WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:09.000 How do you do? I'm going to read you a little verse. 00:09.000 --> 00:14.000 There are so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us, 00:14.000 --> 00:19.000 that it ill behoves any of us to find fault with the rest of us. 00:19.000 --> 00:26.000 Any time you are being justly criticized, this quotation will be found effective in putting the other person in the wrong. 00:26.000 --> 00:31.000 In this week's Case Book History, there's so much good and the worst of us does almost apply, 00:31.000 --> 00:38.000 because it is this perhaps that makes the case generally accepted as the most outstanding in the last century or more. 00:38.000 --> 00:45.000 The fact that a man with so many endearing qualities could conceive a murder so cold-blooded and revolting, 00:45.000 --> 00:52.000 yes, revolting, and yet gain the liking and even respect of those who were with him just before he was hacked. 00:52.000 --> 00:59.000 Without doubt there was something of worth, something of sacrifice in the love he felt for the last woman in his life. 00:59.000 --> 01:04.000 The romantic murderer I've called this Case Book History. 01:04.000 --> 01:09.000 First of all then, what would he like to look at, this passionate lover? 01:09.000 --> 01:11.000 Well, the police bill says... 01:11.000 --> 01:19.000 Age fifty, height five feet four, hair thin, ball-long cup, long scented moustache, false teeth, 01:19.000 --> 01:22.000 throws his feet outwards when walking. 01:22.000 --> 01:26.000 He doesn't sound exactly like your favorite movie star, Betty. 01:26.000 --> 01:35.000 On this occasion, love must have been particularly blind, since to Ethel Lanive, the girl who so adored him, he was a knight in shining armor. 01:35.000 --> 01:40.000 Now must I think have been more to the little man, and was shown by his outward appearance. 01:40.000 --> 01:59.000 Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, known as Peter Crippen, took his medical degree in America and came to England, 01:59.000 --> 02:05.000 where he obtained a post as manager of the firm of Munyon, an advertising business in Patent Medicine. 02:05.000 --> 02:11.000 Crippen was a married man, but for the first few months after his arrival in London, Mrs. Crippen remained in New York. 02:11.000 --> 02:17.000 Soon after their marriage, he'd insisted upon having singing lessons with a view to being trained for grand opera. 02:17.000 --> 02:22.000 But though she had furnished herself with the attractive stage name of Belle Elmore, 02:22.000 --> 02:27.000 and though her good-natured little husband had paid unhesitatingly all that the agents demanded, 02:27.000 --> 02:30.000 she never succeeded in realizing her ambition. 02:30.000 --> 02:37.000 She was a good-looking, vain, and tidy woman with ambitions far outreaching her talents. 02:37.000 --> 02:43.000 Having failed lamentably on the operatic stage, she decided to join her husband and try her luck on the English music halls. 02:43.000 --> 02:52.000 Her chance came with a tryout at the Bedford Palace during a strike of music hall artists, but she was promptly pissed off the stage. 02:52.000 --> 02:55.000 This seems to have been her sole public appearance. 02:55.000 --> 03:01.000 Although never again employed professionally, she continued to speak of herself as an accepted performer with success, 03:01.000 --> 03:03.000 just round the corner. 03:03.000 --> 03:08.000 Belle's wounded vanity made things increasingly difficult for Dr. Crippen, who nevertheless treated her kindly, 03:08.000 --> 03:14.000 played up to her conceits, and put up with her music hall friends who appeared like magic when they knew he'd pay the bill. 03:14.000 --> 03:19.000 On January the 1st, 1910, a Mr. and Mrs. Martinetti, music hall friends of Belle Elmore, 03:19.000 --> 03:23.000 were just leaving the Crippens after dining at their house in Hill Rock Crescent. 