I am rapidly tiring of conspiracy theories - particularly regarding those allegedly 'innocent' of murder.The latest is Dr Hawley Crippen executed in 1910 for the murder of his wife, Cora.
Their friends thought that he had killed her and called the police; he was having an affair; he ran away as soon as interviewed; the police found a body in his cellar; his wife had disappeared off the face of the earth; he lied that he had received telegrams from her - and later (riskily if not what he knew to be true, stated that she was dead) that he had received news from the USA of her decease.
His pyjama bottoms were found alongside the body in his cellar for which he was indubitably responsible! He was executed for that killing - irrespective of the identity of the corpse.
He was clearly a murderer!
The problem was that the body has proved NOT to be that of Cora - but is clearly still down to him.
He almost certainly killed her as well - although it remains a possibility that she disappeared in fear of her own life but the indications are otherwise.
Technically, he should not have been convicted for his wife's murder, though.
But in fact, he was almost certainly a worse killer than previously thought.
The theorists have had to resort to wild and utterly unsubstantiated claims a century on, that the police had 'planted' evidence in order to lend any credence to their efforts. The last resort of the desperate defence barrister!
Nothing pleases an abolitionist more than an allegedly 'wrongful execution'. Indeed, they invented many over decades - and they have all been exposed on this Blog.
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