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Grave Robbing and Murder: Burke and Hare | The MurderousMinds Podcast

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What happens when the pursuit of knowledge crosses the line into the realm of the macabre? Join us as we traverse the chilling history of 19th-century Edinburgh where grave robbing became all too common. Hear the tale of Dr. Robert Knox, an eminent anatomist, and his insatiable demand for cadavers. Follow the twisted path of William Burke, a man whose lust for wealth led him to commit unspeakable acts.

As we venture further into this grim narrative, we'll unravel the horrifying fate of Burke and Hare's victims. Mary Patterson, Janet Brown, a young boy and his grandmother – their names etched into the annals of history as tragic casualties in the duo's relentless pursuit of riches. Witness the unraveling of Burke and Hare's partnership and the climactic end of their murderous spree with the murder of Margaret Dockety.

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Thank you for tuning in to MurderousMinds, the chilling true crime podcast that delves deep into the darkest minds. Join us as we explore the captivating stories of notorious killers, analyze their motives, and unravel the mysteries behind their heinous acts. Stay connected with us on Patreon for updates, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes insights. Remember, listener discretion is advised.

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Welcome to Murderous Minds, a documentary series started by the Top 5's YouTube channel back in 2018, dedicated to exploring the twisted minds of serial killers. The following podcast episode is the audio version of our video series over on the Top 5's Patreon page. If you would like to watch the video instead of just listening, and would also like to support our show, then please head on over to Patreon using the link in the show notes. Thank you for joining, and now let's take a journey into the minds of murderers. In the early 19th century, scotland's capital city, edinburgh, was one of Europe's leading centres of anatomical study, alongside the likes of Leiden in the Netherlands and the Italian city of Padua. Naturally, the study of the human body requires a high number of cadavers, but anatomists struggle to get their hands on the number of corpses needed to advance their studies. This was mainly down to two things Scottish law determined that the suitable corpses for study would include dead prisoners, suicide victims and orphans, but the 1823 Judgment of Death Act greatly reduced the number of criminal offences which were punishable by death, which made it increasingly harder for anatomists to secure cadavers. Additionally, medical training in Edinburgh was on the rise, but corpse supplies failed to keep pace with demand. As a result of this, the city saw a rise in grave robin. While disturbing a grave or taking the deceased's property was seen as a criminal offence at the time, snatching the body itself was not actually illegal, as the body did not belong to anybody. These grave robbers managed to make a lucrative business for themselves, often procuring 8 pounds per body in the summer and 10 pounds in the winter. More often than not, the demand for corpses in the winter increased as it was easier to store and preserve them due to the colder weather and temperatures. During the 1820s, restless residents of the city of Edinburgh began protesting the increase in grave robbing. This led to measures being taken to deter or completely foil the plans of those involved in the trade, as guards were hired to watch graveyards, watchtowers were built, large stone slabs were laid over graves until the bodies began to decompose and were therefore no longer useful. Often, iron cages, known as mort saves, were placed around coffins to prevent anyone from breaking into them. A historian by the name of Ruth Richardson claimed that these measures led to a growing atmosphere of crisis for anatomists, as their cadaver supplies were so heavily limited.

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One of these anatomists was a man by the name of Dr Robert Knox, who was well respected in this field and one of the men leading the way in the study of surgery on the human body. As a child, knox had contracted smallpox, which had dared him to become a disfigured and blind in one eye. He qualified as a doctor in 1814 and a year later was employed as an army physician at the Battle of Waterloo. Afterwards he was sent to England before being posted in Southern Africa during the Cape Frontier War in 1819. In 1820 Knox settled in Edinburgh. Five years later he became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and gave lectures on anatomy. He performed dissections twice a day and his advertisement for his course promised a full demo on fresh anatomical objects. As a result of this, knox claimed his lessons drew in over 400 pupils. Additionally, he was trying to publish books on anatomy. As a busy man he had numerous assistants and employees, including his own brother who worked as the curator of his personal anatomical museum. At least three of Knox's assistants went on to have a successful career in the medical field, most notably William Ferguson, who became a prominent professor of surgery in London later on in life. Knox also had a technician and a doorkeeper in his employment by the name of David Patterson, who generally dealt with those who had secured cadavers that they wished to sell to Knox for his studies.