03:23.000 --> 03:24.000 That's in the north of London. 03:24.000 --> 03:26.000 Good night, dear Belle, and good luck. 03:26.000 --> 03:31.000 Good night. Don't worry, old girl, you are going to be a great success, isn't she, Crippen? 03:31.000 --> 03:34.000 Yes, I always tell her it's just a matter of patience. 03:34.000 --> 03:38.000 Oh, English audiences are funny. They were crazy over me in New York. 03:38.000 --> 03:40.000 And they are going to be crazy over you here, my girl. 03:40.000 --> 03:41.000 You've got a lot of talent. 03:41.000 --> 03:46.000 Well, of course, I gave up a great career by joining Peter here in London. It hasn't helped things. 03:46.000 --> 03:48.000 And it's trying to make up for it, dear. 03:48.000 --> 03:50.000 What a help. Good night, old girl. 03:50.000 --> 03:53.000 Good night, Belle. Good night, Jack. 03:53.000 --> 03:56.000 That's nice behavior, I must say. 03:56.000 --> 03:57.000 What's the matter, my dear? 03:57.000 --> 04:01.000 Sitting there after dinner half asleep? Why don't you look after your guests? 04:01.000 --> 04:06.000 Ask Thomas if he'd like to wash his hands or something. Call yourself a gentleman. 04:06.000 --> 04:08.000 Well, dear, he's been to the house so many times, I thought. 04:08.000 --> 04:12.000 I'm sick of it. After giving up everything I've worked for in America. 04:12.000 --> 04:18.000 My dear, surely you thought you would do better here. After all, you didn't find things too easy, even in New York. 04:18.000 --> 04:22.000 I've had enough. This is the end. I'm going away tomorrow, and you'll never hear of me again. 04:22.000 --> 04:24.000 Oh, you nigger, you know you don't mean that. 04:24.000 --> 04:29.000 Who says so? And I know who I'm going away with. Someone who'll look after me properly. 04:29.000 --> 04:34.000 Since Belle's arrival in England, such scenes occurred with increasing frequency. 04:34.000 --> 04:37.000 A man so mild-mannered as Crippen, they were almost unbearable. 04:37.000 --> 04:45.000 Little wonder, then, that he'd sought companionship elsewhere and had turned to his secretary, Miss Ethel Lanise, 04:45.000 --> 04:48.000 for the peace and affection his wife was incapable of giving him. 04:48.000 --> 04:53.000 Ethel was a gentle, affectionate young girl, not unattractive. 04:53.000 --> 04:57.000 But other than the love affair with Crippen, she remained quite respectable and conventional, 04:57.000 --> 05:01.000 and the irregularity of their meetings caused her many misgivings. 05:01.000 --> 05:07.000 The day following the quarrel, the unhappy lovers met and tried to console each other. 05:07.000 --> 05:08.000 Peter, dear. 05:08.000 --> 05:10.000 Yes, my love? 05:10.000 --> 05:15.000 About your wife, saying she was going to leave you. Wouldn't it be better for us? 05:15.000 --> 05:19.000 You could divorce her and we could get married and be together always. 05:19.000 --> 05:21.000 Yes, but she never will leave me. 05:21.000 --> 05:26.000 Her threats mean nothing, she has no money, and I don't think she really has anyone to go to. 05:26.000 --> 05:30.000 What is to become of her? It's so dreadful to go on like this. 05:30.000 --> 05:34.000 I hate to tell you, there's nothing else to be done. 05:34.000 --> 05:37.000 My dear one, you know I only care for you. 05:37.000 --> 05:44.000 But it's so wrong, so unknowful. I can't help worrying. 05:44.000 --> 05:48.000 Dr. Crippen, beset by both his wife and his lover, became more and more desperate. 05:48.000 --> 05:51.000 Nevertheless, he continued to treat his wife with great kindness. 05:51.000 --> 05:56.000 Each morning he'd get up, prepare, and take coffee to his wife in bed before going to the office. 05:56.000 --> 06:00.000 Belle's temper didn't improve and she never ceased to nag and bully him. 06:00.000 --> 06:04.000 The situation became so impossible for Crippen that there came the inevitable climax. 