Sotheby’s takes a chilling turn this week as files upon files are the investigations regarding the crimes of Dr. Crippen go under the hammer. Other investigations included in the files report on a long list of other sinister deaths around London.
The files recording Sir Bernard Spilsbury’s index cards are expected to go for around £9,000 at the auction to be held on the 17th of July. The notes contain in-depth accounts and investigations on the deaths which occurred around the South of England and London between the years of 1905 and 1932.
The notes which were the investigations of the UK’s first forensic pathologists were hand written and were found completely be accident in a cabinet by a family member. It was Sir Bernard’s findings that eventually helped to convict the famous killer.
Speaking to BBC News was Dr Gabriel Heaton, who is a manuscript specialist at the auction rooms. He said, "Sir Bernard was the first person to really be working professionally as a forensic pathologist. The files give an insight not only into the father of forensic pathology, but also into the social history of London at the time."
The indexed cards report that in the first month of 1922, the forensic expert said he had closely investigated certain peculiar deaths around that time of Dr. Crippen including a suicide by cyanide in Hampstead, also in London and a rather sinister poisoning of a domestic servant and also a case in which an elderly woman was battered to death.
Putting historical value aside, the recent event of DNA testing has thrown the Crippen case in a somewhat dim light. With new testing regarding the famous Crippen case, where the doctor was convicted for killing his wife.
Dr Heaton said, "Sir Bernard was a very commanding figure in the witness box and was so highly respected that people didn't really question him as much as they should have done."
Sir Bernard very surprisingly took his own life in 1947 by gassing himself. He was 70 years old.
Files Of Dr. Crippen Go Under The Hammer At Sotheby's
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