Secrets of the Dead (TV Series) Executed in Error (2008) User Reviews

Aside from a stupid title for the episode, it's fantastic.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 8 December 2011]

This is a nearly perfect episode of "Secrets of the Dead". However, why did they call it "Executed in ERROR"? Why not entitle it "Executed in Error?" or "Did They Execute in Error?"? Because of their title, the viewer already knows that a mistake was made in executing some poor guy--so all suspense is gone!

The story involves an American doctor living in Britain. His marriage is a mess--both he and his wife are having affairs. When she disappears, it's suspicious because he's been telling his neighbors that she died--but there is no record of her death. The police investigate and he admits lying--saying he did this because he was too proud to tell others she's left him for another. When the police return a bit later, he's disappeared. He's located on a ship bound for Canada with his mistress (who's dressed as a boy). It sure looks suspicious and with a piece of flesh found buried in his basement, he was arrested, tried, convicted and executed. But does the evidence really support that he murdered his wife? Or are there other possible explanations?

Aside from the blunder with the title, this show does something amazing--it exposes a miscarriage of justice. Most shows or documentary films just rehash old information or make hypotheses--but this one does the radical job of investigating and turning up new and damning evidence! Wow...great job! Thoroughly fascinating and the best episode of the series I've yet seen.

Letting in the light on Crippen

[Goingbegging · 9/10 · 3 May 2017]

The Crippen case of 1910 riveted public attention far more than was normal for a single domestic murder. But the public was curiously intrigued by the characters in this drama.

The American 'Doctor' Crippen was not recognised as a doctor in England; he had qualified in homeopathy, and was dabbling (apparently struggling) in the shadowy world of patent medicines. He was a nervous little fellow of comic appearance, clearly henpecked by his big, overpowering wife, who went by several names, but was known - though never well-known - as Belle Elmore of the music halls. It was almost seaside postcard comedy.

Belle had cultivated a powerful group of women friends, and one day they heard from Crippen that she had deserted him and gone to America with a new man. Next he told them that she had died there - a report that struck them as odd, and one of them called in the cops. A first search of the house revealed nothing, and the case seemed to be closed. But the inspector had second thoughts and returned for another search. He found that Crippen had fled the country, along with his young secretary Ethel. When some decayed human remains were discovered under the flagstones, it turned into a dramatic chase. The two of them were already crossing the Atlantic in one of the first ships equipped with radio, and they were almost out of range. Just in time, the captain got a message to London reporting his suspicions about 'Mr. Robinson' and his 'son', a silent young person who appeared uncomfortable in men's clothes. The inspector boarded a smaller, faster vessel that intercepted them, and he was allowed to pose as the harbour pilot. The two were brought home for trial.

Nobody was surprised when the jury found Crippen guilty of murder in less than half-an-hour. It was confidently asserted that a piece of scar-tissue matched Belle's medical records, and parts of Crippen's pyjama jacket were found on the scene. The wheels of justice had turned, and Crippen went to the gallows. But... all of this was before DNA.

An American forensic toxicologist, John Trestrail, had never understood why a murderer would leave human tissue to be found, after managing to dispose of the head and hands. His researches led to the astonishing discovery that those human remains were male, and had no DNA link with Belle's matrilineal descendants! As for the evidence that proved so convincing in court, he has strong reason to believe that this was 'tailored' for the purpose of securing a quick guilty verdict, in the face of huge public pressure. (Some people felt this had happened after the murder of popular TV star Jill Dando.)

Of course, Trestrail has raised more questions than he has answered. But he believes that further analysis of surviving hair and blood samples may yet allow more light in on this dark little chapter of what can too-easily look like the Age of Certainty.

This Documentary Does Not Exonerate Crippen

[lovetogarden · 2/10 · 4 May 2017]

I just finished watching this program on DVD and it left me with way more questions than answers. In no way does the fact that the DNA from the torso not being Crippin's wife exonerate him of her disappearance and possible murder. Cora would not have just up and disappeared since she was very popular and making money in her field and had a huge circle of friends. It was apparent to all who knew her that she was a very happy person who seemed satisfied with her life except one - her marriage to Crippen. Cora knew about Crippen's affair and threatened to toss him out on more than one occasion. The reasons the researchers gave for her going into hiding are ludicrous.

Secondly, if she had left him she would have turned up somewhere else doing the same thing she was doing in London because she would have to make a living. It is doubtful that someone who spent time building a reputation as an entertainer would simply throw that away to disappear and eventually wind up working in a millinery factory as this program proposes. In point of fact, on that score, they are incorrect because the woman working in the factory could not have been Cora. Cora would have been 47 years old at that time and according to census reports the women working in the factory this show claimed is Cora was only 24. The fact that Cora was never heard from again strongly suggest homicide.

Thirdly, the male torso could be another of Crippen's victims and Crippen could be a serial killer because his first wife died under mysterious circumstances in Salt Lake City, UT. (Crippen also fled the scene soon after her burial) and he was indicted in Nevada shortly after that for murdering his business partner. He was acquitted for lack of evidence, and as one newspaper at the time reported (Post Standard) 'he had a friendly jury'.

All in all, I was disappointed in the lack of research and exploration beyond a reexamination of the evidence of the time with the introduction of technology of today (DNA) while leaving out an exploration on the death of his first wife, the charges of murder against his business partner in Nevada, and a full investigation into who was the man the torso belonged to. If the producers really wanted to make this an interesting show they could have ran the DNA from the torso through criminal and genealogical data banks to look for familial links. Knowing who this man was and what role he played in Crippen's life, if any, would further unravel this mystery and might have been the key in determining, once and for all, Crippens' guilt or not. For me, after having done extensive research of my own, there is no doubt Crippen not only murdered his wife but in all likelihood was a serial killer too.