06:04.000 --> 06:08.000 One morning, following a night of reproaches and abuse by Belle, 06:08.000 --> 06:12.000 Dr. Crippen got up and prepared his wife's coffee as usual. 06:12.000 --> 06:16.000 But this time, he took a little longer. 06:16.000 --> 06:20.000 Oh, hurry up. I've been lying awake for hours. 06:20.000 --> 06:22.000 Here you are, my dear. My dress is half cold. 06:22.000 --> 06:24.000 I don't think so, dear. 06:24.000 --> 06:27.000 Well, don't stand there staring at me. Hurry up and get out. I want to get some sleep. 06:27.000 --> 06:31.000 I must get to the office early this morning. I won't be long dressing. 06:31.000 --> 06:34.000 Oh, all right, all right. Go on, hurry up. 06:34.000 --> 06:38.000 And then you will be at peace. 06:38.000 --> 06:42.000 I say, this coffee tastes funny. 06:42.000 --> 06:45.000 Oh, I think it's a new brand, dear. 06:45.000 --> 06:49.000 Well, it's lousy. What are you trying to do, poison me? 06:49.000 --> 06:53.000 Taste of a bitter. 06:53.000 --> 07:11.000 The next day, Crippen wrote to the Music Hall Ladies Guild, 07:11.000 --> 07:14.000 of which Belle had been made honorary treasurer, 07:14.000 --> 07:18.000 announcing his wife's sudden departure from her Mandarin high resignation. 07:18.000 --> 07:21.000 Nothing unusual was learned of his movements during the next two weeks, 07:21.000 --> 07:24.000 except that he took occasion to pawn some jewelry that he'd given to Belle 07:24.000 --> 07:27.000 for the sum of about 200 pounds. 07:27.000 --> 07:31.000 On the night of the 20th of February, Dr. Crippen was foolish enough 07:31.000 --> 07:37.000 to attend a dance at the Music Hall Guild, and took with him Ethel Lanee. 07:37.000 --> 07:51.000 Oh, well, look at those two. Where? That skinny kid in the fall, little bloke with glasses. 07:51.000 --> 07:55.000 Oh, he ain't half squeaky. Oh, why not? A little bit of what you've spent, but it's good. 07:55.000 --> 08:00.000 You're never too old to fall in love. Are you addressing me, sir? 08:00.000 --> 08:07.000 Oh, hello, Mr. Martinette City. Now we would just admire the lovely couple over there. 08:07.000 --> 08:16.000 Oh, I see. Why, that is Dr. Crippen. He certainly seems to be enjoying himself. 08:16.000 --> 08:18.000 Chai, who's the girl? 08:18.000 --> 08:21.000 I don't recognize her. 08:21.000 --> 08:23.000 She was kidding for me. 08:23.000 --> 08:32.000 But wait a minute. There is something I do recognize. Those earrings she is wearing. 08:32.000 --> 08:38.000 I am sure I remember Crippen giving them to his wife. That is a funny thing to do. 08:38.000 --> 08:55.000 A few days after the dance, Crippen wrote to Mr. and Mrs. Martinette saying he might go to America, 08:55.000 --> 08:59.000 and he'd heard from Belle that she was seriously ill. 08:59.000 --> 09:02.000 This served to allay any suspicions felt by the Martinette's. 09:02.000 --> 09:06.000 To join his sick wife was consistent with Crippen's solicitous and kindly nature. 09:06.000 --> 09:09.000 A few days later they received a wire. 09:09.000 --> 09:14.000 Belle died yesterday at six o'clock. She'll be away a week. 09:14.000 --> 09:17.000 So Crippen did not, after all, leave for America. 09:17.000 --> 09:22.000 But he went to Dieppe for the Easter holidays, and Ethel and Eve went with him. 09:22.000 --> 09:25.000 A honeymoon would perhaps be too unkind a term to use, 09:25.000 --> 09:29.000 but Ethel almost certainly believed everything she'd been told about Belle's illness, 09:29.000 --> 09:33.000 and saw no reason why she and Crippen should ever again be parted, 09:33.000 --> 09:37.000 as a ship bearing the two lovers was nearing France. 09:37.000 --> 09:43.000 You'll soon be on dry land, dear. 09:43.000 --> 09:45.000 I'm afraid I'm such a bad sailor. 