Burke & Hare’s Night Out
In the early 19th century there were insufficient cadavers legitimately available for Scottish medical schools. As medical science flourished demand rose sharply but the only legal supply, the bodies of executed criminals, had fallen due to a sharp reduction in executions. This attracted criminals willing to obtain specimens by any means and the activities of body snatchers (called resurrectionists) rose accordingly. Burke and Hare went one step further and graduated from robbing graves to murdering their victims by smothering, thus delivering fresh undamaged corpses to Edinburgh Medical college. From November 1827 to October 1828 they claimed no less than 17 victims, until they were finally caught. Hare was offered immunity to testify against Burke. His testimony led to Burke being hanged. He was publicly dissected at the Edinburgh Medical College. His skeleton, death mask, and items made from his tanned skin are still displayed at the college's museum!
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