.
BUT WITH BOTH A WIFE AND
A MISTRESS TO SUPPORT,
COULD CRIPPEN HAVE FELT
THAT WAS A NECESSARY RISK?
IN 1910, WHEN ALL
SURGERIES WERE DANGEROUS,
A BOTCHED ABORTION
COULD EASILY HAVE LEFT
AN INCRIMINATING
BODY TO BE DISPOSED OF.
SO IS THAT WHERE THE BODY PARTS
IN THE CELLAR HAD COME FROM?
DAVID FORAN'S TEAM
WILL TRY TO FIND OUT.
THEIR FIRST TEST
WILL BE TO ESTABLISH
GENDER TESTS ARE SIMPLE WITH
FRESH DNA, BUT THESE OLD SAMPLES
WILL REQUIRE A SPECIAL
TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED BY HIS LAB.
Foran: IF YOU HAVE
A FRESH SAMPLE,
DETERMINING THE
SEX OF AN INDIVIDUAL
IS PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD.
WE DO THAT IN
FORENSICS ALL THE TIME.
IT'S WHEN YOU HAVE THESE
LESS-THAN-OPTIMAL SAMPLES...
OLD BONES, IN THIS
CASE A PRESERVED SLIDE...
WHERE THAT GETS
MUCH MORE DIFFICULT.
THE SEXING ASSAY
THAT WE'RE USING
IS BRAND-NEW.
APPROXIMATELY 4,000
TIMES MORE SENSITIVE
THAN THE NORMAL ASSAY THAT
WE DO IN FORENSIC LABORATORIES.
THIS IS OUR FEMALE CONTROL.
Narrator: IT TAKES TWO WEEKS
TO COMPLETE THE TEST CYCLE.
WHEN THE DATA IS COMPILED,
JOHN TRESTRAIL IS INVITED
IN TO HEAR THE RESULTS.
CONFIRMATION THAT THE BODY
WAS FEMALE WOULD NOT PROVE
CRIPPEN HAD BOTCHED AN
ABORTION AND DISPOSED OF THE BODY,
BUT IT WOULD INDICATE
THE THEORY WAS FEASIBLE.
Foran: WE HAVE SOME RESULTS.
UM, THIS IS A REALTIME ASSAY.
AND THOSE ARE THE
RESULTS FROM THE SLIDE DNA.
SO, THAT WOULD BE
POSITIVELY FEMALE?
THIS ONE?
NO, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TWO LINES.
THIS IS YOUR AREA, NOT MINE.
FEMALE GIVES YOU ONE RESULT.
WHAT HAVE WE GOT?
THIS IS AN "X" AND THAT'S A "Y."
SO, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
IT MEANS IT'S MALE.
OH, MY GOD.
WE TESTED IT MULTIPLE TIMES.
WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT
THE PATHOLOGIST'S DNA,
BY ANY CHANCE?
NO, I’M CONFIDENT OF THAT.
WE TESTED IT AND
TESTED IT AND TESTED IT.
OH, BOY!
SO, IDEAS?
I KNOW YOU'VE HAD
SOME TIME TO THINK ABOUT
WHAT MALES MAY BE THERE.
GOD, YOU KNOW, IT ALMOST...
I'M RUNNING SCENARIOS
THROUGH MY MIND
OF PLANTED EVIDENCE NOW.
IT CERTAINLY TAKES OUT
THE QUESTION OF THE
ABORTION PROBLEM.
YES, THAT DOES
TAKE OUT THAT ONE.
SO, WE'VE CLOSED THAT DOOR.
THEN HOW DO WE EXPLAIN HYOSCINE?
OH, MAN.
IT THROWS ALL THE
EVIDENCE FROM THE TRIAL
THAT ULTIMATELY HANGED HAWLEY,
IT THROWS IT IN THE TRASH CAN.
AS FAR AS THAT TRIAL GOES.
I AGREE.
Narrator: TRESTRAIL
IS NOT THE ONLY ONE.
SHOCKED BY THE NEWS.
HI, DAVID, GOOD. HOW ARE YOU?
MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE,
IT TYPED AS MALE.
OH, MY GOSH!
THAT REALLY... WOW!
THAT JUST KIND OF
PUTS A WHOLE NEW...
YOU KNOW, WOW!
IT'S NOT ONLY NOT CORA,
BUT IT'S NOT EVEN
CORA'S SEX, IT'S MALE DNA.
YES! THAT IS SO COOL.
Narrator: FOR JAMES
PATRICK CRIPPEN,
IT'S FURTHER CONFIRMATION
OF HIS ANCESTOR'S INNOCENCE.
