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n It took the jury just fifty minutes to reach theirndecision then they returned to thencourtroom and the foreman Mr John McFie, a Leith merchant, declarednthat,
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n“The jury find the pannel, William Burke, guiltynof the third charge in the indictment; and find the indictment not provennagainst the pannel, Helen McDougal.”n
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nThere was applause in the courtroom and when thenverdict reached the crowds in the streets, there were cheers. Burke remainedncomposed, “Nellie, you’re out of the scrape,” he was heard to whisper.nThe Lord Advocate moved for the judgment of the court, and the LordnJustice-Clerk called upon Lord Meadowbank to propose sentence. He proceeded tonpoint to the enormity and depravity of the crime, cited Biblical law ‘Thounshalt not Kill’, and that the sentence for murder under Scottish law wasnthe death penalty.
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| William Burke |
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nHis suggestion to the court was that Burke be held in thenEdinburgh tollbooth until January 28th 1829,
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n“… when he shall suffer death on a gibbet by thenhands of the common executioner, and his body thereafter given for dissection.”n
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nThenRight Honourable David Boyle, the Lord Justice-Clerk, donned the black cap andnaddressed Burke directly. He was to be executed for the crime of murder andnrather than hang his body in chains as a deterrent, as was normal, it was to benpublicly dissected and anatomised, his skeleton to be preserved forever, sonthat posterity might be reminded of his crimes. The sentence was recorded innthe court register, the place of execution was placed at the Lawnmarket, and provisionnwas made to deliver the body to Dr nAlexander Monro, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh,nwho was to publicly dissected and anatomise it.
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nBoyle then turned to McDougal,nwho had broken down in tears. Her verdict, he reminded her, was found ‘notnproven’, which was something entirely different from ‘not guilty.’nHelen McDougal was eventually released, after having been held fornher own safety, and returned home to West Port, but things turned nasty for hernwhen she went to a local shop to buy whisky. The shopkeeper recognised her andnrefused her service, and on her way back home again, a group of boys alsonrecognised her and the hue and cry went up. A lynch mob quickly formed and McDougalnwould have been torn limb from limb if the police had not arrived to save her.nBeating the horde off with staves, the officers took McDougal to thenwatch-house at Wester Portsburgh, but the by now enormous crowd besieged it,nhurling anything they could get their hands on at the building and baying fornher blood.
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| I Predict a Riot |
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nThe police dressed McDougal in men’s clothing andnsmuggled her away out of a back window, and a stand was made to give her timento escape. An announcement was made that she was being held in order to givenevidence against Hare, and that prospect placated the rabble, which thennpeacefully dispersed. Under police protection, McDougal was escortednto Stirlingshire, where she had relatives, but they would have nothing to donwith her and drove her away. She escaped being lynched in Newbiggin and in Carnworth,nand when she arrived at Newcastle, the police there refused to let her into thencity and escorted her to the Tyne Bridge, where the people of Gateshead triednto stone her. One rumour was that she had fled to Australia, where she livednout the rest of her life.
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nPublic interest in the case, fuelled by thennewspapers, turned on Hare who, by turning informer, had, it was felt,nliterally got away with murder. Burke had been found guilty on the third chargen(the murder of Mary Docherty) but questions were asked in the press about thenfirst and second charges (the murders of Daft Jamie and Mary Paterson). JanetnBrown, the whore who had made a lucky escape, went to the police and identifiednthe clothing found at Burke’s house as belonging to Mary Paterson. A curiousnsnuffbox and snuff spoon had also been found in his possession, with six holesnspaced around a larger central opening. There was no sympathy for Burke, but itnwas posited that he was being made the scapegoat.
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| Where were the Doctors? |
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nAnd the cry went up, “Wherenwere the Doctors?” On the evening of Sunday December 28th a bandnof young men descended on Dr Knox’s house in Minto St and set about stoning it,nbreaking almost all of the house glass before they were dispersed by a strongnforce of the police. In the condemned cell, William Burke began to talk freelynto the gaolers and policemen; he was condemned and had nothing left to lose,nbut Hare was still at liberty and had committed the same crimes and far worse.nIt was Hare and his wife who had slain Daft Jamie, although he had lured thengood-natured idiot to them, helped deliver his corpse and taken a share of thenprice.
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nTomorrow – the sentence …
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