December 26, 2023 • 24 mins
Thomas Neill Cream graduated with honors from Montreal's McGill medical school in 1876. His thesis had been about the effects of chloroform; and he would soon demonstrate just how devastating he could be with toxic compounds. Several people died under his 'care.' But we’re not here to talk about Dr. Cream the murderer; we’re here to talk about his other criminal offense: extortion. Thomas was ultimately undone when he attempted to frame and blackmail other people for his murders. Let’s meet the doctor.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Thomas Neil Cream graduated with honors on March thirty first,
eighteen seventy six, from Montreal's McGill Medical School. The address
given to his class that day was titled the Evils
of Malpractice in the Medical Profession. A little bit of
evil foreshadowing, you might say. His thesis had been about
the effects of chloroform A lot more foreshadowing, as he
(00:37):
would soon demonstrate just how devastating he could be with
toxic compounds. Sixteen years later, a mob of onlookers attended
his execution for murder and extortion outside Newgate Prison in London.
So let's meet the good doctor. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm
Mariach Marky.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And I'm Holly Frye. Thomas Neil Cream was born on
May twenty seventh, eighteen fifty, the eldest of eight children
to William and Mary Cream in Glasgow, Scotland. The family
left Scotland for Canada when Thomas was just four years old,
and his father became the manager of a shipbuilding and
lumber firm located in Wolf's Cove near Quebec City, and
(01:17):
the family prospered. His father had grown a very successful business,
and Thomas had become accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle that
included flashy clothing and jewelry and touring about in fancy
horse drawn carriages. When he attended McGill, he gained a
reputation among his fellow students as being extravagant, wild, and
(01:38):
a little bit sleazy. Through photographs and written descriptions of him,
we know that Thomas looked a lot like what you
might consider an archetypal villain of Victorian era. He wore
a top hat and a black silk cape, and he
had a big mustache that was perfect for twirling.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Thomas killed his first, well his first proven victims in
the United States. Additional victims were in England, others in Canada,
maybe in Scotland. But we're not here to talk about
the murderer Thomas Neil Cream. We're here to talk about
his other criminal offense, extortion and blackmail. Thomas was ultimately
(02:21):
undone when he attempted to frame and blackmail other people
for his murders.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Not long after his graduation from medical school, Thomas met
a woman named Flora Brooks, who was the daughter of
a prosperous hotel owner in Waterloo, Quebec. When Flora became pregnant,
Thomas terminated her pregnancy, but that did not go well.
Flora fell ill, and after learning what had transpired, her
father tracked down Thomas, forced him back to Waterloo and
(02:50):
then also forced him, allegedly at gunpoint, to marry Flora.
But the day after the two were married, Thomas left.
He moved to London.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Thomas's story takes place during the Industrial Revolution, which spanned
from about seventeen sixty to eighteen forty, a period responsible
for an increase in the standard of living, an increase
in population, and the emergence of the capitalist economy. And
we mentioned this specifically because in England there was an
(03:21):
increase in the demand for doctors to care for those
living in poverty. Some reports state Thomas planned to study
surgery at Saint Thomas's Hospital, but failed their entrance requirements.
He was though accepted by the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons in Edinburgh. In late eighteen seventy eight, he
returned to Canada, where he set up his practice in London, Ontario.
(03:43):
He quickly became known as the guide to see a
terminated pregnancy in a legal act. At that time in Ontario,
he spent his free time carousing and courting women.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Meanwhile, back in Quebec, in eighteen seventy seven, his wife
Flora contracted broncos and she died of what appeared to
be consumption. Today we would call that tuberculosis. Her doctor, however,
later stated that he couldn't help but wonder if her
death had been linked to pills that Thomas had sent her,
and he admitted that he had always considered that her
(04:16):
death may have involved foul play. That, of course, though,
was his opinion in the hindsight.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
About a year after establishing his new practice in Ontario,
the body of a woman named Kate Gardiner was discovered
in an outhouse located behind his office building, with a
bottle of chloroform next to her body. Authorities were suspicious
about the circumstances of Kate's death, after all, there was
a bottle of chloroform sitting with her, and they soon
(04:45):
discovered that she had visited Thomas's office on more than
one occasion seeking to end a pregnancy. But when questioned,
the doctor insisted that he had refused her in his
estimation her death must have been a suicide. Jury disagreed
with his assessment and ruled that Gardner died from chloroform
administered by some person unknown. Thomas was not charged with
(05:10):
her murder. However, suspicions against him grew so strong that
both his practice and his reputation were ruined. He relocated
to the United States. Thomas set up a medical practice
on Chicago's West Side, in a district known for its
high percentage of sex workers and its poverty stricken neighborhoods.
Soon word got around to those in the neighborhood and
(05:31):
to local police that he was the guide to see
to terminate a pregnancy, also illegal in the United States
at that time.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
We're going to take a break for a word from
our sponsors here, and when we're back we will talk
about Thomas's arrest and time spent at the Illinois State Penitentiary.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about the people who
died under Thomas's care.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
In August of eighteen eighty, a woman named Julia Faulkner
whose name may have been Mary Anne. That's a little
bit unclear anyway, she had been under Thomas's care, and
she died under mysterious circumstances. This time he was arrested
on charges of murder, but due to lack of evidence,
he was not convicted. In December of that same year,
(06:31):
another of his patients, Ellen Stack, died after she took
medicine that was prescribed by Thomas. It was about a
month after Ellen's death when Thomas started to engage in
blackmail and extortion. This was his first go round, and
in it he attempted to blackmail the pharmacist who had
compounded Stack's prescription by sending him threatening letters. The pharmacist
(06:55):
complained to the police, but no charges were ever brought forth.
