Chip Chick
Realizing just how quickly and easily they were able to get paid for bodies, Burke and Hare then set out on a murdering spree to bring more bodies to the medical school.
They started with more sick and elderly tenants who visited or stayed in Hare’s boarding house, then moved on to lure in innocent civilians from the poorest neighborhoods, often suffocating them so there was minimal damage to their bodies, something the medical school preferred.
It is estimated Burke and Hare murdered and sold around 16 bodies, making at least seven to ten pounds a piece each time.
However, Burke and Hare became a little too greedy and began bringing bodies of people recognized by some medical students. Not only did they get sloppy with their crimes, but they also started turning against each other in greed and argued about their payments and cuts.
In 1828, a couple staying at Burke’s boarding house called the police when they discovered a murdered woman in one of the spare rooms. Burke, Hare, and their two mistresses, Helen and Margaret, who acted as accomplices, were all arrested.
Hare was released from custody in 1829 after agreeing to testify against Burke and Helen. After he was released, he fled to England, where no one knew for sure what had happened to him.
Helen and Margaret were set free and fled, but Burke was sentenced to death by hanging in 1829. After he was executed in January of that year, his body was donated to medical science.
A few years after Burke and Hare were arrested, the Anatomy Act of 1832 was put into law, which made cadavers more accessible for medical students as people were able to donate their bodies to science legally.
Have you heard of Burke and Hare before now?