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While Knox's credited with helping to progress the study of human anatomy, he was not a man without his flaws. He once said I would rather be the discoverer of one fact in science than have a fortune bestowed upon me. When he went into business with infamous serial murderers William Burke and William Hare, he never once questioned whether men acquired the dead bodies, nor did he inquire about their manner of death. This, combined with his way of thinking, has led many modern day historians to conclude that Knox was the type of scientist who never questioned the ethics of his research and focused solely on what new information he could discover.

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Born in 1792 in Ernie County, tyrone Island, william Burke was one of two sons born to middle class parents. He and his brother, constantine, had a comfortable upbringing and both entered the British Army. As teenagers, burke served in a Donnegal militia until he met a married woman from County Mayo Island with a couple, later settled and reportedly had two children. However, the marriage was short lived. There are several different reports about why the couple's relationship ended. One source claims that in 1818, burke fought with his father-in-law about land ownership and ultimately deserted his wife and children, while another source states that Burke left to go to Scotland and his wife refused to move with him. Whatever the case may be, burke moved to Scotland alone, where he became a labourer and settled in a village named Madison, near the town of Falkirk. Here he met Helen McDougal, the woman he began living with. Eventually, helen became Burke's second wife, and he often referred to her as Nellie.

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Sometime later, in 1827, after work on the Union Canal running between Falkirk and Edinburgh was completed, burke and Helen moved to Tannas Close near Westport in Edinburgh. After a time the couple worked as hawkers selling second hand clothing to impoverished locals, before Burke became employed as a weaver and later a baker. Eventually he tried his hand at cobbling shoes. He reportedly garnered some success in his occupation, earning £1 per week as he entertained his clients by singing and dancing as he worked. Shortly after this, burke became known locally as a hard working and good human man and was generally well liked and respected in his community. Although he had been raised as a Roman Catholic, he had become a Presbyterian and regularly attended religious meetings in the grass market area of Edinburgh. He was apparently very rarely seen without a Bible.

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Much of William Heier's early life is unknown. He was likely born in County Arles, londonbury or Newry, all of which are in Northern Ireland. His exact age and date of birth are unclear. Upon his arrest in 1828 he claimed he was 21, but his January believed that he was born sometime between 1792 and 1804, suggesting he might have been a similar age to Burke. Its possible Heier worked as an agricultural labourer for some time in Ireland before moving to Scotland where, like Burke, he worked on the Union Canal. After completing the work, he moved to Edinburgh where he became employed as a coal man's assistant. He lived at the house on Tannas Close near a couple named Loge and Margaret Laird, who ran a lodging house. After Loge died in 1826, heier moved in with Margaret. They lived together as common law husband and wife, although they were never officially married. Margaret had one child, but a late husband, and was reportedly pregnant with Heier's child at the time of the murders.

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Most reports claim that Hare met Burke while the pair worked together on the canal. However, an article by the Oxford University Press states that they actually met and became friends in 1827, when Burke and his wife Helen went to the town of Pennycook to work on the harvest. Hare and Burke quickly became friends. Following the couple's return to Edinburgh, helen and Burke moved into Hare's home, margaret's lodging house in Tannis Close. While Burke was seen as a religious, hard-working and charming man with a strong moral code, hare was reportedly viewed as the exact opposite. Historian Brian Bailey describes Hare as illiterate and uncouth, a lean, quarrelsome, violent and immoral character. After Burke and Hare moved in together, their lodging house became well-known for hard drinking and boisterous behaviour. But even with that kind of reputation, nobody expected the two couples to become embroiled in an illicit murder for profit scheme.

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On November 29th 1827, a lodger at Hare's house by the name of Donald died of edema, a swelling caused by fluid trapped in the body's tissues. Donald owed Hare £4 in rent and had died just before he was due to receive his quarterly army pension. Angered by the loss of money, hare complained about his problem to Burke. As the two conversed, they decided to sell Donald's body to one of Edinburgh's autonomists so that Hare could make his money back. Donald's burial was paid for by the local parish and a carpenter provided a coffin for his body. After the carpenter left, however, burke and Hare opened the coffin, removed Donald's body and hid it under the bed. They then filled the coffin with bark from a local tanner and resealed it On the day of the burial.

