Would You Like Poison with that ?
Would You Like Poison with that?
Today’s
journey takes us to another infamous doctor, a bit lesser-known than Harold
Shipman but just as deadly and also from the UK.
Thomas Neill Cream born in May 1850 dreamed of becoming a doctor and in the world of developing medical procedures, diagnoses, and people putting their full trust in doctors as unlike now with the internet, people weren’t any the wiser, and of course, it’s in the doctors’ code to save people not kill.
Dr. Cream was a Scottish-Canadian medical doctor who earned the moniker of the Lamberth Poisoner as he used strychnine to poison his victims. Dr. Cream was one of the few killers who managed to kill over three countries and murdered at least ten people that we know of and like most killers back then, he targeted the lower-income women, prostitutes, and those females wanting back-alley abortions
Dr. Cream was finally caught in 1892 and hanged for his crimes. During his last moments, it was also rumored that he was a strong contender for the famous Jack the Ripper, another killer like the Zodiac who was never caught and so his identity is still unknown to this day. This was disputed as during some of the Ripper’s murders, Dr. Cream happened to be in the States.
Dr. Cream’s first failed victim as she did eventually recover was his wife Flora Brooks after she got pregnant, he performed an abortion on her which left her hanging on for her dear life. After this incident went haywire, he skipped the country and headed to Ontario. Flora’s family never heard from Thomas after this time.
Dr. Cream moved to Ontario where he had family and set up a medical practice in 1878. Here he was charged under the Ontario act for setting up and practicing a medical clinic without a license. He pleaded guilty, but this didn’t deter clients from seeking out his expertise. His first victim was Catharine Hutchinson Gardner who had been looking for an abortion. She was found murdered behind his offices with chloroform. Despite the growing evidence, charges were never laid against Thomas and so he skipped the country and headed to Chicago.
Here in Chicago, Dr. Cream established a small clinic in the red-light district and offered illegal abortions to working-class girls. During this time several young women were killed including Mary Anne Faulkner, Miss Stack, and Alice Montgomery and then he killed Daniel Stott. Daniel’s wife Julia was having an affair at the time with the good doctor and it was said that she had hired him to kill her husband. When it looked like the police were closing in, Julia decided to throw her lover under the bus and turned state’s evidence, and set Dr. Cream up to take the fall. Thomas Cream was sentenced to prison for Daniel’s murder – he was given life imprisonment but in July 1891 after only spending 5-6 months in prison, Thomas was released due to a bribe from the governor which just shows even back then “money speaks volumes”.
A fun fact – Daniel’s family and friends brought a tombstone for his body and engraved it “Here lies Daniel Stott – poisoned by his wife Julia and her lover Dr. Thomas Cream.
After being released from prison in the US, Dr. Cream hightailed it back to London and set up shop. Here his first victim was a young 19-year-old girl named Ellen Donworth, a prostitute whom he poisoned with strychnine. His second victim was a 27-year-old prostitute named Matilda Clover whom he took to bed and gave her pills which later mixed with the alcohol consumed killed her.
A fun fact – For the first two murders, Dr. Cream desperate for money tried to blackmail two men who would later become prominent in history. The first was W.H Smith – founder of the book publishing company WH Smith and the second was Dr. William Broadbent known for being a famous British Neurosurgeon.
His last three victims were Louise Harvey, Alice Marsh, and Emma Shrivell who were all prostitutes and killed by ingesting pills and strychnine poisoning.
Dr. Cream was finally arrested on the 3rd of June 1892 and his trial began on the 17th of October 1892 and lasted till 21st October 1892. It only took the jury 12 minutes to come up with the deliberation of guilty on all counts and he was sentenced to death by Judge Henry Hawkins. His body was cremated and he is buried in the London Municipal Cemetery in an unmarked grave in section 339.
A fun fact – as Dr. Cream’s last words were that he was Jack the Ripper. An English-Canadian author Chris Scott wrote a fictional crime novel called Jack which was based on the premise that Dr. Cream was Jack the Ripper
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