William Burke, who was originally from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, had emigrated to Scotland to find work leaving behind his wife and children. Working at various manual trades, and picking up a mistress along the way, by 1827 he had pitched up in Edinburgh.

There is some doubt about William Hare’s exact birthplace but he also left Northern Ireland to go to Scotland and work as a labourer on the Union Canal. He eventually moved to Edinburgh and married a widow and the two ran a lodging house together.

In the autumn of 1827 Burke, along with his mistress Helen MacDougal, moved into Hare’s lodging house and the two soon became friends.

It is not known who first came up with the macabre money making scheme but the wheels were put in motion when another of Hare’s tenants died. The old army pensioner had passed away owing Hare £4 and so the pair stole his body and sold it to the Edinburgh Medical College for £7. It was their first meeting with Dr. Robert Knox, a leading Scottish anatomist and teacher at the college.

Burke and Hare soon realised that medical schools were in desperate need of fresh bodies to work on and were prepared to pay good money. After growing impatient waiting for another tenant to die they decided to take matters into their own hands. Joseph the Miller had been sick for some time whilst staying at the lodging house but seem to be recovering from his illness. He was plied with whiskey and then suffocated.

After running out of tenants they decided to lure someone in from the street. Pensioner Abigail Simpson was invited to stay the night at the lodging house for a bargain price before continuing her long journey home. Again they intoxicated her before she was suffocated. They allegedly received £15 for her corpse because it was so fresh.

Burke and Hare soon acquired a couple of accomplices in their venture. Not long after Abigail Simpson was killed Hare’s wife invited another woman to stay and give her plenty of drinks to consume. She then sent for her husband and the woman was promptly dispatched and sold to Dr. Knox.

Next, Burke brought two prostitutes to the lodging house but one of them left when an argument broke out between Burke and MacDougal. When the prostitute returned a few hours later she could not find her friend and was told that she had left. The following morning a few sheepish medical students recognised the dead prostitute lying on the slab of the medical college.

Soon body after body was turning up in the anatomy classes of Dr. Knox, his students had never had so much opportunity to study. Burke and Hare received £10 for the body of a local beggar woman called Effie. An old woman and deaf boy were next to be delivered to the back door of the college; followed by an acquaintance of Hares known as “Mrs. Ostler” and Ann MacDougal who was a relative of Helen MacDougal.

Mary Haldane, an old prostitute, disappeared soon after being seen with Hare. Her daughter Peggy came to the lodging house looking for Mary and her body was soon on its way to the medical college along with her mothers.

The next victim was a mentally retarded young local man, with a limp, known as “Daft Jamie”. He was well known on the streets of Edinburgh and so suspicions were aroused when he body was uncovered at the college the next morning. Many of the students recognised him but Dr. Knox denied it was Jamie and promptly cut off his head and feet and began dissecting his face.

The last of their victims was Marjory Campbell Docherty who was lured to the lodging house. Burke and Hare waited for two tenants, James and Ann Gray, to leave for the night before suffocating the now drunk Docherty. The next day Ann Gray became suspicious when Burke would not let her into a room where she kept some of her belongings. Later in the evening, when the lodging house was empty, the Grays entered the room and found Docherty’s body under the bed.

The couple fled the house and on the way to the police station they bumped into MacDougal who offered them £10 to keep quiet. They refused and so she ran back to the lodging house to warn the others who quickly disposed of the body. The police arrived and arrested Burke and Hare, MacDougal and Margaret Hare.

Under questioning Burke and Hare told contradicting stories regarding Docherty’s whereabouts. An anonymous tip-off led the police to Dr. Knox’s classroom where they discovered the Docherty’s corpse. The murder spree lasted 18 months and had claimed 12 victims.

Hare was offered immunity if he testified against his partner in crime. Burke was hanged on 28 January 1829 and his body was taken to the same medical college as his victims and dissected by the students. Helen MacDougal and Margaret Hare were released after it was decided there was no evidence against them. MacDougal narrowly escaped being lynched by an angry mob when she returned to the lodging house and was rumored to have escaped to Australia. William Hare was released after the trial but soon disappeared, with rumours frequently surfacing as to his whereabouts. Despite a public uproar Knox was not prosecuted.