Body Snatching & Working at a Body Farm

This entry was written by Anna Hill, Fall Semester 2018 for an essay in the Funeral Education Class (FSE300) at American River College. This was an assignment to review my favorite part of a book we were reading for class, "Stiff" by Mary Roach.

Anna Hill
FSE 300 LEC 10891
STIFF Writing Assignment
12/7/2018

Body Snatching

The first topic for this assignment, I decided I would like to discuss body snatching for the purpose of profit in the advancement in modern medicine.

H.H. Holmes - Source

This is a topic I have long been fascinated with since I began researching H.H. Holmes, who gained attention by purportedly being “America’s first serial killer”. In the 1880’s Herman Webster Mudgett (later known by the pseudonym of H. H. Holmes), was a well-known grave robber, and a murderer who sold cadavers to Chicago are Universities for $75 apiece. He was a medical student, at the University of Michigan Medical School, so he had easy access to cadavers. For this era, $75 a body, proved to create quite the lucrative vocation. So much so, that Herman realized that he could continue his success by building a “Murder Castle” (under the guise of being a hostel) for the sole purpose of murdering people to sell their cadavers.

Holmes sparked my interest in learning more about selling bodies in these murder-for-profit schemes throughout the 19^th century.

Body Snatchers Hare and Burke -  Source

This also made me aware of two other individuals that were mentioned in both of our books, “Stiff” and “A Walk Through Time”. These two scoundrels were William Burke and William Hare. I have always been fascinated by their story. After reading about Holmes, I was not surprised to learn that there were others who were finding profit in murder during these times.

According to “A Walk Through Time”, Burke and Hare were the most famous Resurrectionists of the 1820s. This means that they were known for this long before Holmes was ever born. Perhaps he was inspired by the duo?


In Edinburgh, Scotland the pair were reputed to have accidentally come across a way to make money. A gentleman passed away while he owed Hare’s mistress for rent. Selling corpses for profit was a known way to make money. In order to settle the debt, they sold the old man’s body to Dr. Knox’s Anatomy School.

They didn’t stop there. They took advantage of the opportunity when it arose and finished off another sick lodger and sold his corpse as well. From this, their new venture was born. They began murdering people with the intent of selling their bodies to medical schools. In all they killed 20 people.

The life mask of William Hare, left, and the death mask of William Burke on display in Edinburgh. Picture: Rob McDougall

“Burking” became their special “mode of murder”. This included sitting on the victims chest and suffocating them.

In an ironic twist of fate, after being executed, William Burke’s skeleton was put on display at the Edinburgh Medical School in the same city where they committed their crimes. Also, his death mask and a book bound with his skin are on display at the Surgeon’s Hall Museum. 

Their conviction of Burke and Hare resulted in the Anatomy Act of 1832.

Aside from Holmes, Burke, and Hare, there are other’s who became known for selling bodies of the murdered. These include:

James May, Thomas Williams, and John Bishop- 1831, known as the “London Burkers”. They were a Burke and Hare copycat crew who murdered people with the intention of selling their corpses. John Bishop admitted being a resurrectionist who sold up to 1,000 bodies, but it is unsure exactly how many they murdered. It was confessed though that they did indeed kill some homeless for profit, including children.

Jack the Ripper- 1888, while it is speculation, it is assumed that “Jack” may have also been in the trade of killing-for-profit. His victims were dissected with surgical precision, so detectives at the time believed that he may have been a medical professional. It matches the M.O. of others who had sold bodies to the universities. It’s believed that he may have been interrupted during these kills that were discovered, or that the victims that were found were moments of passion where he was unable to “control himself” during blood lust.

Universidad Libre Guards – 1992, tried to bludgeon Oscar Rafael Hernandez to sell his corpse to a local medical school. He survived. Turns out this was one of at least 14 cases that had occurred. The others were murdered.

Aside from murder, there are also other interesting cases of body-snatching in modern times. The strangest to me occurred in 1977 when a pair of grave robbers stole Charlie Chaplin’s body. Two crooks held the body for a $600k (cheap?!) ransom. Chaplin’s wife Oona O’Neill refused to put the money up, claiming that Charlie would think of the demand as “ridiculous”. The two criminals were arrested two weeks later.

Working at the Body Farm

One of my favorite chapters in “STIFF” was reading about people who do research and work with cadavers at Body Farms.

A body at a Tenessee Body Farm - Source

I have worked in the death industry for a short time, before deciding to go to Mortuary School. Before that I was in the medical field. This has put me in touch with many people who deal with the dying. I have worked alongside doctors, nurses, pathologists, funeral directors, procurement transplant coordinators, human tissue recovery technicians, body removal technicians, and many more.

Nothing has quite got my curiosity more than those who work at body farms.

I am not sure how to pinpoint why, but in a strange way, I think it’s because it makes me the most nervous. I have worked with the dead and dying for about 2 decades now. One aspect of death that makes me nervous, is decomposition. It’s not the wreckage of a car accident, the horrors of murder, or the monstrosity of what a bomb can do to the human body. It’s human decomposition that really makes me nervous.

I have a sensitive stomach when it comes to that smell. There is nothing quite like it.

For me, this poses 2 challenges for me. One is conquering fear I have in whether or not I can handle it, and the second is controlling my stomach. The fascination I have with the forensic study of how a body decomposes, trumps this. I find all stages of human decay, fascinating. I also love the fact that this research can help others. I know that this is an ongoing course of study that will always continue.

The variables that surround the way bodies decompose is vast. I think I could find myself happy being a part of that, even if it means facing my own apprehensions. This study can bring closure to so many. It can help solve cold cases and future cases.

“Can I handle that?” I really hope I can.

Reading Roaches narrative about Arpad Vass and Ron Walli at the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility in Chapter 3 stood out to me in this book. I loved that Vass was gung-ho and matter of fact about the process and that Ron, the guy that stays in the office and is openly repulsed by the macabre nature of his job, still finds his place there.

I don’t know that my study into mortuary science could ever lead to a job at a body farm, but I would be open to the idea. As far as I know, no such facilities exist in the state of California. This would pose an issue, as I have no intention of relocating.

The forensic side of death has always fascinated me, so that is a path I would be willing to follow. Any job that helps others when they are helpless, is an honorable career path, in my opinion. I have always felt that if you are someone like Arpad Vass for example, who can handle really tough jobs that the average person could not perform, then that is likely your calling.

Whether I follow a path that leads me into pathology, criminology, research, or funeral direction, I will be happy. I have found myself to be someone who performs well when others are in a really low place of grieving. I just want to be in a position where I can make a difference for others.

Sources -

The Weekly View (Newspaper)
Grave Robbing in Indiana (part 1)
http://weeklyview.net/2018/08/31/grave-robbing-in-indiana-part-1/

The Crime Museum
https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/serial-killers/hh-holmes/

“Stiff” by Mary Roach
Chapter 2, “Crimes of Anatomy” Pages 37- 57

“A Walk Through Time: A History of Funeral Service” By Ralph and Joan Klicker
Chapter 20, Pages 123 – 126

“JOHN BISHOP AND THOMAS WILLIAMS - 5th of December, 1831”
“Notorious Body-Snatchers, who murdered People and sold their Bodies to Hospitals, and were executed at Newgate“ (Historical Publication)
https://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ng609.htm

Biography
“Invasion of the Body Snatchers: From Chaplin to Casey Kasem”
https://www.biography.com/news/famous-bodies-stolen