THE TISSUE ON THAT
SLIDE IS MALE IN ORIGIN.
IT'S NOT A FEMALE SAMPLE AT ALL.
IT'S DEFINITELY TYPED AS MALE.
YOU HAVE JUST MADE MY DAY.
Narrator: WITH CLEAR
EVIDENCE FROM DAVID FORAN
THAT THE REMAINS WERE NOT CORA'S
AND THE ABORTION THEORY
CONVINCINGLY DISPROVED,
TRESTRAIL BEGINS TO
EXPLORE ANOTHER POSSIBILITY,
THAT CRIPPEN MAY
HAVE BEEN FRAMED.
HE'S ON HIS WAY TO
CONSULT ANDREW ROSE,
A LEGAL EXPERT WHO'S
MADE A SPECIAL STUDY
OF THE CRIPPEN CASE.
ROSE IS AN EXPERIENCED
DEFENSE BARRISTER
AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO
PROVIDE SOME INSIGHTS
INTO THE LEGAL
ASPECTS OF THE CASE.
WHEN YOU EXAMINE
THE DNA EVIDENCE,
THEN THAT'S PRETTY STRONG STUFF.
WE'VE GOT TO CONSIDER THE
CASE IN A WHOLLY DIFFERENT LIGHT.
Narrator: CRIPPEN TESTIFIED THAT
THE REMAINS MUST HAVE BEEN THERE
BEFORE HE MOVED INTO THE HOUSE,
PERHAPS FROM AN EARLIER CRIME
BY A PREVIOUS TENANT.
HE TOLD THE COURT
THAT HE AND CORA HAD ONLY BEEN
AT HILLDROP CRESCENT SINCE 1905.
THAT DATE, AND A PIECE
OF BLOODSTAINED CLOTH,
WOULD QUICKLY COME
BACK TO HAUNT HIM.
TANGLED IN THE ROTTING
REMAINS, POLICE SAID THEY FOUND
PIECES OF A PAJAMA SHIRT.
AN OFFICER ALSO TESTIFIED
THAT UPSTAIRS WITH
CRIPPEN'S CLOTHES
HE FOUND MATCHING PAJAMA PANTS.
THIS WAS THE SMOKING
GUN THE POLICE NEEDED,
A DIRECT LINK BETWEEN
CRIPPEN AND THE REMAINS.
BUT THERE WAS MORE.
THE CLOTH BORE
A LABEL INDICATING
WHERE IT WAS FROM... A
STORE CALLED JONES BROTHERS.
Rose: THE PAJAMA
BOTTOM WERE EXAMINED
BY A REPRESENTATIVE
OF JONES BROTHERS
TOGETHER WITH THE
REMAINS OF THE TOP,
AND HE'D FORMED A VIEW
FROM THE TYPE OF CLOTH USED
THAT IT COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN
ACQUIRED BY JONES BROTHERS
AROUND ABOUT THE END OF 1908.
Narrator: THAT MEANT THAT
IF THE PAJAMAS AND REMAINS
HAD BEEN PLACED IN THE
CELLAR AT THE SAME TIME,
THEY COULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE
PRIOR TO CRIPPEN'S
ARRIVAL IN 1905.
THEY SAY THAT
THIS CONVICTED HIM.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? HOW
BAD WAS THIS EVIDENCE?
IT WAS SERIOUS EVIDENCE
AGAINST CRIPPEN.
THERE WAS, OF COURSE,
THE EVIDENCE OF THE SCAR,
WHICH WAS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE.
SO THE SCAR PROVED THE "WHO."
ABSOLUTELY. AND THE
PAJAMAS PROVED THE "WHEN."
THAT WAS THE IDEA.
Narrator: THE SCAR
ROSE IS REFERRING TO
WAS ONE OF THE MOST
DAMNING PIECES OF EVIDENCE
PRESENTED BY THE PROSECUTION.
FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST
BERNARD SPILSBURY
CLAIMED IT WAS ON A PIECE
OF SKIN FROM THE ABDOMEN
AND CONSISTENT WITH AN OPERATION
CORA CRIPPEN WAS
KNOWN TO HAVE UNDERGONE
Rose: HE SAID, "I HAVE NO
DOUBT THAT IT IS SCAR TISSUE,"
AND HE REPEATED THAT, AND
HIS EVIDENCE OBVIOUSLY HAD
A REMARKABLE IMPACT.
WITHOUT THIS EVIDENCE,
CRIPPEN MIGHT WELL HAVE
WALKED FREE FROM COURT.
