Doctor Crippen

The Infamous London Cellar Murder of 1910

In 1910 Cora Crippen, an unsuccessful music-hall artiste known as Belle Elmore, was murdered by her husband Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen, an American quack doctor, at their London home. During a search of 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Scotland Yard found the remains of her body under the cellar floor. Crippen’s attempt to escape across the Atlantic, with his young mistress Ethel Le Neve disguised as a boy, made headlines across the world, as did his subsequent Old Bailey trial and execution. It became the most famous British murder case of the twentieth century and has retained its fascination to this day. Nicholas Connell provides a meticulously researched account of the ‘North London Cellar Murder’, compiled from official files, contemporary newspapers and the autobiographies of many people connected to the case. Recently discovered material (including several long-forgotten memoirs by Ethel Le Neve) contains significant new information that shatters modern myths about the murder and popular beliefs about the characters involved. Stories that have persisted since 1910 of Crippen’s innocence are also examined in this new, accurate and detailed account of the remarkable story of Dr Crippen.