Hawley Harvey Crippen

He married an Irish nurse, Charlotte Bell in 1887. They had a son, Harvey Otto, born in 1888. He left his son in the care of his parents after his wife’s death due to apoplexy in January 1892.

In 1894, he married his second wife Cora Turner and murdered her due to her illicit relations with other men in 1910. He had an affair with Ethel Le Neve, a young typist he met at work.

He was born on September 11, 1862 in Coldwater, Michigan, U.S. to Andresse Skinner Crippen and Myron Augustus Crippen, owners of a dry goods store.

He had a keen interest in medicine and received his early education at Coldwater, Indiana, and California. Crippin graduated from Michigan School of Homeopathic Medicine in 1884.

In 1892, he met Cora Turner, an aspiring actress and a would-be singer from Brooklyn, with the stage name of Belle Elmore. She was born to a German mother and a Polish-Russian father, her original name was Kunigunde Mackamotzki.

She was a charming woman who used her sexuality to advance her career and achieve success. He was attracted towards her beauty and she was impressed by his medical title which resulted in their marriage in September 1892.

In 1894, he took up a job as the consultant for Munyon’s Homeopathic Remedies in New York and impressed his employers through his skills. In 1895, he was transferred to the Philadelphia branch and after two years, to the London branch of the company. In the mean time, Cora remained in Philadelphia, pursued her acting classes and got involved in numerous affairs.

After he settled in London, she also joined him with the ambitions of making a career. But her talent was little as compared to her dreams to become famous and her profession as a stage artist in London was patchy.

In 1899, Crippin was accused of spending too much time administrating his wife’s stage career and was fired from the job.

He was found guilty of deliberately murdering his wife with a pre-devised plan, destroying the evidence and misleading the police with false stories. He was hanged on November 23, 1910 in Pentonville Prison, London, for his heinous act.