Narrator: CRIPPEN'S LAWYERS
ARGUED IT WASN'T A SCAR AT ALL,
JUST A MARK WHERE THE
SKIN HAD BEEN FOLDED.
THE NOTES FROM THE DEFENSE'S
EXPERT WITNESS STILL EXIST.
Trestrail: HE'S SEEING
SEBACEOUS GLANDS, WHICH
ARE LIKE SWEAT GLANDS.
AND WE KNOW THAT'S NOT
CONSISTENT WITH SCAR TISSUE.
YOU DON'T HAVE
THOSE IN SCAR TISSUE,
AND SO WHAT HE'S TRYING
TO SAY TO THE JURY IS,
"I DON'T THINK THIS IS A SCAR.
I THINK IT'S A FOLD IN
THE SKIN, THAT'S ALL IT IS."
Narrator: AFTER HIS MODERN-DAY
PERUSAL OF THE TISSUE,
DAVID FORAN AGREES
WITH THE DEFENSE.
Foran: THERE ARE SEVERAL
SLIDES AT THE MUSEUM.
THREE OR FOUR OF THOSE
REPRESENT THE SO-CALLED SCAR,
OTHER ONES REPRESENT WHAT
ARE LABELED AS FOLDS IN THE SKIN.
COULD LOOK AT THOSE
AND DIFFERENTIATE THEM.
SO, IT SEEMS QUITE
POSSIBLE THAT DR. SPILSBURY
FOUND WHAT HE WANTED TO FIND.
Narrator: UNFORTUNATELY,
FOR CRIPPEN,
THE JURY FOUND
SPILSBURY'S CONCLUSION
ABOUT THE SCAR MORE CONVINCING
THAN THE DEFENSE EXPERT'S
FOLDED SKIN THEORY.
BUT FOR ROSE AND TRESTRAIL,
THERE IS SOMETHING A
LITTLE TOO CONVENIENT
ABOUT THE EVIDENCE
THAT WAS PRESENTED.
NO BODY, BUT A PIECE OF SKIN
WITH A RECOGNIZABLE SCAR,
AND JUST ENOUGH FABRIC
TO TIE CRIPPEN TO THE CRIME.
Rose: IT'S A REMARKABLE
FEATURE OF THE CRIPPEN CASE
THAT THE REMAINS
SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOUND
IN THE WAY THAT THEY WERE
ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED.
IT'S EXTRAORDINARY.
IF I WERE DEFENDING CRIPPEN,
I WOULD MAKE GREAT
PLAY ON THE FACT
THAT THE ALLEGED
MURDERER HAD DISPOSED
OF LARGE QUANTITIES OF
THE BODY IN SOME OTHER WAY
AND YET LEFT A FILLETED
SECTION IN HIS OWN HOUSE.
A VERY STRANGE THING TO DO,
TO LEAVE INCRIMINATING MATERIAL
TOGETHER, OF COURSE, WITH
ITEMS OF YOUR OWN CLOTHING.
IF WE UNDERSTAND
WHAT'S NOT IN THIS GRAVE,
HE HAD TO BE HAULING BODY
PARTS SOMEWHERE IN TOWN
INTO A CANAL OR
SOMEWHERE TO GET RID OF IT.
A HEAD, HIS WIFE'S
HEAD, ET CETERA, LIMBS.
AND THESE ARE LITTLE
PIECES LEFT OVER.
I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY
NOT JUST GET RID OF THEM, TOO,
AND THERE'S NO EVIDENCE.
Narrator: IT DOESN'T
SEEM LOGICAL
TO EITHER ROSE OR TRESTRAIL
THAT CRIPPEN WOULD HAVE RETAINED
JUST THE FEW ITEMS NECESSARY
TO INCRIMINATE HIMSELF.
BUT IF HE HADN'T PUT THE
REMAINS IN THE CELLAR,
COULD THE POLICE TESTIMONY
HAVE BEEN INACCURATE?
TRESTRAIL THINKS THE ACTIONS
OF THE 1910 INVESTIGATORS
WARRANT A CLOSER LOOK.
HE'S BEEN GIVEN ACCESS
TO THE PROSECUTION'S
ORIGINAL CASE FILES,
WHICH HAVE BEEN STORED IN
BRITAIN'S NATIONAL ARCHIVES.
THE POLICE REPORTS
AND WITNESS STATEMENTS
HAVE ONLY RECENTLY
BEEN DECLASSIFIED.
