A Body in the Cellar: Hawley Harvey Crippen

This episode includes discussions of murder.

Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen.

In 2025, a manhunt for a killer likely involves CCTV and facial recognition, GPS and digital intelligence, and advanced DNA testing.

With so much surveillance and evidence, it's not easy to get away with a crime.

But in 1910, the hunt for a fugitive was much harder and slower.

The police depended on unreliable eyewitness memory, fingerprint science was in its infancy, and the world's first crime laboratory just opened that year.

So how did you catch a criminal in 1910?

For Scotland Yard, it took a brand new invention, wireless telegraphy.

It was revolutionary.

Criminal investigations could now take place between two countries or on a transatlantic ship.

But science still had a long way to go.

And over a century later, people have wondered, did forensic shortcomings send an innocent man to death?

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Dr.

Holly Harvey Crippen had ample opportunity to avoid infamy.

If it were not for his horrific crime, he'd largely be forgotten.

Even then, records of his life before his 30s are sparse, like most men born in 1862.

We do know Crippen's father was a wealthy merchant, which allowed Holly to enroll in the University of Michigan's College of Homeopathy.

Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine partially based on the idea that like cures like.

If a natural substance causes a symptom in a healthy person, a small amount of the same substance may help relieve symptoms of the illness.

For example, cutting onions usually makes chefs tear up, but homeopaths believe a diluted onion extract called allium sepa can treat watery eyes caused by allergies.

But there's risk involved.

Some of the substances used in homeopathic practice can be deadly if administered incorrectly.

Many experts are skeptical about their effectiveness.

As of early 2025, the FDA has not approved any homeopathic products.

But when Crippen enrolls in medical school in 1882, homeopathy is growing increasingly popular in Europe and the United States.

His studies take him to a mental hospital in London, where he treats violent patients with natural remedies.

Crippen graduates in 1884 and spends the next few years working in homeopathic practices across the States.

He meets a nurse, Charlotte, whom he marries in 1887.

Charlotte gives birth to a son, Otto, but dies two years later of a stroke.

Dr.

Crippen isn't willing to step up to single fatherhood.

He leaves Otto with his parents and moves to New York alone.

When he arrives, Dr.

Crippen finds a burgeoning world of possibilities.

In the city, streetcars have replaced the horse-drawn carriage.

Life literally moves at a faster pace.

Innovation is everywhere, and Crippen is eager to be a part of it.

He finds work in a medical practice and lives in the head doctor's home.

And in the fall of 1892, he marries a patient named Cora Turner.

Cora aspires to be an opera singer, and Crippen is happy to help finance her dreams.

But the following May, the country experiences a a financial crisis known as the Panic of 1893.

Demand for homeopathy wanes, and Dr.

Crippen is forced to stop paying for Cora's singing lessons.

Worse, Cora has been ill, so she undergoes an operation to remove her ovaries.

She won't be able to bear children.

According to Eric Larson, author of Thunderstruck, it contributes to a strain on the marriage.

But by 1897, things are starting to look up for the couple.

The homeopathic clinic Dr.

Crippen has been working for promotes him to manager of a new office in London.

The job comes with a significant pay raise.

It's also promising for Cora.

She hasn't found success in the New York opera scene, so perhaps England will be a nice change of pace.

For the next few years, things appear to be going well for the Crippens.

The doctor is making more money than he's ever made before, and Cora is booking roles.

But Cora is not the star she wants to be.

Newspaper reviews pan her performances, and one of her shows is shut down within a week of its debut.

She decides to set aside her dream career and focus on her social life.

What Cora lacks in musical talents, she more than makes up for in charm, and she quickly finds successful friends.

They include music hall performer Lil Hawthorne, her husband and manager John Nash, and the circus performing strongwoman Kate Williams, better known as Volcana.

All are big names at the time.

However, Cora doesn't yield much success from her connections, and it's putting Dr.

Crippen in a financial bind.

He's been funding her career from singing lessons to her own production, and it isn't just her stage act he's paying for.

Cora insists on keeping up with the latest fashions, no matter the cost.

Crippen also loses his well-paying job at the clinic.

He takes a series of new jobs at facilities that are essentially scams.

One is at Drouet Institute for the Deaf.

There, Dr.

Crippen spends mere minutes with patients before prescribing a supposed cure.

