Rugeley, Staffordshire 1850s
William Parker was born to a humble family in 1824 and was a petty criminal while still a child. At 17 he was dismissed as a druggists’ apprentice for theft, and fired from another apprenticeship for performing abortions. Yet somehow he managed to qualify as a doctor at St Bart’s Hospital in London. He then set up a practice in his home town of Rugeley, Staffordshire.
However, he couldn’t settle to domestic life and his work. He had a gambling problem that led to debts, and fathered an illegitimate child with one of his servants. His massive debts led him to kill up to a dozen people so that he could claim insurance policies for them.
First, Parker killed his mother-in-law. But he soon ran out of money, and so he insured his wife for the enormous sum of £13,000 (over £700,000 in today’s money). Of course, she soon died mysteriously.
Then his brother Walter was insured for a similar amount, followed quickly by his death.
As well as these deaths, he also murdered his four children, and an uncle. And several of the people he owed money to also died strangely.
Finally, in 1855, he owed a lot of money to loan sharks, and his luck ran out. In November he went to Shrewsbury races with his friend John Parsons Cook. Palmer lost while Cook won a lot of money. Cook was then taken ill before he even had a chance to collect his winnings. As Cook lay dying in the Talbot Hotel, Palmer went to collect Cook’s winnings in between treating Cook, who died on November 21st.
Cook’s stepfather was suspicious of his death, and demanded an autopsy. Unfortunately for Parker, the autopsy found antimony. Cook’s organs had been sent to London for analysis, but not before Palmer had tried to steal them.
Once the antimony poisoning had been found, Parker was put on trial at the Old Bailey in London. Found guilty, he was returned to Staffordshire to be hung publicly at Stafford jail (watched by 50,000 people). Public executions were regarded as public entertainment, and the man who made the rope that was used to hang Parker made spare lengths that he sold as souvenirs.