William Hare

William Burke and William Hare were infamous murderers for profit in Edinburgh, Scotland. Hare, an Irish immigrant, ran a lodging house where Burke, also from Ireland, arrived in 1827. After discovering a way to profit from selling a deceased lodger's corpse to surgeon Robert Knox for anatomical dissection, they began a systematic murder spree. Assisted by their wives, they lured at least 15 unsuspecting individuals to the lodging house, intoxicated them, and then smothered them to avoid leaving marks of violence. The bodies were then sold to Knox's anatomy school. Their crimes were exposed in October 1828 when neighbors discovered their murder of a local woman. Hare turned informant, testifying against Burke, who was convicted and hanged. Hare was released and disappeared.1