It's a significant pay cut, and Crippen can't keep up the lifestyle.

The couple is forced to move to a smaller, more affordable apartment.

But Cora keeps buying lavish jewelry and expensive clothing, and she spends most of her time at clubs and social events with her friends.

Dr.

Crippen's resentment festers because he soon learns Cora isn't just out networking all night.

She's having a very public affair.

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By 1901, Dr.

Holly Crippen's second marriage resembles the medical cures he peddles.

Little more than a sham.

His wife Cora is smitten with a variety show performer, so Crippen goes looking for a lover of his own.

The same year, Drouet Institute for the Deaf hires Ethel Leneve to help Dr.

Crippen around the office, and he takes a fast liking to her.

To Crippen, Ethel is everything Cora isn't.

Kind, quiet, and unassuming.

She's a diligent employee eager to please.

Before long, the doctor finds himself making excuses to stay late at work.

Over the next several years, Dr.

Crippen grows even further from his wife, and even closer to Ethel.

He makes more room for his lover in his life.

He invests in a large home in London.

The property allows Crippen and Cora to sleep in separate bedrooms and easily continue their separate affairs.

Still, as a public formality, Dr.

Crippen stays with his wife.

By all appearances, the two are a happy couple.

which makes what happens next all the more surprising.

On the evening of January 31st, 1910, the Crippens host two of Cora's show business friends, Paul and Clara Martinetti.

They have dinner and drinks, then play a few games of cards.

The Martinettis leave around 1 a.m.

No one knows exactly what occurs next, but in the following days and weeks, one thing becomes clear.

Cora Crippen has disappeared.

In February 1910, Cora's friends and social clubs receive letters purportedly written by Cora.

At first, the letters claim Cora has gone back to the States to visit a sick relative.

Eventually, Dr.

Crippen amends this story, saying his wife had fallen ill and died while in the U.S.

The odd claim grows even less believable in the spring of 1910.

At some point, Ethel and Nev moves in with Dr.

Crippen.

Shortly thereafter, she begins wearing Cora's clothing and jewelry.

For all intents and purposes, she is the new Mrs.

Crippen.

Ethel and Crippen continue this charade well into the summer.

Seeking answers, Cora's circus performer friend Kate Williams reports Cora's disappearance to the police.

An investigation begins, but the case takes on new urgency when Cora's other friends, entertainer Lil Hawthorne and her husband John Nash, escalate the case to Scotland Yard.

On July 8th, 1910, they dispatch Chief Inspector Walter Dew to interview Dr.

Crippen and search his house.

He doesn't notice anything odd until he begins talking to Dr.

Crippen, who changes his explanation of his wife's disappearance yet again.

He claims that Cora had run away to America with her lover.

Under questioning, Crippen admits his earlier lies.

He'd said Cora died to save himself embarrassment.

Inspector Dew buys the story, but tells Crippen he'll have to confirm with Cora herself.

The next day, Crippen shaves off his distinctive mustache and Ethel disguises herself as a boy.

Posing as father and son, the pair flee to various cities across Europe.

In Antwerp, they buy passage to Canada on the SS Montrose, leaving on July 20th, 1910.

Back in London, Chief Inspector Dew returns to the Crippen house to a surprising discovery.

It's been abandoned.

Dr.

Crippen and Ethel's sudden departure was a bright red flag.

After all, innocent people seldom flee their homes.

Inspector Dew orders three more searches of the Crippen residence, scouring it from top to bottom.

On the final inspection, detectives discover loose bricks in the cellar.

Beneath them, they find ripped, bloodied pajama bottoms wrapped around a headless, limbless, boneless torso.

Though Inspector Dew can't immediately identify the victim, he has a hunch that it's Cora.

And the killer, her husband, Dr.

Crippen.

Now it's up to Scotland Yard to track him down.

The remains in the pajamas are sent in for analysis and autopsy.

In the process, one of Scotland Yard's senior scientific analysts finds something else unusual in the remains.

traces of the drug hyacine hydrobromide.

In modern medicine, hyacine is sometimes used to treat motion sickness.

In the 19th century, it was occasionally used as a sedative, but the drug was only rarely prescribed as it was a strong poison that could be deadly in large amounts.

With this terrifying find, Scotland Yard issues a warrant for Dr.