THEY CONTAIN
IMPORTANT NEW EVIDENCE.
Trestrail: HERE WE HAVE A REPORT
TO THE METROPOLITAN POLICE
SAYING THAT A
WOMAN OF CORA'S AGE,
OF HER STATURE,
WAS ASKING A CARRIAGE
MAN TO REMOVE
FIVE TRUNKS FROM
39 HILLDROP CRESCENT
TO ANOTHER LOCATION.
THIS IS A CRUCIAL DATE BECAUSE
IT'S ABOUT TWO WEEKS BEFORE
SHE ACTUALLY DISAPPEARED.
Narrator: ANOTHER
DOCUMENT DETAILS HOW,
AROUND THAT SAME TIME, AND
WITHOUT HER HUSBAND'S CONSENT,
CORA ATTEMPTED TO WITHDRAW,
THE COUPLE'S LIFE
SAVINGS FROM THE BANK.
VERY IMPORTANT STUFF, I THINK,
FOR THE DEFENSE COUNSEL TO SAY,
"LOOK, SOMEONE'S ATTEMPTING
"TO MOVE STUFF OUT
OF HILLDROP CRESCENT.
THAT'S WHAT MY
CLIENT SAYS HAPPENED."
Rose: THE POLICE, IN
EFFECT, SUPPRESSED
THAT PIECE OF EVIDENCE
BECAUSE IT DIDN'T SUPPORT
THEIR INTERPRETATION
OF THE FACTS.
Narrator: THERE ARE
OTHER IRREGULARITIES
IN THE PROSECUTION’S CASE.
39 HILLDROP CRESCENT
WAS OBLITERATED
BY GERMAN BOMBS IN WORLD WAR II.
BUT IT HAS THE SAME LAYOUT
AS THE NEIGHBORING HOUSE,
AND THE FLOOR
PLANS STILL SURVIVE.
Trestrail: WHAT WE HAVE HERE
IS A LAYOUT OF THE GROUND FLOOR
OF HILLDROP CRESCENT.
IT SAYS "COAL CELLAR,"
BUT IT'S NOT A CELLAR.
OTHER THAN SLEEPING, THE
CRIPPENS BASICALLY LIVED
ON THIS FLOOR OF THE HOUSE,
THE GROUND LEVEL FLOOR.
THEY HAD BREAKFAST
EVERY DAY AND DINNER HERE.
THEY HAD A KITCHEN THEY
COOKED IN EVERY DAY HERE.
THEY SLEPT UPSTAIRS, BUT
THEY ATE DINNER AND BREAKFAST
RIGHT NEXT TO THE COAL
CELLAR UNDER THE STEPS.
Narrator: CRIPPEN
AND ETHEL LE NEVE
HAD LIVED TOGETHER IN
THE HOUSE FOR SIX MONTHS
AFTER CORA DISAPPEARED,
BUT WHEN THE POLICE
FOUND THE REMAINS, THEY SAID
THE STENCH WAS SO OVERPOWERING,
THEY SPRAYED THE AREA
WITH A POWERFUL DISINFECTANT
TO TRY AND KILL THE SMELL.
Trestrail: THEY'VE GOT A DOG
RUNNING AROUND THE HOUSE, TOO...
DOGS ARE VERY
SENSITIVE TO SMELL.
Narrator: PERHAPS THE CLAY SOIL
PROVIDED AN ODOR-PROOF BARRIER
UNTIL IT WAS REMOVED,
BUT TRESTRAIL STILL THINKS
THE CELLAR WAS AN
UNLIKELY BURIAL PLACE
GIVEN THE LIVING ARRANGEMENTS.
THAT WOULD BE STUPID.
WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE
PUTREFYING REMAINS
RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE
EVERYONE'S LIVING?
Narrator: EVEN MORE
CONCERNING, THE POLICE
ONLY MADE THEIR DISCOVERY
AFTER THEY'D BEEN SEARCHING
FOR THREE DAYS, AND ONLY
DEW AND ONE OTHER OFFICER
WERE PRESENT WHEN
THE REMAINS WERE FOUND.
DEW AND HIS SERGEANT
WERE ALONE IN THE HOUSE
FOR A PERIOD OF TIME
AND HAD THE OPPORTUNITY
TO PLANT EVIDENCE IN THE CELLAR.
IT DOESN'T MEAN TO
SAY THAT THEY DID,
BUT CERTAINLY IT'S A
FACTOR THAT WOULD NOW,
MUST NOW BE TAKEN
INTO ACCOUNT IN RELATION
TO ANY MODERN ASSESSMENT
OF WHAT TOOK PLACE IN 1910.
