William Burke

William Burke was a notorious Scottish criminal in the early 19th century, known for murdering vulnerable individuals to sell their bodies for medical dissection. Partnering with William Hare, Burke lured victims—often impoverished or lonely men—slaughtered them, and sold their corpses to surgeons. Their crimes, which took place in Edinburgh between 1827 and 1828, shocked the public and led to Burke’s execution. His case highlighted the desperate shortage of cadavers for medical study at the time and remains a significant example of criminal exploitation related to medical science.