“The acid bath murderer” John George Haigh “The acid bath murderer”

“ As I grew up I realized, though imperfectly, I was different from other people, and that the way of life in my home was different from that in the home of others…this stimulated me to introspection and strange mental questioning” - John George Haigh

Early life and childhood John was raised in a very religious house hold, hid parents tried to keep him in from the outside world and john admitted to having recurring religious nightmares as a child. Haigh went to queen Elizabeth's grammar school and got a scholarship Wakefield cathedral to join their choir.

Johns Careers His first job was as a motor engineer but he eventually quit that job and found a better career in insurance and advertisement. Haigh was fired from this job because he was suspected of stealing the cash box.

Marriage and early crimes In 1934 John married 23 year old Betty Hammer but in that same year he was put in jail for is first sentence due to fraudulent activity. While john was in jail betty gave birth to their daughter but gave her up for adoption and left Haigh.

More crimes When john was released from prison and saw that Betty was gone he continued with his fraudulent behavior and was sentenced again but this time for four years. While in prison the anger and bitter John started to plot the perfect murder. He experimented with rats and discovered it would only take 30 minutes to dissolve a body in sulfuric acid.

The murders John was released from prison right before the start of world war to and began killing. His first murder was a young boy named William Mcsawn. On September 9th 1944 He hit William over the head and killed him and then took his body to a basement and dissolved in in a tub of sulfuric acid. When the body was gone he dumped the slugged remains into a man hole. John told Williams family that William had gone into hiding to dodge getting enlisted into the war. Almost a year later when their son had still not returned his parents started to wonder and wanted to go to the police. Of coarse John would never let that happen so he shot Williams parents and dissolved both of their bodies in sulfuric acid on July 2nd 1945

Murders cont. Johns second kill was a wealthy couple who was selling their house. He pretended to be interested in the house and shot both husband (Archibald) and wife (Rosaline). He then took their bodies to his work shop to dissolve and forged a paper giving all of their possessions to him like their house, car, and even their dog.

Final kill and capture Haigh's final kill was an old widow named Henrietta. After several days of her being missing, someone in her neighborhood reported her missing and when policed looked through possible suspects Johns name stood out to them. The police searched his work shop and found her bodily remains that matched her DNA, human gallstones, and pieces of her dentures.

The trial and conviction John George Haigh was put on trial for the 1st degree murder of six people. The prosecution showed all of the evidence to the jury and when it was time for the jury to deliberate it only took then minutes to give a guilty verdict. John was convicted of 6 murders but he had claimed to have kill a total of nine people in other states John was given the death penalty and was hanged on August 10th 1949

TV drama called “ A is for acid” Popular culture The story of Johns murders was dramatized on a radio series called “ The Black Museum” on an episode called “ The jar of acid” TV drama called “ A is for acid”

Anomie theory The anomie theory applies to John just wanted to be a normal kid and he was trapped in the confined walls of his religious home. He also was trying to get a job and have a wife and children but he was fired from his job, turned to crime, was put and jail, and lost his wife and his daughter. John suffered years of psychological and physiological issues due to his childhood and his mental instability