Narrator: BUT WHAT
POSSIBLE MOTIVE
WHY WOULD THEY HAVE WANTED
CTO FRAME THE GOOD DOCTOR?
THE MEDIA GLARE AND
CLOSE GOVERNMENT SCRUTINY
PUT SCOTLAND YARD UNDER
INTENSE PRESSURE TO SOLVE THE CASE.
THE HOME SECRETARY HIMSELF,
A YOUNG WINSTON CHURCHILL,
WAS FOLLOWING THE INVESTIGATION.
Trestrail: WHAT WE HAVE HERE
IS AN AUGUST 1910 DOCUMENT
THAT'S A REQUEST TO THE POLICE
FROM THE HOME SECRETARY.
IT SAYS HERE, "MR. CHURCHILL."
AND HE WANTS TO BE KEPT ABREAST
OF EVERYTHING ON THIS CASE.
AT HIS HOME, OR EVEN
AT THE GOLF CLUB.
INTERESTING REQUEST.
THIS SHOWS YOU THE HIGH PROFILE
IT WAS THE FIRST OF THE
MEDIA-DRIVEN TRIALS EVER.
Rose: THIS CASE BALLOONED INTO
A REALLY INTERNATIONAL STORY,
WITH, THEREFORE, ENORMOUS
PRESSURE ON THE POLICE
TO PRODUCE A CONVICTION
AT THE END OF THE DAY.
Narrator: THERE WAS
PRESSURE AND OPPORTUNITY.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DEW
BECAME A CELEBRITY.
WITHIN DAYS OF CRIPPEN'S
CONVICTION, HE LEFT THE POLICE
TO BECOME A PRIVATE DETECTIVE.
AND LATER HE WROTE
A BEST-SELLING BOOK
SIMPLY TITLED "I
CAUGHT CRIPPEN."
Man: HE COLD-BLOODEDLY
KILLED HIS WIFE...
Narrator: FORENSIC
PATHOLOGIST BERNARD SPILSBURY
ALSO BENEFITED FROM
HIS NEWFOUND FAME.
HE HELPED PROSECUTORS
GAIN CONVICTIONS
IN 250 MURDER TRIALS
AND WAS KNIGHTED IN 1923.
WERE SOMETIMES CALLED INTO
QUESTION, JUST AS THEY HAD BEEN
BY CRIPPEN'S LAWYERS WHEN
HE SAID HE HAD IDENTIFIED A SCAR.
Rose: FROM INSTANCE
LATER IN SPILSBURY'S CAREER,
WE CAN SEE HE'S GOT FORM,
REALLY, FOR RESPONDING
TO POLICE PRESSURE.
IN THIS CASE, HE WAS
UNDER ENORMOUS PRESSURE
TO DELIVER THE GOODS.
AND HE DELIVERED THEM.
Narrator: IT SEEMS SPILSBURY
MAY NOT HAVE BEEN
THE ONLY ONE TO
CONVENIENTLY DELIVER
WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDED.
FORENSIC TOXICOLOGIST
WILLIAM WILLCOX
DISCOVERED THE
POISON IN THE REMAINS,
A PROCESS TRESTRAIL FEELS
WAS SUSPICIOUSLY EASY.
WE COULDN'T EVEN DO THIS TODAY,
AND ALL OF THE SUDDEN,
BINGO, WE'RE RIGHT ON TOP
OF THE POISON RIGHT
AWAY, AND THIS WAS WHEN
ANALYTICAL TOXICOLOGY
WAS IN ITS INFANCY, IN 1910.
Narrator: CRIPPEN ADMITTED
HE'D BOUGHT THE POISON,
A RARE ALKALOID CALLED HYOSCINE.
HE SAID HE USED THE DRUG,
IN SOME OF HIS PATENT MEDICINES.
BUT HYOSCINE HAS NEVER BEFORE
OR SINCE BEEN DOCUMENTED
IN A POISONING CASE.
YET WILLCOX SEARCHED FOR
AND IDENTIFIED IT
WITH LITTLE TROUBLE.
Trestrail: TODAY,
WE WOULD START OUT
LOOKING FOR HEAVY METALS,
THEN WE'D GO TO OPIATE
COMPOUNDS, ET CETERA.
AND IT SAYS HERE
IN HIS TESTIMONY,
HE IMMEDIATELY MOVES ON
TO THE COMMON ALKALOIDS.
"HOW DID YOU DO
THAT SO QUICKLY?"
