inkbluesky

Science Casts Doubt On Famous British Murder Case

Ninety-seven years after an American was hanged in London in one of the most notorious and famous murder cases in British history, forensic science at Michigan State University is producing evidence that his execution was a mistake.

Dr. Hawley Crippen was hanged for murdering and dismembering his showgirl wife, then fleeing with his mistress across the high seas with the police in hot pursuit. Loaded with enough sordid details and twists to eventually fuel more than 40 books and several movies, this London case is second only to Jack the Ripper in its sensational notoriety.

There was some human tissue found in his cellar. Odd that there wouldn’t be any bones or a skull. The for forensic experts of the day did take a sample and that sample has been kept all this time by the Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum. While David Foran, a forensic biologist and toxicologist John Harris Trestrail III had a difficult time extracting some mitochondrial DNA they eventually succeeded. Then working forward with genealogist Beth Wills they found some modern day relatives of the supposed victim Cora Crippen. Comparing the DNA of Cora’s living relatives with the DNA sample that helped convict Dr. Crippen showed that whoever was buried in that cellar wasn’t Cora. Hawley Harvey Crippen entry at Wikipedia.

bridge to somewhere

Say Cheese! A history of the American snapshot

Every photography curator I know has hidden away somewhere a stash of other people’s snapshots. We buy them, usually for no more than a few dollars each, at flea markets and garage sales, and lately on eBay, where they show up as anonymous artifacts, cut loose from their original meanings as keepsakes or family mementos. Their muteness and their mysterious origins make them all the more mesmerizing. For people who love photography, the awkward, unpretentious charm of old snapshots is nearly irresistible. The best of them, like this enchanting image of tiny girl suspended against a blank white sky, seem to encapsulate the magic of the medium in its purest form.

Good slideshow with a text narrative at the link.