Doctor Hawley Harvey Crippen
Murder Suspect Flees By Cruise Ship
SS Montrose
October 17, 2007
Advocates for abolishing the death penalty world wide, point to another case of wrongful conviction of Doctor Hawley Crippen for the murder his missing wife. The case is an odd one to say the least.
Doctor Hawley Crippen's wife disappeared during a time in their marriage that Crippen had a mistress. As in most spouse missing cases, once it is established adultry was involved, murder is suspected and the spouse and mistress become prime suspects.
Crippen was an American citizen, and had practiced medicine as a homeopathic doctor with a position at a homeopathic pharmaceutical company.
He was married, but little was known about his first wife. His second wife, Cora Crippen was born to a German woman and Polish man as Kunigunde Mackamotski, who changed her name to Cora Turner who later became an opera singer known as Belle Elmore.
Rumor had it Elmore ran the house and controlled everything, around the many affairs she had with men, none of which can be verified.
Then, in 1900 they left the United States moving to England. There, the qualifications of the doctor didn't permit him to practice medicine. He did continue to dabble in Homeopathic preparations and treatment.
They moved around and finally settled in 1905 at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Road, Holloway, London. In their home, they had boarders who paid for accomodations thereby supplementing the Crippen income. This is where things went terribly wrong, according to some.
On January 17, 1910, Crippen ordered five grains of hyoscine, a poison, from a New Oxford Street chemist. He picked up the poison on the 19th and signed the chemist's register.
On January 31, 1910, the couple invited good friends of Belle's to their home for dinner and drinks. The couple, Paul Martinetti, a professional mime, and his wife Clara, a member of the Music Hall Ladies Guild stayed until late that night. That was the last time Belle was seen. Neighbors report hearing a loud argument and pleas for help in the wee morning hours of February 1, 1910.
A few days later Dr. Crippen canceled his wife's subscriptions to two theatrical weeklies, The Stage and The Era. He explained that his wife had gone home to America and would not be returning for a few months.
The 48 year old doctor told those who inquired that the 30 year old Belle had returned home to the U.S. on a family emergency near San Francisco, California where she later died of pneumonia and was then cremated after her funeral.
The next thing people knew, in March 1910 Hawley's mistress, 27 year old Miss Ethel le Neve, moved into his home, and began wearing the clothing and jewelry of his widow. Ethel had been a typist working for the doctor since shortly after the couple arrived in England.
This aroused the suspicion of the locals and Belle's friends, who found it odd the performer did not take her personal belongings with her. They went to police and asked for an investigation. During this time Hawley was saying Ethel was Belle's niece, which was simply untrue.
After being interviewed by police, and having the home searched, Hawley and Ethel fled to Antwerp, Brussels and took the SS Montrose to Canada. Unknown to them, the police were not going to further investigate the disappearance of Belle, having been satisified she had gone back to the U.S.
The sudden travel plans of the couple and the concerns of friends drew the suspicions of Scotland Yard, who reopened the investigation, and found part of the remains of a woman buried beneath the basement floor of the home. They immediately suspected it was Belle. The only part of the body found was the torso, the rest was missing.
Meanwhile Hawley and Belle, who was dressed as a boy traveling with his father, were onboard the cruise ship Montrose, traveling in first class. The captain, Henry George Kendall, who had been keeping up with London news via wireless communications, had met the couple and alerted officials.
Had the couple traveled by second class, they would have never met the captain, and likely would have remained unfound.
The couple was arrested in Quebec, Canada on July 31, 1910 aboard the Montrose. Though Crippen never admitted to the murder, he did say upon arrest that he was glad it was over. This lead police to believe he was guilty of the murder of his wife.
Both were put on trial for murder, but only Crippen was convicted. Throughout the trial, Crippen was adamant that the body was not that of his wife. A few months later, on November 23, 1910, Crippen was hung for the murder and buried in the prison yard.
Hugh Rhys Rankin claimed to have met Ethel le Neve in 1930 in Australia. On that occasion, she is said to have told him that Crippen murdered his wife because she had syphilis. Ethel died in 1967.
In October 2007, Michigan State University forensic scientist David Foran did DNA testing on a slide from the torso found buried under the Crippen home, and announced that the DNA did not even remotely match known relatives of Cora Crippen (Belle).
This lead to more speculation about what happened to Belle, and who was really buried beneath the house. The only clear assumption is, whether Crippen murdered his wife or not, he hung for a murder of a woman, he may not have known.
Having lived in the home for only a few years, the body could have been there, when Crippen purchased the home. It was only connected to him, because his wife was missing. There was never any evidence that Scotland Yard went to America to verify any of the details brought forth in the case.
When police questioned Crippen about the story of his wife's death, He told them his wife was really alive and had run off to Chicago, Illinois in America to be with her lover, Bruce Miller, a musician and prize fighter. That story was never confirmed.
A movie was made about the case in 1962, titled Dr. Crippen.
The SS Montrose was taken over by the Admiralty after the beginning of WWII, converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser and renamed H.M.S. Forfar. On December 2, 1940, was intercepted by U-99 and torpedoed a total of 5 times. The ship sunk and over 170 lives were lost.
Hawley Crippen Belle Elmore Ethel le Neve