AND I THINK HE WAS GUIDED
IN WHAT TO LOOK FOR.
AND ACTUALLY,
HE FOUND WHAT
THEY WANTED TO HEAR.
AMAZING STUFF.
Narrator: WITH ALL THE
FORENSIC EVIDENCE
FINGERING HIM AS THE KILLER,
CRIPPEN'S ONLY HOPE
WAS TO CONVINCE THE JURY
THAT CORA REALLY HAD
RUN OFF WITH A LOVER.
TO THAT END,
HIS LAWYER SUMMONED FROM CHICAGO
A THEATER FRIEND OF
CORA'S NAMED BRUCE MILLER.
Trestrail: HERE HE IS
BEING INTERROGATED
AND HE'S SAYING,
"I HAVE KISSED HER."
THERE WAS A RELATIONSHIP THERE.
AND HE ALSO HAS A LETTER
THAT HE'D WRITTEN TO HER
SIGNED "WITH LOVE AND
KISSES, TO BROWN EYES."
THAT'S HOW HE REFERRED TO CORA.
BOY, THIS SOUNDS LIKE A
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP TO ME.
AND WHEN HAWLEY
SAYS HE CAME HOME
AND SHE'D RUN OFF
TO ANOTHER MAN,
NAMELY BRUCE MILLER,
HERE HE IS IN COURT.
MOVE THE TRUNKS,
GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.
SHE'S GONE, AND THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT HAWLEY SAID HAPPENED.
Narrator: MILLER DENIED KNOWLEDGE
OF CORA'S WHEREABOUTS,
BUT HIS HOMETOWN OF
CHICAGO FEATURED AGAIN
IN NOVEMBER OF 1910 AS
CRIPPEN SAT ON DEATH ROW
AWAITING EXECUTION.
Trestrail: WHAT I HAVE
HERE IS A LETTER
ADDRESSED TO HAWLEY
CRIPPEN FROM HIS WIFE.
FROM CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 1910.
AND IN IT, SHE'S SAYING,
"I SAW YOUR CONVICTION
COUPLED WITH THE DEATH PENALTY.
"UNFORTUNATELY, I'M NOT GOING
TO COME FORWARD TO HELP YOU.
GOOD LUCK," IN SO MANY WORDS.
SIGNED BELLE ELMORE CRIPPEN.
Narrator: BELLE ELMORE
WAS CORA'S STAGE NAME.
CHICAGO WAS WHERE
BRUCE MILLER LIVED.
THE PRISON RECEIVED
MANY OTHER LETTERS
FROM CRANKS AND PRANKSTERS,
BUT THIS ONE CAUGHT THE
INVESTIGATORS' ATTENTION.
Trestrail: THE INTERESTING
THING ARE THE INITIALS
OF PEOPLE WHO WERE
SIGNING OFF ON THIS,
AND SITTING RIGHT HERE,
DATED NOVEMBER 3, 1910,
WE SEE THE INITIALS OF
WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL.
SO EVEN HE IS READING THIS
AND IS AWARE OF THIS LETTER.
Narrator: CHURCHILL'S
OFFICIALS COMMISSIONED
A HANDWRITING COMPARISON
USING A POSTCARD
THAT CORA WAS KNOWN
TO HAVE WRITTEN IN 1908.
A MODERN-DAY ANALYSIS CONFIRMED
WHAT THE ORIGINAL STUDY FOUND,
THAT THE HANDWRITING
ON THE LETTER
THE "C" IN CRIPPEN WAS
JUST ONE CLEAR EXAMPLE
OF MANY INCONSISTENCIES.
BUT REMARKABLY, THE POLICE
NEVER EVEN SHOWED THE LETTER
TO CRIPPEN OR HIS LAWYERS.
Trestrail: HE SAYS, "WE
THINK THIS IS A HOAX."
AND SOMEONE'S WRITTEN HERE,
THE HANDWRITING IS NOT HERS.
AND I SAY, WELL, SHE CAN
ALWAYS DICTATE A LETTER.
Narrator: IT'S EVEN
POSSIBLE THE HANDWRITING
WAS BRUCE MILLER'S, BUT
CRIPPEN'S DEFENSE TEAM
WAS NEVER GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY
TO COMMISSION ANY TESTS.
THE AUTHORITIES CLEARLY
WANTED NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION.
Trestrail: IF YOU
WERE HIS ATTORNEY,
YOU'D SAY, "WAIT A MINUTE,
YOU'RE NOT HANGING MY CLIENT,
"UNTIL YOU PROVE THIS IS
A FAKE OR THIS IS TRUE."
