The Case of Burke and Hare

News of the Times - Unlocking the vaults of historical crime

The Case of Burke and Hare
News of the Times Episode 338 | 1828 - 1831
1828 Edinburgh was rocked by the news of a murder couple within their midst who has been killing unfortunates and then selling the freshly murdered bodies who have been smothered specifically to leave the corpse “natural looking”. Their gain is between £8 to £10 a body – approximately £1200 per body in today’s money.
Burke and Hare would become arguably the most infamous killing couple in the whole of Great Britain. According to Burke’s own official confession, they killed 17 unfortunates and had an understanding with the lead dissector, famous in his field, Dr Knox.
This infamous case created a new term “burking” – the act of killing for the purpose of selling the body to medical facilities and brought into sharp relief the issue that had been created by government policy. That was a need for medical bodies, but there were not enough bodies to meet the need. Burke and Hare spotted the gap in the market.
We take a look at this astounding case, the background, the crime and the postscript in the remarkable case of Burke and Hare in today’s episode of Sinister Saturdays.
Hosted by Robin Coles.
#NewsofTheTimes #VictorianCrimeStories #HistoricalCrimeStories #VictorianMurders #Historicalcrimedocumentary #historicaltruecrime #burke #scotland #britishhistory
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EPISODE
If you like this, here are links to some other recommended videos:
1903: The Darby Family Murders | Ep119
https://youtu.be/KSjiXE6n2hU
1869: The Pantin Massacre | Ep125
https://youtu.be/PmxL0CE5iUY
1865: Dr Edward Pritchard | Ep131
https://youtu.be/w0XXXGnE-6g
1866: The Todmorden Murders | Ep137
https://youtu.be/wDrB26rPxWQ
1956: The Merry Widow of Windy Nook | Ep155
https://youtu.be/zr8LNzTn-Fs
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Chapters

1. The Case of Burke and Hare (00:00:00)

2. [Ad] TREASON: Claus von Stauffenberg and the Plot to kill Hitler (00:19:42)

3. (Cont.) The Case of Burke and Hare (00:20:21)