Crippen's arrest.

Combine that with the fact that Dr.

Crippen's wife had been missing for months and now Dr.

Crippen himself is missing, the story quickly becomes headline news.

It strikes a chord with Londoners, who are still shocked from Jack the Ripper's killing spree just 20 years prior.

And like Jack the Ripper's crimes, this horror soon finds an international audience.

With growing attention, Scotland Yard faces great pressure to crack the case.

Even Britain's home secretary, a young Winston Churchill, offers a £250 reward for the capture of the fugitives.

Crippen and Ethel are on equal footing with the most wanted criminals in London, and they have no idea.

Floating across the ocean aboard the SS Montrose, they think they've successfully escaped detection.

They don't know that just before the ship's departure, two Scotland Yard officers told Captain Henry George Kendall to be on the lookout for the suspects.

Even more, their faces are plastered on the cover of the Daily Mail.

Assuming they're safe, Dr.

Crippen and Ethel do little to keep up with their disguises aboard the steamship.

While they remain dressed as as father and son, they are oddly affectionate with one another and frequently hold hands.

And on top of that, Ethel's boy clothes clearly don't fit her body.

Captain Kendall notices.

He instructs his wireless operator to telegraph the British authorities immediately.

The message states, quote, strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers.

Mustache taken off, growing beard.

Accomplice dressed as boy.

Notably, this is the first time wireless telegraphy, or radio telegraphy, is used to track a criminal, bringing even more notoriety to the chase.

After receiving the telegram, Inspector Dew boards a White Star liner, the SS Laurentic.

It's faster than the SS Montrose, which means Dew will arrive in Canada before Dr.

Crippen does.

Once there, Canadian authorities bring him to the criminal's ship.

On July 31st, 1910, as the SS Montrose enters the St.

Lawrence River in Quebec, Inspector Dew and his fellow officers come aboard disguised as harbor pilots, the officials who guide ships into port.

Meanwhile, Captain Kendall asks Dr.

Crippen if he'd like to greet the pilots.

Delighted, Dr.

Crippen agrees, but he's in for a harsh discovery.

When the so-called pilots enter the room, one steps forward and removes his cap.

He introduces himself as Chief Inspector Dew of Scotland Yard.

After a pause, Dr.

Crippen apparently replies, thank God the suspense is over.

Inspector Dew arrests Crippen and his accomplice, Ethel.

Within days, Crippen is back in England awaiting trial for the murder of his wife.

Dr.

Crippen's trial begins in October 1910, three months after his arrest on the Montrose.

Filled with salacious details and a thrilling search, newspapers describe the tragic tale of an unfaithful wife slain by her bitter husband.

Though the body in the cellar still hasn't been proven to be Cora's, everyone in London has their mind made up.

When Dr.

Crippen's first day in court finally comes on October 18, 1910, 4,000 people line up to hear the case play out.

Dr.

Crippen's defense holds to the doctor's claims that Cora had left him for another man.

It was Crippen, the jilted husband, who was the victim.

The defense argues that the boneless torso had been buried by some unknown person, possibly before the Crippens had moved into their house.

But a significant piece of evidence from the prosecution seems to disprove this.

The pajamas that the human remains were wrapped in matched pajamas that Cora gifted to Dr.

Crippen the previous year.

To further corroborate this, the clothes manufacturer testifies that the specific pattern found on the fragment was not sold prior to 1908.

This means that the remains couldn't have been placed in the house before Dr.

Crippen and Cora first moved in in 1905.

Additional witnesses for the prosecution include several pathologists who shed light on hyacinth found in the corpse.

Prior to the murder, Dr.

Crippen had purchased significant quantities of the drug from a local chemist.

This certainly made it appear as though Crippen hadn't just killed his wife, but had premeditated it.

A major sticking point is that the body can't be confirmed as Cora's until one of the prosecution's pathologists gives the remains another look.

He finds a mark on the body's abdomen, a scar.

It's consistent with scars left over after surgery to remove ovaries.

Cora had undergone that very procedure in 1893.

It's not a smoking gun, but it's pretty compelling.

Ultimately, science can't prove beyond reasonable doubt that the body is Cora's, however, the mounting circumstantial evidence is overwhelming, and during the four days of trial, Dr.