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After darkness fell, burke and Hare took Donald's corpse to Edinburgh University's medical school in search of a buyer. In Burke's later confession he stated the pair were looking for Professor Alexander Monroe, the son of a pioneering autonomy teacher of the same name, although Monroe was extremely successful as a medical educator in his own right. After asking for directions, the two men were instead sent to Dr Robert Knox in Surgeon Square. While Burke and Hare spoke with Knox's assistant by the selling of the cadaver, specifically David Patterson, who was largely believed to be the one who doubted the men. For the most part, knox himself was the one who agreed on a price and paid the two. Burke and Hare received £7 and 10 shillings for the corpse, with Hare taking the largest share of £4.50 to compensate for the rent he'd lost due to Donald's death. According to Burke's later statements, as the men left, one of Knox's assistants told them that they'd be glad to see them again when they had another corpse to dispose of.

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It's unclear in what order the pair's first two victims were killed. Even Burke's own accounts gave different stories, despite his confessions being only a month apart. His generally thought that a man named Joseph, who was a miller and a lodger at Hare's house, was the first of the pair's murder victims and was killed in either January or February of 1828. Joseph was reportedly suffering from a fever and was delirious, and Hare and his wife Margaret became concerned that he would be bad for business as he could be contagious. As a result of this, hare enlisted the help of Burke and the two piled Joseph with whiskey. Before they suffocated him, hare held a pillow over the lodger's face while his partner in crime lay on the man's upper torso so that his movements were restricted. Burke and Hare then transported Joseph's body in a tea chest to Dr Knox, who paid them 10 pound for the corpse. As the pair had smothered the miller, there was no evidence that he had been murdered, as it was impossible to tell such a thing in 1828 due to lack of forensics.

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The next victim was an elderly salt seller named Abigail Simpson, a pensioner living in Gilmerton. On February 12th 1828, abigail was in flight at Tehr's house where the two men supplied her with copious amounts of alcohol until she was too drunk to return home While only drunk and stubborn. She was murdered by Burke and Hare, who received £10 from Knox for Abigail's body. History professor Lisa Rossner has said that although Joseph was the pair's first victim, abigail was the first to get Burked. Burking was a new word invented that described the pair's killing method, where they would cover the nose and mouth of their victim and squeeze their ribcage so that their lungs and diaphragm could not expand, thus halting their breathing. In the same time, the men murdered an identified male lodger who was working as a travelling salesman before he fell ill with jaundice while lodging at Hare's home. Again, hare and his wife were concerned about sheltering the ill man, and so he and Burke decided to kill him in a similar fashion to their other victims, receiving £10 from Knox or the cadaver. Despite the fact that Knox had been provided with three fresh corpses in the space of just a few weeks, he never asked Burke and Hare any questions and ever once wondered whether the bodies came from. However, it's been suggested by some that no questions were asked about these earlier victims because body smelling of alcohol was almost expected at the time, as drunken stupors and alcohol poisoning were common causes of death among the lower class. An elderly, unidentified woman was the next victim. She was invited to lodging house by Margaret Hare and was given enough whiskey that she fell asleep. When Hare, who had been out, returned home, he covered the woman's mouth and nose with a stiff mattress cover and left her there. She was reportedly dead by nightfall and the men received another £10 from Knox.

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In early April, mary Patterson, or Mary Mitchell as she was sometimes known, and Janet Brown met Burke in the Cannon Gate area of Edinburgh. The two women are generally reported as being sex workers, but Lisa Rosner discovered that Mary may actually have been the resident of a sort of reform school named Magdalene Asylum, which was an establishment for young women and girls who, as we would say, today, are at risk. Following the pair's meeting with Burke, he brought them alcohol and invited them to his lodgings for breakfast. The three left the tavern together with two bottles of whiskey and went to the home of Burke's brother, constantine. After Constantine left for work, burke, mary and Janet finished the whiskey before Mary fell asleep at the table. For some time Burke stayed up with Janet talking, but before long his wife Helen came to the house and found the two interrupting the conversation and accusing Burke of having an affair, while a row broke out between husband and wife, during which Burke threw a glass at Helen's head, cutting her over the eye. Janet made her exit, explaining that she didn't realise Burke was married. Helen then left the house to fetch hair and margarite and upon her return, the two men locked the two women out of the room and murdered Mary.

