History: These murderers sold their victims to medical science – and made a killing

Making a Murderer has nothing on this story
Burke and Hare, movie
Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis feature in the film Burke and Hare.

Had Netflix been around in the early 19th century, the story of Burke and Hare would have made one binge-worthy docu-series.

It all started in a Scottish boarding house in 1827, when William Hare’s tenant sneakily skipped out on the rent — by dying.

Offended by this personal affront, and not one for waste, Hare and his friend, William Burke, decided to sell the lodger’s body to medical science — or more specifically, anatomist Dr Robert Knox — recouping the lost rent and netting a tidy profit. 

Then they got greedy.