Cora Henrietta Crippen

• Birth: Sep 3 1873 - New York City, New York County, New York, United States
• Death: From Jan 31 1910 - Holloway, London, England, United Kingdom
• Parents: Joseph Mackamotzki, Maria Mersinger nee Woffe
• Husband: Hawley Harvey Crippen
• Siblings: Theresa Hunn (born Mackamotzki), Katherine Volkens (born Mersinger), Annie Mersinger, Frederick George Mersinger, Louise Josephine Mills (born Mersinger), Julius Anthony Mersinger Sr, Anthony Mersinger, and names of 2 more siblings

The quiet Dr. Crippen moved to the U.K., and worked as a homeopathic doctor in London. His flamboyant and flirtatious wife Cora – also known by her stage name Belle Elmore – was a struggling music hall singer. In January of 1910, Cora disappeared under mysterious circumstances following a dinner party at the couple’s home. Crippen told Cora’s friends that she had returned to the United States to visit relatives, and then soon after, that she had taken ill and died. He then invited scandal by asking his secretary and lover, Ethel Le Neve, to move in with him. Friends grew suspicious, and asked the police to investigate. Crippen told them that Cora had left him for another man, and that he had lied to her friends to save face. When the inspectors returned a few days later to ask more questions, they found that Crippen and Ethel had fled. A thorough search of the Crippen home resulted in the grisly discovery of body parts beneath the cellar.

According to the police report, the victim had been poisoned, and then filleted.

from: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/hawley-crippen/199/

Cora was of Baltic descent and, when she was born in Brooklyn in 1873, her immigrant parents had named her Kunigunde Mackamotzki, a name she later changed to Cora Turner. She left home at 16, and parlayed her considerable sexual charms into acting and vocal lessons to advance her theatrical career. When Crippen met her, she was 19 years old, and an aspiring performer and opera singer. Her stage name was Belle Elmore, and she was an unlikely pairing for the Protestant, mild-mannered Crippen.

from: https://www.biography.com/people/hawley-crippen-17172114