Narrator: THE LETTER WAS
NEVER ENTERED INTO EVIDENCE,
BUT THERE ARE OTHER SIGNS
THAT CORA MAY HAVE BEEN
SAFELY WATCHING HER
HUSBAND'S TRIAL FROM ABROAD.
INTRIGUING CLUES COME
FROM GENEALOGIST BETH WILLS,
WHO TRAWLED THE U.S.
CENSUS RECORDS FOR 1920,
10 YEARS AFTER CRIPPEN WAS HUNG.
Wills: I WAS AMAZED TO FIND
AN ENTRY OF TWO LADIES
LIVING TOGETHER... ONE OF
THEM, BERTHA MERSINGER,
THE NAME OF CORA'S
YOUNGEST SISTER,
AND LIVING WITH HER, BELLE ROSE.
NOW, "BELLE" WAS
CORA'S STAGE NAME.
AND AS I TRACED THE ENTRY
ACROSS THE PAGE TO THE
OCCUPATION, IT LISTED BELLE
AS A SINGER.
HOW MANY BELLES
LIVING WITH MERSINGERS
IN BROOKLYN WERE SINGERS?
Narrator: THE CENSUS WASN'T
THE ONLY REFERENCE
TO BELLE ROSE.
THE U.S. KEPT RECORDS
OF IMMIGRANTS,
AND EVEN THE SHIPS
THEY ARRIVED ON,
SO WILLS SEARCHED
THE DATA FROM 1910.
BELLE ROSE TRAVELING
ON THE SHIP THE BERMUDIAN,
JUST DAYS AFTER CRIPPEN HAD
BEEN ARRESTED FOR MURDER.
IS IT THE SAME BELLE ROSE THAT'S
LIVING WITH BERTHA MERSINGER
IN 1920?
Narrator: NO ONE
CAN SAY FOR SURE.
THE MYSTERIOUS BELLE ROSE
DISAPPEARS FROM THE RECORDS.
THE HAMELS, VERIFIED
RELATIVES OF CORA CRIPPEN,
KNOW NOTHING ABOUT
THE MYSTERY WOMAN.
Wills: I WANT TO SEE HER
OBITUARY AND SEE WHO SHE LEFT,
WHO WERE HER FAMILY,
WHO WAS BELLE ROSE?
IS IT CORA?
I DON'T KNOW.
Narrator: IT'S POSSIBLE THE
PAPER TRAIL ON BELLE ROSE
IS JUST A REMARKABLE
COINCIDENCE.
BUT EVEN IF IT IS, THE
NEW EVIDENCE TURNED UP
BY THE MODERN INVESTIGATION
DEMANDS A RADICAL REVIEW
OF THIS LANDMARK CASE.
THE ORIGINAL JUDGE
HIMSELF CLEARLY LAID OUT
THE REQUIRED BURDEN OF
PROOF FOR A CONVICTION.
Trestrail: THIS IS REALLY
A BOMBSHELL HERE.
THIS IS LORD ALVERSTONE,
THE CHIEF JUSTICE,
SUMMING UP TO THE JURY
BEFORE THEY'RE ABOUT TO GO
OUT TO DELIBERATE, AND HE SAYS,
"GENTLEMEN, I THINK I
MAY PASS TO THE QUESTION
"OF WHETHER IT WAS
A MAN OR A WOMAN.
"OF COURSE, IF IT WAS A MAN,
THE DEFENDANT IS ENTITLED
TO WALK OUT OF THAT DOCK."
Narrator: THOSE WORDS MEAN
MORE TODAY THAN LORD ALVERSTONE
COULD EVER HAVE IMAGINED.
IF THE JURY HAD KNOWN
WHAT WE KNOW NOW,
CRIPPEN WOULD NEVER
HAVE BEEN EXECUTED.
DNA ANALYSIS HAS REVEALED
AA MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE,
IN ONE OF THE MOST
NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL CASES
OF THE 20th CENTURY.
THE BODY PARTS FROM
THE CELLAR WERE BURIED
AT SAINT PANCRAS CEMETERY
IN LONDON, AT A FUNERAL
ORGANIZED BY CORA'S FRIENDS.
THEY INCLUDED HER FORMER
STAGE NAME ON HER GRAVESTONE.
BUT IT IS NOW CLEAR
THAT NEITHER
INSCRIPTION IS ACCURATE.
Trestrail: WE DON'T KNOW
WHERE CORA CRIPPEN IS,
BUT I CAN TELL YOU
SHE'S NOT HERE.
