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Rogues

By choice, Crippen was associated with several rogues during his career, while others came out of the woodwork after he became infamous as a media headliner.

 

Horatio Bottomley

Horatio Bottomley (1860-1933) was a man of many parts and he masterminded many fraudulent schemes. From 1891 to 1922 he had 254 Bankruptcy Petitions filed against him. In 1922, he was convicted of fraudulent conversion of shareholders' funds, sentenced to seven years jail and expelled from Parliament. During his incarceration, he wrote poetry which was later published as Songs of the Cell (1928). Following his early release in 1927, he toured the Music Halls with a one-man show.

He jumped on the Crippen bandwagon in 1910 by publishing Crippen's 'confession' in John Bull. It was, of course, a forgery.

 

Scott Hamilton alias Professor Keith Harvey

Scott Hamilton was a dealer in quack medicines and remedies and Crippen was associated with him in the Aural Remedies venture. When interviewed by the police on 20 July 1910, Hamilton claimed that Crippen was 'a paid servant' in his company. Hamilton also ran the Synalec Syndicate.

 

Dr James Munyon

James Munyon (1848-1918) was a self-styled Doctor who ran Munyon's Homeopathic Home Remedy Company in America. He employed Crippen for several years and was instrumental in sending him to England to open their London Branch. Both the London Branch and Crippen prospered for a time but Crippen lost his lucrative position with Munyons in December 1909.

In June 1910, Munyons fell foul of the Pure Food and Drug legislation in America when Government chemists determined that two of their so-called 'cures' contained nothing except cane sugar.

Crippen had written to Le Neve from Pentonville Prison on 28 October 1910 that 'Munyon has awakened to his old friendship for me and cabled that he will spend £12,000 for me if necessary'. The offer seems to have been as effective as Munyon's other 'cures', Reputedly, Munyon died a millionaire.

 

Arthur Newton

Newton was a London solicitor who sent a cablegram to Crippen whilst he was incarcerated in Quebec:

Your friends desire me to defend you and will pay all necessary expenses. Will undertake your defence, but you must promise and answer no questions and do not resist extradition. Reply confirming. Arthur Newton.

Crippen seized this apparently golden opportunity but - according to Tom Cullen - he then found himself saddled with Alfred Tobin, a barrister, who was considered 'one of the dullest, most plodding advocates in the business'.

As an immediate consequence of the Crippen case, Newton was suspended for a year after selling Crippen's 'confession' to Horatio Bottomley. Later, Newton was disbarred and imprisoned for another fraud.

 

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