CRIME:

DNA evidence raises new questions about a nearly 100-year-old conviction.

The story of Dr. Hawley Crippen seems like it was written for the movies—and it has in fact inspired more than three dozen books and films. The American homeopathic doctor living in London was convicted of killing his showgirl wife, carving her up, and burying parts of her in the cellar. But thanks to the modern tools of biotechnology, this nearly 100-year old case has developed a plot twist worthy of Hollywood. Researchers in Michigan using the latest forensic DNA analysis to examine tissue preserved from the crime scene have come to a startling conclusion: The remains aren’t those of Crippen’s wife.