WHO WAS BURIED
BENEATH CORA'S HEADSTONE
FURTHER FORENSIC TESTING MIGHT
REVEAL MORE THAN HIS GENDER,
BUT IT IS DOUBTFUL
WE WILL EVER DISCOVER
HOW HE MET HIS TRAGIC END.
Foran: THERE ARE SOME OTHER
TESTS WE COULD POTENTIALLY DO
TO FIGURE OUT IF A
PERSON IS CAUCASIAN
OR OF AFRICAN
DESCENT, ASIAN DESCENT,
AND THERE ARE ASSAYS NOW TO
LOOK AT THINGS LIKE EYE COLOR,
HAIR COLOR THAT
POTENTIALLY COULD BE DONE.
SO WE HAVE THE
POSSIBILITY OF GETTING MORE
OF A BIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF
WHOEVER THAT PERSON WAS.
Narrator: WHAT THE
TESTS WILL NEVER REVEAL
IS HOW THE REMAINS ENDED
UP IN CRIPPEN'S CELLAR,
WHO PUT THEM THERE AND WHY.
BUT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT
ALL THE KNOWN EVIDENCE,
TRESTRAIL FEELS HE CAN
AT LEAST OFFER AN
EDUCATED GUESS.
Trestrail: I THINK
THEY'RE PLANTED.
AND I THINK IT WAS PLANTED BY...
THE POLICE AUTHORITIES
AT THIS POINT.
I THINK THEY HAD
THE OPPORTUNITY.
NOW, WHETHER THEY PLANTED
THE TISSUE, I DON'T KNOW,
BUT I THINK THE
PAJAMA TOPS, AT LEAST,
WERE PLANTED BY THE AUTHORITY
TO TIE CRIPPEN TO THESE REMAINS.
WITHOUT THE PAJAMAS,
WE DON'T LINK CRIPPEN.
WITHOUT THE PAJAMAS,
WE DON'T LINK THE DATE.
HOW IT GOT THERE... PLANTED.
THAT'S MY BEST
GUESS AT THIS POINT.
Narrator: PERHAPS DEW HONESTLY
BELIEVED CRIPPEN WAS GUILTY
AND TRIED TO STRENGTHEN HIS
CASE BY PLANTING THE PAJAMAS
ALONGSIDE REMAINS
THAT WERE ALREADY THERE.
TODAY WE CALL THAT
"NOBLE CAUSE CORRUPTION."
OR, IN A WORST CASE SCENARIO,
DEW AND HIS SERGEANT, UNDER
PRESSURE TO CLOSE THE CASE,
PLANTED ALL THE EVIDENCE.
EITHER ALTERNATIVE, IF
TRUE, CASTS A DARK SHADOW
ON AN INVESTIGATOR
WHO ORCHESTRATED
THE EXECUTION OF A MAN FOR
A CRIME HE DID NOT COMMIT.
SCOTLAND YARD STILL RETAINS
EXHIBITS FROM CRIPPEN'S TRIAL,
THE SAMPLES OF HAIR AND
SOME BLOODSTAINED CLOTH.
WITH THE NEW EVIDENCE IN
HAND, TRESTRAIL IS RENEWING
HIS REQUEST FOR ACCESS
TO THESE MATERIALS.
BUT PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY,
CRIPPEN'S FAMILY IN AMERICA
HAS NOW DECIDED TO PURSUE
MORE THAN JUST AN OFFICIAL PARDON.
THEY WANT CRIPPEN'S BODY
EXHUMED AND REPATRIATED.
THIS PINK MARKER
OVER HERE IS A MARKER
PUT HERE TO SIGNIFY
THE FUTURE BURIAL PLACE
OF HAWLEY CRIPPEN.
WE WISH TO REMOVE THE BODY
FROM THE PENTONVILLE PRISON
AND BRING IT HERE
TO THE UNITED STATES
WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS OVER HERE.
Narrator: BEFORE HE WAS HANGED,
CRIPPEN WROTE LETTERS
TO ETHEL LE NEVE.
IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT FINDS,
ONE IN PARTICULAR
SEEMS EERILY PROPHETIC.
HE SAID, "I MAKE A LAST APPEAL
"TO THE WORLD NOT TO
THINK THE WORST OF ME.
"FACE TO FACE WITH
GOD, I BELIEVE THAT FACTS
WILL BE FORTHCOMING
TO PROVE MY INNOCENCE."
REOPEN INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE PAST AT PBS ONLINE.
HISTORY IS REVEALING
ITS FORGOTTEN SECRETS