Crippen has little to add to his defense.

On October 22, 1910, after only 27 minutes of deliberation, The jury delivers a verdict.

They find Dr.

Crippen guilty of murdering his wife Cora.

He's sentenced to death.

Ethel is tried shortly after Dr.

Crippen's conviction, but the jury determines she had nothing to do with the murder and sets her free.

Dr.

Crippen's last request is for a photograph of Ethel and some of her letters to be buried with him in his unmarked grave.

The request is granted.

On November 23, 1910, Holly Harvey Crippen is hanged at the Pentonville Prison.

After the trial, Londoners put forth many theories as to why and how Dr.

Crippen might have killed his wife.

With the doctor dead, we'll never know the exact story.

Barrister Edward Marshall Hall proposes one theory.

He suggests Dr.

Crippen gave his wife Hyacine to put her to sleep while he enjoyed a night out with Ethel, but it backfired when Cora died of an overdose.

Panicking, he must have tried to break down the corpse and hid her remains in their cellar.

Over half a century later, in 1981, several newspapers in Britain published reports that a man named Sir Hugh Rhys Rankin met Ethel Lenev in 1930.

She supposedly told him that Dr.

Crippen murdered Cora because she had syphilis.

But stranger than any of these speculations is the idea that Dr.

Crippen never committed the crime at all.

John Trestrail, a modern-day forensic toxicologist, is unsettled by the circumstantial evidence in Dr.

Crippen's case.

He's never heard of a poisoning case where the murderer also dismembered his victim.

If Dr.

Crippen had both poisoned and dismembered Cora, it doesn't make sense that he would have disposed of so much of the body only to leave incriminating evidence in his home.

Intrigued, Trestrail analyzes Dr.

Crippen's court records.

After finding more inconsistencies in the case, Trestrail brings in a forensics expert.

They conduct a comprehensive genetic search to find descendants of Cora Crippen and, thanks to the internet, are are able to identify three of Cora's living relatives.

Then, they try to obtain Cora's DNA.

Scotland Yard had kept three strands of hair and charges £17,500 to run a test on two of them.

Unwilling to pay that steep fee, Tress Trail turns to the Royal London Hospital Archives, which had preserved nine pieces of tissue from the case.

At Tress Trail's request, the historic medical facility hands over a nearly century-old tissue sample of the torso found in Dr.

Crippen's cellar.

Trestrail compares its DNA with that of Cora's relatives, and the DNA of the body does not match any of Cora's three living relatives.

Even weirder, their research shows that the torso found might not even be female.

With this new scientific evidence, Trestrail begins to re-examine police and court archives.

He uncovers a series of documents that had reportedly been suppressed during the court case.

Among them was a letter from Cora herself to Dr.

Crippen after the alleged murder, in which she claims to be living in America with no plan to stop his execution.

During the 1910 trial, Scotland Yard suspected the letter was a hoax, so it was kept from the jury.

This makes Tress Trail wonder if, under media pressure, the police had tampered with the evidence to close the case.

However, this claim remains in dispute.

With DNA that old, some have argued that accurate results aren't guaranteed.

The tissue had likely become contaminated.

Some note that conclusions drawn from two scientists who'd tested a single century-old sample is not good cause to reopen the case.

The UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission seemingly agree.

In 2009, after reviewing Trestrail's findings, they declared that the Court of Appeals will not hear the case to pardon Dr.

Crippen posthumously.

While it seems an innocent man wouldn't run from his crimes, the modern DNA investigation certainly raises interesting questions.

Then again, if the corpse did belong to someone other than Cora, it's possible Dr.

Crippen was involved in that murder.

Despite these theories, we can look to Occam's razor to deduce what most likely happened.

The simpler explanation between two theories is generally preferred.

But that doesn't mean it's not worth a second look, even if the crime is more than a century old.

Because as Tress Trail says, justice doesn't have a time limit.

Hey serial killers listeners, producer Chelsea here.

I wanted to tell you about some new information I discovered since working on this episode.

Just a few days after we recorded, author Hallie Rubenhold released a book about the case titled Story of a Murder, The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr.

Crippen.

As its title suggests, suggests, the book focuses on the women in Holly Harvey Crippen's life.

Information about his first wife, Charlotte, was sparse when I researched this episode.

