Scotland-a magical place
part.4
Burke and Hare
Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog. Previously, we talked about how Edinburgh, thanks to some prestigious anatomists such as Robert Knox, became the leading center of Europe in medicine, earning its nickname as the ''Athens of the North''. But, the lack of corpses available for dissection forced these remarkable scientists to rely on black market to supply themselves with fresh dead bodies. However, there were not just the body snatchers and doctors who took advantage of this underground business. Today, I am going to talk about the murders committed by the two most famous criminals in the history of Scotland, Burke and Hare, and their connection with the world of science.
Hare Burke
William Burke and William Hare, although they are not related, were both Irish immigrants who moved to Scotland, looking for a better life. Shortly after they met, Burke and his wife moved into Hare's lodging house. In November 1827, a lodger in Hare's house died of dropsy without paying his rent. In order to get his money back, Hare, advised by Burke, decided to sell the corpse to a local anatomist, no other than the aforementioned Rober Knox.
Robert Knox
Knox was so pleased by this new ''acquisition'' he had made that he allegedly asked our two Irish gentlemen if they had more corpses. Therefore, Burke and Hare started a series of killings, between 1827 and 1828, in which 16 people were killed and sold for money to Mr. Knox. What can I say? Very ethical doc. Now back to our main villains, their modus operandi was quite simple: lodgers who decide to stay in Hare's house were their targets who were killed either by suffocation or intoxication. Eventually, they were apprehended by the police 3 days they had murdered their last victim, and they were put on trial. To avoid prosecution, Hare decided to testify against Burke, thus being granted immunity. The outcome was a little bit obvious: Burke was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. He was hanged on 28th of January 1829. Hare was released from prison and vanished from history for good. Robert Knox never faced any criminal charges, but his connection with 2 serial killer damaged his reputation considerably.
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