Show Notes
Arion, Rebecca and Olly investigate the story of Dr. Hawley Crippen, convicted of murdering his wife, music hall performer Cora Crippen, on 22nd October, 1910.
Cora’s corpse had been discovered in their Holloway cellar - but homoeopath Crippen had fled to America with his lover Ethel Lenev dressed as a boy. However, the Captain of the SS Montrose became suspicious of their behaviour, and wirelessly telegraphed Scotland Yard to arrest the pair upon arrival in Canada.
In this episode, the Retrospectors explore how it was Lenev’s love for Cora’s jewellery that initially raised suspicion; consider how technology enabled the media to closely cover the case, turning it into a sensational story as it unfolded in real-time; and question the description of the couple piously parroted in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography…
Further Reading:
• ‘Editorial: the Dr Crippen murder trial’ (The Guardian, 1910): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/24/editorial-the-dr-crippen-trial-archive-1910
• ‘The Execution of Dr Crippen’ (History Today, 2010): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/execution-dr-crippen
• ‘The Dark & Disturbing Case of Dr. Crippen’ (Brief Case, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQb1rFZjDxc
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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026
This episode originally aired in 2023.
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