Give Crippen a pardon, says descendant

DESCENDANTS of infamous wife-killer Dr Hawley Crippen have demanded that his body is exhumed and he is given a posthumous pardon.

A legal challenge has been lodged against the conviction of Crippen for the murder of his wife Cora which scandalised Victorian society.

Crippen, the first fugitive to be caught with the use of wireless telegraphy, was hanged 99 years ago. However, his closest descendant Patrick Crippen claims that new DNA evidence shows the remains discovered under the cellar at Dr Crippen's north London home belonged to a man.

Mr Crippen, a former senior marketing executive from Dayton, Ohio, said: "He did not kill his wife, of that I am sure and the evidence is overwhelming that the body was male. It is a celebrated horror case but the prosecution was entirely wrong.

"There was so much furore around the case that Hawley was bound to be found guilty. The jury took just 27 minutes. The DNA evidence and a longer, more sober look at the facts reveals this is a gross miscarriage of justice."

Mr Crippen's legal team is pressing for an official pardon and believe the case is stronger than that advanced by relatives of Derek Bentley who was wrongly hanged in 1953 for the murder of a policeman in Croydon. He was granted a Royal Pardon in 1993. Lawyer Giovanni di Stefano is pursuing the pardon and wrote to the Justice Ministry: "Dr Crippen was wrongly convicted of the murder of his wife because, as has been scientifically proved, the remains at the house were not those of his wife."

Mr di Stefano is also enlisting the help of the American Ambassador to the UK as official protocol was broken because the Home Office failed to inform US authorities that they were executing an American citizen. Further letters have been sent to the governor of Pentonville prison demanding the return of Crippen's body from its prison grave.

Mr di Stefano said: "Our actions can now vindicate the Crippen family and Dr Crippen who, in his last letter, said that 'history will prove I am no murderer'."

Crippen had married aspiring Broadway actress Cora, 11 years his junior, in 1892 and the pair emigrated five years later to London. His bride embarked on a promiscuous lifestyle to alleviate the boredom of life with Crippen, whose career foundered. They were already living separate lives when Crippen, 48, returned home to find Cora in bed with a lodger. He had already started a platonic relationship with his secretary Ethel le Neve.

Cora's friends reported her missing and a search at No 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Holloway, unearthed the decapitated remains of a body. Crippen booked a passage on the SS Montrose to Canada taking Ethel disguised as his son.

The pair were arrested after they were recognised by the captain of the liner, one of the first ships to have a Marconi system, who signalled his discovery to Scotland Yard.

Mr Crippen said: "The important details of the case are overlooked for the drama of a trans-Atlantic police chase and the use of the wireless telegraph. We may never know whose body was found or what happened but it is clear that he did not kill Cora. He should be pardoned and the family should be allowed to bury him with dignity."