Burke and Hare Murders (Scotland - 1828)

Had never heard of these guys. Thought some of you might enjoy the rabbit hole.

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The Burke and Hare murders were a series of sixteen killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures.

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Wikipedia

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As he passed the death sentence against Burke, Boyle told him:

Your body should be publicly dissected and anatomized. And I trust, that if it is ever customary to preserve skeletons, yours will be preserved, in order that posterity may keep in remembrance your atrocious crimes.

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Burke was hanged on the morning of 28 January 1829 in front of a crowd possibly as large as 25,000; views from windows in the tenements overlooking the scaffold were hired at prices ranging from 5s to 20s. 

On 1 February Burke's corpse was publicly dissected by Professor Monro in the anatomy theatre of the university's Old College.

Police had to be called when large numbers of students gathered demanding access to the lecture for which a limited number of tickets had been issued. A minor riot ensued; calm was restored only after one of the university professors negotiated with the crowd that they would be allowed to pass through the theatre in batches of fifty, after the dissection.

During the procedure, which lasted for two hours, Monro dipped his quill pen into Burke's blood and wrote, "This is written with the blood of Wm Burke, who was hanged at Edinburgh. This blood was taken from his head".

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Apparently they also inspired a strip club.