In Story of a Murder, Rubenhold fills in those gaps.

Charlotte immigrated from Ireland in the mid-1880s and settled in New York City.

She trained to be a nurse, then got a job at a homeopathic hospital.

That's where she met Holly Harvey Crippen.

The couple married in 1887 and Charlotte quit her nursing career to join her husband as he jumped from job to job, city to city.

Rubenhold discovered evidence suggesting Crippen may have been abusing his wife.

Neighbors witnessed Crippen throwing a book at Charlotte.

They claimed she lived in fear of her husband.

The couple welcomed a boy in 1889, but never had another child.

Charlotte sent letters to her brother alleging Crippen had been performing unwanted abortions on her.

In one letter, Charlotte wrote, If I die, it will be his fault.

Charlotte's death in 1892 was officially ruled apoplexy, a stroke, but hindsight certainly raises some questions.

Charlotte was only 33 and reportedly healthy.

Crippen had access to various poisons through his homeopathic practice.

That would be the method he would later use to kill his second wife, Cora.

Could he have also murdered his first wife the same way?

Ultimately, the real answer is likely lost to time, but at least now we have a fuller picture of Charlotte's story.

Another important woman in Dr.

Crippen's life was his second spouse, Cora Turner, which was just one of the stage names she used in her career.

Crippen painted Cora out to be a talentless dilettante who bled him dry with her penchant for high fashion.

But in her book, Rubenholt found several positive reviews of Cora's performances.

And Dr.

Crippen's problems with money date back to long before he even met Cora.

Finally, there's Crippen's mistress, Ethel Leneve.

While she was briefly jailed after her and Crippen's transatlantic escape, she was not found to have taken part in the murder or even known anything about it.

After her release, Ethel lived the next decade or so in relative obscurity.

She got married and had two children, but never told her family about her past.

Rubenholt's research uncovered some interviews Ethel granted throughout the 1920s.

Being acquitted of the murder didn't stop the press and locals from believing she knew something about it.

She wanted to put a stop to the rumors once and for all.

But Rubenholt says the interviews only fanned the flames.

Like her one-time lover, Ethel's story changed often.

Sometimes she would insist Cora was still alive, other times she claimed Cora's death was little more than an accident.

She also never publicly expressed remorse or sympathy for Cora's death.

only an insistence that Ethel herself was the victim, robbed of a happily ever after with Dr.

Crippen.

Story of a murder does help enrich our understanding of the Crippen case, but it doesn't answer every question.

If the doctor did kill his wife, what was the motive?

Was it premeditated?

A crime of passion?

A total accident?

And those questions only exist if the body in the cellar was really Cora's.

Forensic toxicologist John Treshtrail's examination found no genetic connection to Cora's relatives.

He discovered the body might not even be female.

Turi King is a renowned geneticist who led the verification of Richard III's body in 2012.

She acknowledges Treshtrail's findings may be correct, but she also contends there's several issues with the way the evidence was tested.

The DNA tests were done on a single sample in a single lab.

King says current standards of practice require testing at least two samples in two different labs.

That helps validate the results and also buffer against possible contamination contamination of the DNA.

Technology has come such a long way in the last 15 years that King suggests the DNA be re-examined in depth to put to bed the question,

whose body was in the cellar?

It's that question, the many unknowns, the cinematic chase, and the historical use of a telegraph that make this story so intriguing, even 115 years later.

It's why just a few days after we recorded this episode, Crippen's leatherbound prayer book sold at a British auction for £240

or approximately $318 US dollars.

It's why I will continue to follow the case.

And if there are any updates, you can be sure to hear about them here on Serial Killers.

Thank you for listening to Serial Killers.

We're here with a new episode every Monday.

Be sure to check us out on Instagram at Serial Killers Podcast.

And if you're listening on Spotify, swipe up and give us your thoughts.

Or email us at serialkillerstories at spotify.com.

For more information on Dr.

Holly Harvey Crippen, amongst the many sources we used, we found Thunderstruck by Eric Larson and Molecules of Murder by John Emsley extremely helpful to our research.

Stay safe out there.

This episode was written by Amy Paulette Hartman, edited by Chelsea Wood, researched by Chelsea Wood, fact-checked by Bennett Logan, and video edited and sound designed by Alex Button.

I'm your host, Janice Morgan.