09:45.000 --> 09:47.000 Oh, it's not quite so rough now. 09:47.000 --> 09:49.000 No, I'm beginning to feel a little better. 09:49.000 --> 09:51.000 The color's coming back to your cheeks. 09:51.000 --> 09:55.000 Oh, Peter, isn't it wonderful? No more partings, ever. 09:55.000 --> 10:00.000 Well, when we get back perhaps we should wait a few weeks. 10:00.000 --> 10:04.000 Oh, no, Peter. Now I can show everyone how much I love you. 10:04.000 --> 10:06.000 There's nothing to hide. 10:06.000 --> 10:10.000 Of course not, dear. Well, we'd better get our luggage together. 10:10.000 --> 10:13.000 Here are my two teal cases, and I have my handbags. 10:13.000 --> 10:15.000 Good, you're all ready. 10:15.000 --> 10:19.000 Let me see. You brought three bags, didn't you? 10:19.000 --> 10:23.000 Three? No, only two, dear. Here they are. 10:23.000 --> 10:28.000 But Peter, I remember in the pring there were those two and the shiny black leather ones. 10:28.000 --> 10:32.000 Oh, darling, is this to belong to someone else? 10:32.000 --> 10:36.000 No, perhaps. But I also seem to remember seeing it on board. 10:36.000 --> 10:39.000 Well, that doesn't prove it belonged to me, dear. 10:39.000 --> 10:42.000 No, of course not. You know what I think. 10:42.000 --> 10:47.000 I think you let it fall overboard, and you don't want me to know how careless you are. 10:51.000 --> 10:53.000 When going on a honeymoon with a lady, 10:53.000 --> 10:57.000 it would be considered extraordinary behavior to take your ex-wife with you. 10:57.000 --> 11:02.000 Although Crippen didn't go as far as that, I'm afraid he did take part of her, 11:02.000 --> 11:05.000 and then dropped her on the way. 11:19.000 --> 11:23.000 We left our lovers on the way to Dieppe, where they were to spend the Easter holidays. 11:23.000 --> 11:26.000 Promptly at the end of the week, they returned to London. 11:26.000 --> 11:29.000 Crippen then did an astonishing thing. 11:29.000 --> 11:34.000 He took Ethel and Niamh to live with him at Hill Drop Crest as housekeepers. 11:34.000 --> 11:38.000 Surely he must have known the criticism this would arouse. 11:38.000 --> 11:42.000 Blind infatuation can be the only explanation of his running at the risk. 11:42.000 --> 11:44.000 As treasurer of the Music Hall Ladies Guild, 11:44.000 --> 11:47.000 Belle Elmore was known intimately to a close little society, 11:47.000 --> 11:50.000 wherein, as you can imagine, much time was spent in gossip, 11:50.000 --> 11:54.000 and the circumstances of Belle's disappearance gave them plenty to gossip about. 11:54.000 --> 11:57.000 Finally, Mrs. Martinetti, a member of the Guild, 11:57.000 --> 12:02.000 suggested to her husband that he should waylay Dr. Crippen one evening on his way home from the city, 12:02.000 --> 12:06.000 make a few casual inquiries, and report back. 12:06.000 --> 12:09.000 Hello, good evening, Doctor. I haven't seen you for a long time. 12:09.000 --> 12:11.000 No, I'm very busy, I'm glad to say. 12:11.000 --> 12:14.000 Oh, nothing like worth to keep you from worrying. 12:14.000 --> 12:18.000 My wife, she tells me that the ladies at the Guild are always asking for news of you. 12:18.000 --> 12:20.000 What do they want to know? I have no news. 12:20.000 --> 12:23.000 Oh, they feel very sympathetic with your loss, you understand. 12:23.000 --> 12:27.000 But they were fond of Belle, and without distressing you, 12:27.000 --> 12:29.000 they would like to know something of how she died. 12:29.000 --> 12:32.000 Please don't think we talk about it. It hurts too much. 12:32.000 --> 12:35.000 She is dead. That is all there is to know. 12:35.000 --> 12:38.000 Of course, they would wish to respect your grief. 12:38.000 --> 12:42.000 But if you could just tell them where she is buried, they were good friends of hers. 12:42.000 --> 12:46.000 Naturally, they would like to know this. They would like to hold a memorial service. 