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According to some sources, after leaving the house, janet went to visit her old landlady, a woman named Mrs Laurie, who became concerned when Janet described what had happened earlier that day. Reportedly, mrs Laurie sent Janet back to the house to get Mary and that a servant accompanied her, but the pair were told that Mary and Burke had gone out together. Janet decided to hang around and wait for them to return and sent the servant back to Mrs Lowry, but the servant returned shortly afterwards, insisting that Janet leave with them, and so she did. Mrs Lowry is thought to have saved Janet from meeting a similar fate to Mary. Burke and hair received £8 in exchange for Mary's body, while Helen was given her skirt and petticoats. This crime didn't go quite so smoothly this time, however, as one of Knox's assistants asked where the body was from, as he thought he recognised the young woman, burke explained that she had drunk herself to death and that he and hair had purchased the corpse from an old woman in Canongate. Under the purchase, knox stored Mary's body in whiskey before dissecting it. Janet Brown was eventually told that Mary had left Glasgow with a travelling salesman and never saw her friend again.

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Sometime in early to mid-1828, a woman named Mary Holding, who is described in some sources as a local sex worker, began lodging at Hare's home. Burke later called her a stout old woman and she became the murderous pair's latest victim. When she became drunk and fall asleep in a stable After being smothered, her body was sold to Knox. A few months later her daughter, peggy, came looking for her. She drank heavily with Burke and, again while drunk, she was smothered to death. The men were paid £10 for each of the bodies. Shortly after this, a woman Burke knew named Effie became the next target. Effie was described as a scavenger who raided bins and rubbish tips in search of items she could sell, and she was known to Burke because she'd sold him scraps of leather before. On the day of her death, he tempted her into the stable with a bottle of whiskey and when she was completely drunk he killed her with the assistance of Hare. Afterwards the pair received another £10 for the cadaver.

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The next victim was a woman who was too drunk to stand and who was being escorted home by a police constable. Burke discovered her late one night and claimed that he knew the woman, offering to take her home himself. The policeman agreed and Burke took the woman to Hare's house. The men received another £10 for the body. Then, in June, burke and Hare snuffed out the lives of two more victims, including their youngest yet, a little boy who was lodging with his grandmother. Burke later described them as an old woman and a dumb boy her grandson. According to some reports, the young boy was blind. While he sat by the kitchen fire, his grandmother was murdered in one of the home's bedrooms. Afterwards, burke and Hare picked up the boy and killed him too. Some articles state that the boy's back was broken over the knee of one of the men. In his confession later on, burke admitted that the murder of the young boy was the one that disturbed him the most. He was reportedly haunted by the memory of the child's expression.

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While the bodies were usually transported at a T-chest, this time Burke and Hare found that it was too small for both bodies, so they used a herring barrel and forced the bodies inside. During their trip to see Knox, however, hare's horse refused to pull the cart with the barrel on it any further than Grass Market. As a result, hare had to call a porter with a handcart to help him move the container. When the men arrived back at Tanner's close, hare shot the horse dead in anger. The men received £16 for the bodies of the unidentified woman and her grandson.

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On June 24th, burke and Helen went to Falkirk to visit Helen's father. Before leaving, burke was aware that his partner in crime was short on cash and had recently pawned some of his clothes to pay for other bills and items. However, upon the couple's return to Edinburgh, they noticed that Hare was wearing new clothes and had an excess of cash. This caused Burke to become suspicious of Hare, who denied selling bodies without him. Burke didn't believe Hare, however, and went to Dr Knox, who confirmed that whilst Burke was gone, hare had brought in another body alone and had received £8 for his effort. After finding this out, burke returned home and the two men engaged in an argument that quickly turned physical.

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Following the fight, burke and Helen moved out of the home they shared with Hare and Margaret and moved in with Burke's cousin, a man named John Brogan who lived two streets away from Tanner's close. However, the disagreement didn't last long. In late September and early October, hare visited Burke. During their get-together, a wash-over named Mrs Ostler came around. The men got Mrs Ostler drunk and killed her, selling her body to Knox for £8. A few weeks after this, one of Helen's relatives came to visit from Falkirk. Anne McDougall was murdered a few days into her stay and her body was sold for £10. According to Burke, it was around this time that Margaret Hare suggested that they killed Helen, as they could not trust her as she was a Scotch woman. However, burke refused and the matter was swiftly dropped. While Burke and Hare had managed to avoid being detected following the murder of Mary Patterson, a well-known local, their carelessness began to show when they decided to target another local man who was rather famous in the community.

