Pages

Friday, October 30, 2015

20 Creepily Fascinating Things From Scotland Yard's Hidden Museum Of Crime

The trunk used to conceal a body, the spade used to bury a wife.

The Crime Museum Uncovered has opened at the Museum of London, which means you now get to nose around some of the grim stuff that has been hidden from the public for decades.

The Crime Museum Uncovered has opened at the Museum of London, which means you now get to nose around some of the grim stuff that has been hidden from the public for decades.

The stuff used to murder people, or hide bodies, or burn bodies, that previously only detectives and their special guests were given access to when it was housed at Scotland Yard.

Now the murder bags, the ropes that hanged convicted criminals, and the acid bath kits are all on show.

Here are some more:

Museum of London

The trunk used by John Robinson to conceal the body of Minnie Bonati, 1927.

The trunk used by John Robinson to conceal the body of Minnie Bonati, 1927.

John Robinson murdered 36-year-old prostitute Minnie Bonati and hid her dismembered body in this trunk. He then dumped it at Charing Cross Station in the left-luggage office.

A few days later attendants noticed a smell coming from the trunk and called the police. Inside, police found five brown paper parcels tied with string. Each contained a piece of Minnie Bonati.

She had been dead for about a week.

On 13 July 1927 Robinson was sentenced to death, and hanged at Pentonville Prison a month later.

Museum of London

Spade used by Dr Crippen to bury his wife, Cora, 1910.

Spade used by Dr Crippen to bury his wife, Cora, 1910.

Police first heard of Cora's disappearance from her friend, a strongwoman called Vulcana.

Her husband, Dr Crippen, claimed that she had returned to the USA, died, and been cremated, but he changed his story in a later police interview. He said that he'd made up the whole thing up because he was embarrassed: She'd actually run off with some other guy. The house was searched and nothing was found, and the police would have bought the story had Crippen not swiftly fled the country.

When the house (39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Road, Holloway, now demolished) was searched again, police found the remains of a body buried under the basement floor. It wasn't a whole body, though: The head, limbs, and skeleton were never found.

Crippen was arrested in Quebec after fleeing to Canada with his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, and executed at Pentonville Prison on 23 November 1910.

Museum of London

Booklet on the Dr Crippen case, c. 1910.

Booklet on the Dr Crippen case, c. 1910.

The Crippen case fascinated the public, and even now there are doubts as to his guilt. New DNA evidence suggests the body under the bricks was not Cora's, or even female.

Museum of London


View Entire List ›

No comments:

Post a Comment