12:46.000 --> 12:49.000 Yes, yes, it's very kind of them. 12:49.000 --> 12:54.000 My son lives in California, in Los Angeles. It was there that Belle died. 12:54.000 --> 12:56.000 I have asked him to have the body cremated. 12:56.000 --> 12:57.000 Cremated? 12:57.000 --> 13:02.000 Yes, and sent home. So you can tell the ladies at the Guild that they can have their little ceremony then. 13:02.000 --> 13:05.000 That is what they wanted to know, Doctor. And thank you for telling me. 13:05.000 --> 13:10.000 Oh, this sounds as factoring enough that Tom Martinetti made his way home thinking he'd clear the matter up. 13:10.000 --> 13:15.000 But when he repeated the conversation to his wife, she had very different views. 13:15.000 --> 13:17.000 And you believe that cock and bull story, do you? 13:17.000 --> 13:20.000 Oh, he seemed so very sincere. In fact, he's a better actor than you are. 13:20.000 --> 13:25.000 And so very upset. What he upset about. He's got that girl and leave living with him, hasn't he? 13:25.000 --> 13:29.000 That is what he wanted, wasn't it? But of course, if you put it like that. 13:29.000 --> 13:32.000 Mrs. Martinetti wasn't the only one who put it like that. 13:32.000 --> 13:38.000 And although the doctor was rarely a most impressive liar, gossip developed into rumor and suspicion. 13:38.000 --> 13:42.000 And at the end of June, a Mr. Nash, acting as a spokesman for Friends of Belle Elmore, 13:42.000 --> 13:45.000 laid the whole matter before Scotland Yard. 13:45.000 --> 13:51.000 Inspector Dew, after a brief checking up, dropped in on Cribben at his business office. 13:51.000 --> 13:57.000 If it's only to silence the gossip, Dr. Cribben, I think you would be wise to give a full account of your wife's death. 13:57.000 --> 13:59.000 What exactly do you want to know, Inspector? 13:59.000 --> 14:02.000 Well, why did she go to America so suddenly? 14:02.000 --> 14:05.000 I'm not sure there's some reason. Where did she die? 14:05.000 --> 14:06.000 Got a certificate? 14:06.000 --> 14:09.000 No, I have not. Not yet. 14:09.000 --> 14:13.000 And then you told Mr. Martinetti that your wife was fit into going out to America to look after her. 14:13.000 --> 14:16.000 That's right. And then I heard she had passed away. 14:16.000 --> 14:19.000 How did you hear? Have you got a cable or a letter? 14:19.000 --> 14:21.000 I think I destroyed the cable. 14:21.000 --> 14:27.000 You must see it's very un-terrificatory. And unless you can clear things up, it's bound to be an official investigation. 14:27.000 --> 14:30.000 I know. I know. 14:30.000 --> 14:33.000 By who? 14:33.000 --> 14:38.000 It's no use, Inspector. I've got a confession to make. 14:38.000 --> 14:42.000 There's not a word of truth in what I've said, just a lot of lies. 14:42.000 --> 14:44.000 Then you'd better make a clean break to this. 14:44.000 --> 14:46.000 We had a quarrel. She left me. 14:46.000 --> 14:47.000 Do you know where she went? 14:47.000 --> 14:50.000 I'm only certain to join a man, an old lover of hers in America. 14:50.000 --> 14:55.000 That may be true. But why did you make up all that story? Is she still alive? 14:55.000 --> 15:01.000 As far as I know. You see, Inspector, it would have meant a terrible scandal. I should never have heard the last of it. 15:01.000 --> 15:07.000 Well, maybe that sounds logical enough. But I'm afraid we can't dismiss the matter until we find Mrs. Crippen. 15:07.000 --> 15:16.000 Crippen had told his tale so frankly and convincingly. It was only a matter of form that Inspector Dew paid another visit, this time to Hilltop Crescent. 15:16.000 --> 15:20.000 The doctor assured him all over the house that he was not a victim of a murder. 15:20.000 --> 15:23.000 He was a victim of a murder. 15:23.000 --> 15:26.000 He was a victim of a murder. 15:26.000 --> 15:29.000 He was a victim of a murder. 15:29.000 --> 15:32.000 He was a victim of a murder.