le Neve, into his London home and when she began to openly wear Belle’s furs and jewellery, suspicions were aroused and the police called in. A search of the house failed to throw any light on the matter, but the guilt-ridden couple fled to Antwerp and boarded the liner SS Montrose bound for Canada. Their hurried departure caused the police to make a more thorough search of the house and human remains were uncovered in the cellar. A torso was recovered but the head and limbs were never found and the body of Belle Crippen was identified by a piece of abdominal tissue.
With a warrant out for his arrest, Crippen tried to avoid detection by travelling under the name of ‘Roberts’. He also shaved off his moustache and removed his glasses, while Ethel dressed as a boy during the transatlantic voyage. The ruse failed to fool the ship’s captain who, observing the amorous behaviour of the couple, utilised the newly installed Marconi wireless system to radio an urgent message to London: ‘Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers’. Alerted to the whereabouts of the runaways, Scotland Yard’s Inspector Walter Dew boarded a faster White Star liner and boarded the Montrose from the St Lawrence River in the guise of a river pilot before arresting the fugitives in July 1910. Despite protesting his innocence, Crippen was tried at the Old Bailey and hanged for murder at Pentonville Prison in November 1910, while his mistress was tried separately and acquitted on charges of being an accessory after the fact.
Dr Crippen is also mentioned in Three Act Tragedy (1935), along with a reference to ‘a man in the barrel’. This alluded to the real-life case of the defrocked rector of Stiffkey, the Revd Harold Davidson, who was prosecuted for trying to starve himself to death on Blackpool’s ‘Golden Mile’ in 1935. Acquitted of intentionally attempting to commit suicide and awarded costs for false imprisonment, Davidson, a former professional entertainer, had been making a protest by exhibiting himself standing in a barrel and threatening to ‘fast until death’ unless the Church authorities reinstated him. He had been defrocked three years earlier when investigations discovered that he spent six days of the week in London and only visited his parish on Sundays. In the capital, the married vicar pursued girls with the religious fervour of an evangelist, although his motives were seemingly driven by sexual gratification. A Church Court heard evidence of how he had pestered teashop waitresses and lavished gifts on prostitutes. The defendant claimed that he was guilty of no more than indiscretion in his redemptive approaches to fallen women. Improbably, he explained that he tried to help the ladies he had befriended by paying for their lodgings and had taken one girl, described as ‘feeble-minded’, to Paris to give her an opportunity to ‘get her a situation and pick up the language’. After a prolonged hearing lasting for several months, some charges were dropped, but Davidson was found guilty on five counts of immoral conduct and removed from the Church position he had held for twenty-six years.
Taking up the life of a showman to air his grievances about his treatment by the Church, his bizarre career came to a tragic end at the age of sixty-two while appearing at Skegness Amusement Park in July 1937. Taking his inspiration from the Bible story of Daniel, Davidson was engaged to address the public from a cage containing a ‘docile’ lion and a lioness, which were normally fed and cared for by the amusement park owner’s eight-year-old daughter. However at Davidson’s first, and last, appearance, he was making a speech to an audience of 100 people when he stepped backwards and accidentally tripped over the lioness, causing Freddie the lion to protect his mate by springing up to maul the intruder. The victim was hospitalised and lapsed into a coma before passing away
With a warrant out for his arrest, Crippen tried to avoid detection by travelling under the name of ‘Roberts’. He also shaved off his moustache and removed his glasses, while Ethel dressed as a boy during the transatlantic voyage. The ruse failed to fool the ship’s captain who, observing the amorous behaviour of the couple, utilised the newly installed Marconi wireless system to radio an urgent message to London: ‘Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers’. Alerted to the whereabouts of the runaways, Scotland Yard’s Inspector Walter Dew boarded a faster White Star liner and boarded the Montrose from the St Lawrence River in the guise of a river pilot before arresting the fugitives in July 1910. Despite protesting his innocence, Crippen was tried at the Old Bailey and hanged for murder at Pentonville Prison in November 1910, while his mistress was tried separately and acquitted on charges of being an accessory after the fact.
Dr Crippen is also mentioned in Three Act Tragedy (1935), along with a reference to ‘a man in the barrel’. This alluded to the real-life case of the defrocked rector of Stiffkey, the Revd Harold Davidson, who was prosecuted for trying to starve himself to death on Blackpool’s ‘Golden Mile’ in 1935. Acquitted of intentionally attempting to commit suicide and awarded costs for false imprisonment, Davidson, a former professional entertainer, had been making a protest by exhibiting himself standing in a barrel and threatening to ‘fast until death’ unless the Church authorities reinstated him. He had been defrocked three years earlier when investigations discovered that he spent six days of the week in London and only visited his parish on Sundays. In the capital, the married vicar pursued girls with the religious fervour of an evangelist, although his motives were seemingly driven by sexual gratification. A Church Court heard evidence of how he had pestered teashop waitresses and lavished gifts on prostitutes. The defendant claimed that he was guilty of no more than indiscretion in his redemptive approaches to fallen women. Improbably, he explained that he tried to help the ladies he had befriended by paying for their lodgings and had taken one girl, described as ‘feeble-minded’, to Paris to give her an opportunity to ‘get her a situation and pick up the language’. After a prolonged hearing lasting for several months, some charges were dropped, but Davidson was found guilty on five counts of immoral conduct and removed from the Church position he had held for twenty-six years.
Taking up the life of a showman to air his grievances about his treatment by the Church, his bizarre career came to a tragic end at the age of sixty-two while appearing at Skegness Amusement Park in July 1937. Taking his inspiration from the Bible story of Daniel, Davidson was engaged to address the public from a cage containing a ‘docile’ lion and a lioness, which were normally fed and cared for by the amusement park owner’s eight-year-old daughter. However at Davidson’s first, and last, appearance, he was making a speech to an audience of 100 people when he stepped backwards and accidentally tripped over the lioness, causing Freddie the lion to protect his mate by springing up to maul the intruder. The victim was hospitalised and lapsed into a coma before passing away
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