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James Wilson was around 18 years old, or possibly in his early 20s, with a limp which was caused by a deformed foot. A British writer based in Edinburgh, alana Knight, described him as being inoffensive and noted he was known in the neighbourhood as daft Jamie. Jamie wandered the streets of Edinburgh barefoot and bareheaded in all sorts of weather. His mother and sister did their best to take care of him, even though he had a habit of wandering off and walking around the city centre. He never begged for money and had a rare condition called Savant Syndrome, which allowed him to make quick and impressive calculations for locals who gave him food, drink and snuff or smokeless tobacco in return. Savant Syndrome is a condition where someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. These abilities are usually memory related and can include rapid calculation, map making or some sort of creative ability, for example art or music. It often appears in those with autism, but can also occur in people who have a brain injury.

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It has been suggested that Margaret Hare, who was not as savvy as her husband and especially not Burke, was the one who suggested targeted Jamie, despite his popularity. Up until then, the men generally went after poor victims who were less likely to be missed or recognised, but that changed when they selected Jamie. Hare lured the young man to his lodgings, promising him whiskey. He then sent Margaret to Fetchbrook. The two men led Jamie to a bedroom, which Margaret locked behind them before pushing the key back under the door. However, jamie was a tea totaler and didn't enjoy drinking so much whiskey. He preferred snuff. As a result, he wasn't as drunk and incoherent as most of Burke and Hare's other victims and as a young man, he also had more strength than most of the others. He fought back ferociously against his attackers but was ultimately overpowered and murdered. His body was stripped and his possessions were stolen, with Burke keeping Jamie's snuff box and Hare holding onto his snuff spoon. As usual, his body was taken and sold to Knox afterwards. The following day, however, knox examined the body in front of his students and assistants. Some of them recognised Jamie, noting his distinct informed foot as well as his face. However, knox dismissed these claims and told his students that this couldn't possibly be anywhere they knew. Despite this, however, he removed Jamie's head and feet before he dissected the body in class. Additionally, he began dissecting Jamie's body shortly after obtaining it, despite the fact he had an older cadaver to use first. It's believed Knox did both of these things because rumours began circulating that Jamie had gone missing.

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The final victim of Burke and Hare was a middle-aged Irish woman named Margaret Dockety, who was murdered on October 31st 1828. Burke lured her to his cousin's house by pretending that his mother was also a Dockety and was from the same area of Ireland as Margaret. Following this interaction, the middle-aged woman began drinking with Burke. At some point during the evening. Burke left Dockety and Helen alone that he could go and fetch Burke, under the pretense that he was going to pick up more whiskey. There was one small problem getting in the way of the pair's murder plot, however the Grey family Anne and James Grey were lodging in John Brogan's house with their children. So the two men offered to put the family out by the hair's lodging house so that Dockety could stay at Brogan's as she was family. They then paid the Grey's a small sum of money to agree to the move.

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At 9pm the Grey's returned to the Brogan house to pick up some clothing for their children. They saw Burke Hare, helen and Margaret Hare with Margaret Dockety. All five of them were drunk, singing and dancing together. Later that night, reportedly, burke and Hare entered into another fight, which turned physical again. However, despite this, the pair were able to successfully take the life of Dockety and they put her body in a pile of straw at the end of the bed.

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The following day the Grey family returned. However, anne became suspicious when Burke would not let her approach her bed where she'd left some stockings. The Grey's were told that Dockety had been kicked out because she'd flirted with Burke. However, the men proved their carelessness once more by leaving Anne and James alone in the early evening, with a couple discovered Margaret Dockety's body in among the straw at the end of the bed, with blood and saliva on her face. The Grey's promptly fled the house and made their way to the police station, but en route they bumped into Helen, who attempted to bribe the family by offering them £10 a week. This was obviously a lot of money, even for Burke and Hare, who were living comfortably on their income, but it wasn't something they could afford and it's more likely that the Grey's would have become victims of the criminal jewel had they accepted this offer. Fortunately for them, the Grey's declined the bribe and continued to the police station to report the murder.

