R. Michael Gordon - The Infamous Burke and Hare: Serial Killers and Resurrectionists of Nineteenth Century Edinburgh

ALSO BY R. MICHAEL GORDON AND FROM MCFARLAND
_________________________

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Gordon, R. Michael, 1952
The infamous Burke and Hare : serial killers and resurrectionists of nineteenth century Edinburgh / R. Michael Gordon.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7864-4403-8

1. Burke, William, 17921829. 2. Hare, William, 1792?1870? 3. MurderScotlandEdinburghHistory19th century. 4. Grave robbingScotlandEdinburghHistory19th century. 5. DissectionScotlandEdinburghHistory19th century. I. Title.
HV6535.G6E3335 2009
364.152'3209224134dc22 2009027014

British Library cataloguing data are available

2009 R. Michael Gordon. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

On the cover: portraits of William Burke & William Hare, New York Academy of Medicine Digital Collection; background 2009 Shutterstock

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

For all those
who seek and learn

Roond the wynd and down the stair,
But and ben wi Burke and Hare.
Burkes the butcher, Hares the thief,
And Knox the boy wha buys the beef!

Edinburgh childrens rhyme

Edinburgh, Scotland, had been established as the seat of medical learning well before the world became acquainted with the many works of Burke and Hare. Students from the far corners of the earth came to Edinburgh to complete their education. The grand old city overseen by its medieval Edinburgh Castle held host to thousands of students, not only in the medical and surgical schools, but other areas of advanced learning as well. To be truly educated was to have an advanced degree from Edinburgh, but there was a price to be paid by the lowest levels of Edinburghs poverty-stricken population for this hard earned reputation. As the number of students continued to increase, the need for more and more subjects to fill the lecture rooms of the surgeons became critical. There were simply not enough bodies to go around. If medical advances were to continue and if medical training was to be properly served, something needed to be done to fill the ever-increasing demand. To address the problem, rather than pass appropriate laws, which would have taken much time, the medical lecturers simply took matters into their own hands. They turned their backs on the law and entered the world of the resurrectionistsmany of whom became surgical lecturers by day and body snatchers by night.

Grave robbing in Edinburgh, as in other locations of medical teaching, did not become an accepted practice, at least not officially, but it was allowed to continue as long as no one in power complained too loudly and no one was killed. Those with little money and no political power, who were for the most part the subjects of this work, were simply ignored. It would not be long, however, before even grave robbing could not fill the demand for fresh bodies. The door was thus opened for two men who would go from simple body snatching to serial murder in 1828 in a quest to fill the demands of the lecture halls and Edinburghs most prolific lecturerDr. Robert Knox. William Burke and William Hare would, for some ten months, fill the lecture table of Dr. Knox with the freshest subjects yet available to the most well attended lecturer in Surgeons Square. This would be murder for profit. In the end one would lose his hard earned reputation, one would pay the ultimate price for murder and one would become the only serial killer ever released by Scottish authorities without ever being tried for any crimes. This is the story of serial killers Burke and Hare.

Murder for profit was the name of the game for the team of Burke and Hare, a pair of serial killers who were responsible for the murder of at least 15 people in the course of some 10 months. Although William Burke seems to have obtained no personal pleasure from the deaths it becomes quite clear that William Hare was another matter altogether. Hare quite clearly enjoyed his man killing and thoroughly enjoyed talking about his work. He was indeed a classic serial killer.

The question often asked when arrests are made of individuals who have been suspected of multiple murders is, what drove them to take so many lives? The problem in answering that question is that there are many factors involved in creating a serial killer; where one individual will become a serial killer under certain circumstances, many more will never take a life. The best simple explanation seems to be that serial killers are born, but do not necessarily kill unless external pressure and situations arise that complement their natural tendency for serial violence. Very few killers fit neatly into any one category, and each case needs to be explored along multiple lines to achieve some understanding of motive and primary reasons why they kill, or are driven to kill.

Some psychiatrists point to some type of early childhood trauma as a key to the development of a serial killer. They use the terms bonding or attachment to describe how a child needs to relate at a very early age, some say at birth, and if this does not occur the child will not develop a capacity to feel sympathy for others. It has been suggested that if from two weeks to six years the child has not bonded, he may develop, in worst-case scenarios, antisocial personality disorder or APD. The man on the street would use the term psychopath or sociopath to describe such an individual. Upon close examination these types of individuals would have no discernable conscience and would be seen as individuals who are literally incapable of telling the truththieves, cheats or con menand would be totally self-centered. Yet, on a day-to-day basis they are able to hide behind a mask of normality. They are able to see what type of behavior is expected in public even though they are fully incapable of living that type of socially acceptable life. They are incapable of relating to the norm. This developmental situation could simply be the primer waiting for a real or imagined trigger that sets an individual on the road to serial murder, and little, save death or capture, will stop this type of killer.

To investigate, recognize and perhaps capture serial killers at the earliest possible date, law enforcement agencies, most notably Americas FBI, have developed numerous serial killer profiles and killer categories as a law enforcement tool. The Burke and Hare situation fits into several portions of these areas as shown by their work. The problem, however, is that Burke and Hare do not fit fully into any one category.

The disorganized killer is a loser from the starting gate of life. He can do nothing right and is for the most part below average in intelligence, socially immature, and some are even mentally retarded. Hare fits into this category. The individual is unlikely to have steady work and when he does, the job will not be of great value to society. This individual usually lives or works near the murder scene and more often than not knows his victim. With this killer it is usually important to kill with speed, so any sexual assault is rare. However, at least for the Burke and Hare matter, which does not follow this line fully, the disorganized killer usually gives little thought to being caught. This type of serial killer usually does not transport his kills and will for the most part leave the victim where they were killed. For Burke and Hare transport was key to getting paid, thus it was a requirement.