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Edinburgh was one of the first UK cities to have a police department, and they were generally praised for being prompt and professional. Dr Alexander Black, a police surgeon, was known for being diligent in his work, carefully handling the case he was given and being attentive as he examined physical evidence. However, the police at this time were encumbered with numerous other tasks outside of investigating crimes. They had many other duties, such as removing nuisances and both lighting and cleaning streets and pastures, that they heavily relied on the public to bring criminal activity to their attention. By the time the police came to Brogan's lodging house to find the body, as reported by the Grey family, birkenhae had already moved it and sold it to Knox. Authorities were, however, able to locate bloodstained clothing hidden under the bed, which naturally aroused suspicion. Additionally, birkenhaelen gave differing times as to when Margaret Doctey left the property, which prompted the police to bring the couple in for questioning.

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Early the following morning, officers went to Knox and found Margaret's body. It was identified by James Gray. Following this, hare, his wife and John Brogan were all arrested and pulled in for interviews, but all three of them denied any knowledge of what happened to Margaret Doctey. In his later statements, birkenhaelen said that he and Hare generally carried out the crimes in a state of intoxication. He also noted that he took opium to ease his conscience and that he often slept with a bottle of whiskey by his bed so that if he woke up in the middle of the night he could drink until he fell asleep again.

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Birkenhae were responsible for the murders of at least 16 people, but modern estimates place the number of possible victims as high as 30. On November 3rd 1828, a warrant was issued for the detention of Birkenhae and their wives. John Brogan, birkenhae's cousin, was released without further action. He was never even considered a perpetrator of the heinous serial killings. All four of the detainees were kept apart and their statements were taken individually. It was found that their accounts conflicted with the ones they gave on the day of their arrest.

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The police surgeon we mentioned earlier, dr Alexander Black, examined Margaret Doctey's body, and two forensic specialists were pointed to the case Robert Christensen and William Newbiggings. They reported that it was probable the victim had died by suffocation, but this could not be medically proven at the time. On the basis of this report, both Birkenhae were charged with Margaret's murder. For some time authorities thought that Dr Robert Mox was aware of the pair's unscripted crimes, so Dr Christensen was sent to interview him. Mox claimed that the two men had watched poor lodging houses and simply purchased the bodies before anyone could claim them for burials, and Christensen reported that Mox was deficient in principle and heart but felt that he had not broken any laws. Meanwhile the police feared that they'd be unable to secure a conviction in their murder case, despite the fact they were sure murder occurred and that at least one of the four detainees was responsible for the brutal crime. Additionally, law enforcement suspected that more murders outside of Margaret's had been committed, but they didn't have the bodies to prove it.

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News of possible other murders came to the public's attention, began to publish inaccurate and lurid stories of the crimes. Following the murders being publicized, janet Brown came forward to police and identified her friend Mary Peterson's clothing, while a local baker informed authorities that the trousers of Jamie Wilson were being worn by Constantine Burke's son. On November 19th a warrant for the murder of Jamie Wilson was made against Burke and Hare and their wives. Sir William Ray, the Lord Advocate or Senior Scottish Law Officer who headed the systems for the prosecution of crime and investigation of deaths in Scotland, turned his attention to Hare with the plan to extract a confession from him with which the others could be convicted. On December 1st, hare was offered immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. He was required to give full and complete details of the murder of Margaret Doctey and any other victims. However, hare couldn't be brought to testify against his wife, so she was also exempt from prosecution. Following this deal, william Hare made a full confession of all the deaths that he and Burke had been involved in. Ray decided that this information gave authorities enough evidence to secure a conviction and on December 4th, formal charges were laid against William Burke and Helen McDougal for the murders of Mary Patterson, jamie Wilson and Margaret Doctey. For her part, helen claimed that she was innocent, stating that she believed her husband was a grave robber. Margaret, however, is believed to be heavily involved in the crimes, selecting targets for Burke and Hare to kill and taking one pound of each payment they received for the use of her house.

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Burke and Helen's trial began at 10am on Christmas Eve of 1828 before the High Court of Justicery in Edinburgh's Parliament House. It was heard by Lord Justice Clerk David Boyle and supported by the Lord's Meadow Bank, pittmilly in Mackenzie. The courtroom was full shortly after 9am when the doors were opened and large crowds gathered outside Parliament House. As a result of all the attention and the gatherings of the mobs, 300 constables were put on duty and both the infantry and the cavalry were put on standby. As a further precaution, both Helen and Burke were provided with lawyers free of charge. Helen was represented by Henry Cockburn, while Burke was represented by Sir James Moncruff, a notable Scottish lawyer and judge. Both of the defences objected to the pair being tried together, and several hours were spent on legal arguments about this objection. The judge decided that, to ensure a fair trial, the indictment should be split into separate charges for the three murders. Margaret Dockty was heard first because the police still had her body and therefore this case had the most evidence. In the early afternoon, both Burke and Helen entered pleas of not guilty.

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The prosecution had 55 witnesses, including William Hare, margaret Hare and Robert Knox, the latter of which avoided being called to the stand. Additionally, three of his assistants also avoided having to speak at the court. His technician, however, david Patterson, confirmed that they'd been supplied with numerous corpses over the last year. In the early evening, hare gave evidence on the stand Under cross-examination about Margaret Dockty's murder. He claimed that Burke was the sole killer and that Helen had been involved as well by bringing Dockty back to the house after she ran out. Hare claimed that his only involvement was helping Burke deliver the body to Knox.

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Following Hare's questioning, his wife Margaret took to the stand. She carried their recently born baby daughter, wood Whoopinghoff, and allegedly used the baby's coughing fits to give herself time to think about her responses. She told the courts that she had a poor memory and couldn't remember most of the events. The final two witnesses for the prosecution were Dr Alexander Black and Dr Robert Christensen, who said that they both suspected foul play was involved in the deaths, but that there was no forensic evidence to support the idea of murder. There were no witnesses for the defence, and so pre-trial declarations were read out by Burke and Helen in their place. It was after 3am when Moncreef began his final statement, and after 5am when Cockburn began his Following the final statements. The jury deliberated for 50 minutes before returning at 8.30am on Christmas morning. They found Burke guilty of Margaret's murder, but returned the verdict of not proven for Helen's part in the same crime. The judge, david Boyle, gave Burke the death sentence and told him the following your body should be publicly dissected and anatomized, and I trust that it is ever customary to preserve skeletons. Yours will be preserved in order that posterity may keep in remembrance your atrocious crimes.

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Following her exoneration, helen McDougall was released and she returned home the next day. She went out to buy whiskey and was confronted by an aggressive mob who was furious that she hadn't been found guilty. She was taken to a police building in Fountainbridge for protection, but the mob began attacking the building, so Helen escaped through the back window and went to another station on Edinburgh's high street. She attempted to see Burke but was denied access to him, and so she left the city the following day. While there are no clear accounts about what happened to her after she left Edinburgh, rumours said that she emigrated to New South Wales, australia, where she died in a house fire in 1868.

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On January 3rd 1829, burke made another confession on the advice of Catholic priests. This time his account was much more detailed and he placed much more blame on her. Two weeks later, on January 16th, a petition on behalf of Jamie Wilson's family was given consideration by the High Court of Judiciary. It protested hair's immunity and impending release from prison, but the petition was ultimately rejected by a vote of 4-2. Three days later, on the 19th, margaret Hare was released. She went to Glasgow to find passage back to Ireland, but while waiting for the ship which would take her, she was recognised and attacked, much like Helen, by an angry mob. Margaret was quickly given shelter by the police and was also given a police escort with Balfast-bound ship. Again, like Helen, her life after leaving Scotland is unknown.

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William Burke was hanged in Law Market in Edinburgh's city centre on January 28th 1929, a crowd estimated to be made up of around 25,000 to 40,000 people gathered to watch Viewpoints from the windows of tenement buildings overlooking the scaffolding were hired out of prices ranging between 5 and 20 shillings each. A few days later, on February 1st, burke's body was publicly dissected by Professor Alexandra Monroe in the Anatomy Theatre of Edinburgh University's Old College. The police had to be called when large numbers of students gathered, demanding access to the lecture, for which a very limited number of tickets were issued. Following the arrival of law enforcement, a minor riot occurred and calm was only restored when a professor said that the crowd could pass through in batches of 50 after the dissection had been completed. During the two-hour procedure, monroe dipped his quill pen into Burke's blood and wrote this is written with the blood of William Burke, who was hanged at Edinburgh. This was taken from his head. Following the dissection, burke's skeleton was given to the anatomical museum of the Edinburgh Medical School, where it continues to stay. His death mask, along with a book alleged to be bound with his tanned skin, can be found at Edinburgh's Surgeon's Hall Museum.

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Hair was released on February 5th 1829. He had been given a longer stay in custody for his own protection and authorities assisted his departure from Edinburgh. He left by mail coach and went to Dumfries dressed in disguise, but one of the coach stops, however, who was recognised by a junior council who had represented Jamie Wilson's family, and he informed the passengers of Hair's true identity. Shortly after the coach arrived in Dumfries, the news of Hair's arrival spread and riled up. Mobs gathered outside the hostel where he was due to stay overnight. Following this, the police arrived and arranged for a decoy coach to draw away the crowd. Hair escaped through the back window of his hostel and was bundled into a carriage which took him to the town's prison for safekeeping, but this was short-lived, as crowds surrounded the building and stones were thrown at the front door, street lamps and windows. One hundred special constables were sent to Dumfries to restore order. In the small hours of the morning, hair was escorted by a sheriff officer and militia guard and taken out of town. He was set down on the Annen Road and instructed to make his way to the English border, like Helen and Margaret. What fably foul Hair following this is unknown Hair was reportedly a sighting of him in Carlyle, but local rumours claimed that he was thrown into a lung quarry by an angry mob and lived out the rest of his days as a blind beggar on the streets of London.

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For his part in the story of Burke and Hair, dr Robert Knox faced no charges, as Burke's confessions to police exonerated him of any wrongdoing. However, public opinion was against Knox as soon as the crimes came to light, as many thought that he was the mastermind behind the slayings In Burke's demise. Knox refused to make public statements about his dealings with the pair and partly due to this, the citizens of Edinburgh continued to think that he was involved to a much greater degree than Burke had claimed. The media continued to allege that he was responsible for the murders and frequently mocked and villainised him. In February of 1829, a crowd gathered outside of his home and burned an effigy of him. Still, a further inquiry into Knox's involvement cleared him of complicitancy and reported that there was no evidence to prove that he had any knowledge of the murders. Ultimately, he resigned from his position as a curator of the College of Surgeons Museum and was gradually excluded from university life by his peers. Knox left Edinburgh in 1842 and lectured in various cities in Britain and a number of other European countries. However, while working in London, he ended up being prohibited from lecturing and in 1848 he was removed from the role of fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In the words of Lita Rosner, knox's dreams of becoming a star scientist were as good as Burke's. In 1856, knox could be found working as a pathological anatomist at the Brompton Cancer Hospital. Additionally, he had a medical practice in Hackney. He was employed in both these establishments until his death in 1862.

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Six months before Burke and Hare's murders were detected, in the middle of 1828, a parliamentary committee had drafted a bill for preventing the unlawful disinterment of human bones and for regulating schools of anatomy. However, the bill was rejected in 1829. Despite this setback, the case of Burke and Hare raised public awareness of the need for bodies for medical purposes and of the trade that doctors made with grave robbers and murderers. The East London murder of a 14-year-old boy and the subsequent attempts to sell his corpse to the medical school at King's College led to an investigation of the London burghers, who turned from grave robbers to murderers so that they could acquire cadavers and make a living from the trade. In 1831, two men were hanged for the boy's demise. Following this, the Anatomy Act of 1832 was passed. This act authorised a dissection of bodies from workhouses, hospitals and prisons that went unclaimed for more than 48 hours. It also gave people the option to donate their own bodies to science after death and allowed anyone who had lawful possession of a body to donate it, proving no relatives objected. Additionally, the corpse of a person's next of kin could be donated in exchange for burial at the expense of the medical school.

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Although it's been almost 200 years since Birkenhair carried out their horrific crimes, their legacy is far from forgotten.

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Following the discovery of the murders, a morbid children's rhyme began circulating Up the clothes and doing the stairs button Ben we Birkenhair Birks. The butcher hairs, the thief knocks the boy that buys the beef. While it's clear that their contributions and those of other grave robbers turned murderers, made a significant impact on medicine and anatomy studies, it also shows a chillingly immoral and uncaring side of those who either wished to make progress or wanted to make a quick buck. Many lives were needlessly stolen during this time, and the likes of Dr Knox, a smart man who turned a blind eye and asked no questions, made it clear that scientific progress was more important than human life, while the actions of people like Birkenhair proved that money was the most valuable thing that someone could have. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Murderous Minds podcast. If you would like to vote on upcoming episodes and watch our documentaries, then consider supporting us on Patreon. We hope you found this episode informative. Thank you again for joining us and stay safe everyone.