Nothing can of this whole thing.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It was eighteen eighty one when authorities finally had enough
evidence to arrest and try Thomas. They charged him with
the murder of a Chicago man named Daniel Stott. Daniel's wife, Julia,
had been regularly picking up pills from Thomas, who had
been marketing them as a remedy for epilepsy. She and
Thomas began an affair, but when Daniel grew suspicious of them,
(07:24):
Thomas coerced Julia into having her husband take out a
life insurance policy on himself, and then he sent her
home with strych nine laced pills instead of his epilepsy remedy.
Stott died on June fourteenth, eighteen eighty one, within minutes
of taking those pills, but his death was ultimately considered
to be from complications of an epileptic seizure, and again
(07:48):
Thomas picked up his pen. He sent a blackmail letter
to the coroner accusing the pharmacist who compounded Stott's pills
of being responsible for the death, and he demanded five
thousand dollars for his silence. He also threatened to collect
money on Julia's behalf. When the coroner ignored the letter,
Thomas went to the district attorney to request the body
(08:08):
being zoomed. Upon further examination, it was found there was
enough strychnine in Stott's stomach to kill three people.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Although he pointed a finger at the pharmacist, it was
Thomas who was arrested. He was a suspicious character in
the death, and then Julia told authorities that she suspected
he had tampered with her husband's medicine. Thomas was charged
with and found guilty of murder in the second degree,
and he was sentenced to life at the Illinois State
(08:39):
Penitentiary and Juliet. He didn't serve a life sentence, though
not even close. He was released in June of eighteen
ninety one when Governor Joseph Pfeiffer commuted the sentence. Though
there isn't really much, if any evidence, it is assumed
that the governor was bribed and possibly by Thomas's family.
(09:00):
Returned to Canada very briefly to collect an inheritance of
sixteen thousand dollars from his father's death. Then he returned
to England, where he moved to Lambeth Palace Road, in
an impoverished neighborhood of South London.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Thomas began referring to himself as Thomas Neil minus the Cream.
At this time. Almost all reports about him state he
was addicted to morphine and possibly cocaine, and possibly other
drugs too. In the first seven months in the Lambeth district,
he poisoned at least four sex workers, including Matilda Clover, Ellen,
(09:36):
Nellie Donworth, Alice Marsh and Emma Shrivel. A fifth victim
named Louise Harvey, had luckily and wisely decided against swallowing
the strych nine laced pills the good doctor had offered
to her. Her spidy sense of sorts kicked in and
it saved her life. She later testified against him in court.
Reynolds's newspaper reported the exchange between Louise and Thomas went
(09:59):
as so quote. He took two pills out of his
waistcoat pocket. They were wrapped in tissue paper and were long,
rather narrower at one end than the other. It was dark,
but they seemed to be of light color. He asked
her to swallow them one by one and not bite them.
He put them into her right hand. She pretended to
(10:21):
take them and passed them into her left hand. He
then asked her to show her right hand, and she
showed him it was empty. He then asked to see
the left hand in which the pills were, and she
threw them away.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Thomas worked by befriending his victims, and then he would
offer them medications, supposedly to clear up something like a
rash or another vague ailment or complaint they had. But
his remedies were laced with strychnine. It's highly likely that
he would have avoided detection. Except he could not stop
scratching the itch. He decided to accuse his neighbor of
(10:56):
two murders. And here's where he really begins to use
a distortion along with his killings. Using a false name
of Malone, he wrote a letter to a prominent English neurologist,
doctor William Broadbent, claiming to have evidence of the doctor's
involvement in Matilda Clover's death, and he demanded twenty five
thousand pounds to keep that information to himself. Doctor Broadbent
(11:21):
contacted Scotland Yard, who then waited for the mystery blackmailer
to collect the money. No one ever showed up. But
Thomas had unwittingly incriminated himself in that letter to Broadbent
because he had referred to the death of Matilda Clover
as a murder, despite it having been recorded as death
due to her excessive alcohol abuse. He had revealed knowledge
(11:44):
that only the killer could have known, and in that
instant Scotland Yard knew the person the press had nicknamed
the Lambeth poisoner was linked to the recent rash of
blackmail letters.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Thomas also wrote to the coroner offering to name the
murder of Nellie Donworth in return for a three hundred
thousand pound payout. He also attempted to blackmail a WFD Smith,
owner of W. H. Smith Books, accusing him of Donworth's
murder and demanding money to keep quiet about it.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
He then kind of went blackmail crazy. He claimed that
he had incriminating evidence against a Joseph Harper, who was
a local medical student. He sent an accusatory letter to
Harper's father, signed William H. Murray, demanding fifteen hundred pounds
to destroy alleged evidence against his son or he was
going to share his knowledge with the police. Harper refused. Then,
(12:40):
under different pseudonyms and once pretending to be a detective,
Thomas sent letters to the coroner implicating Harper and to
a Frederick Smith, demanding three thousand pounds to destroy supposed
evidence against both of them in the murders of the
four women. A similar letter was sent to Lord Russell,
a British Liberal Party politician. No blackmail money was ever collected.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
We're going to take a break for word from our sponsors,
and when we return, we'll talk about Thomas's arrest and
sentencing and what he may or may not have said
on the day of his execution.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Welcome back to criminalia. Now let's talk about how Thomas
was finally caught and how he may or may not
have been Jack the Ripper. Yeah, stay tuned with us
on that one.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
The poisonings were beginning to incite fear among the public,
and London's Daily News reported quote the police at Scotland
Yard are still pursuing their inquiries into the recent cases
of fatal poisoning of women in the neighborhood of Lambeth,
with a view to establishing a connection between the suspected
person against whom the police hold a warrant. From the
(14:04):
accounts which the police have received from various quarters concerning
this individual, there is every reason to believe that the
opinion of the detectives is correct, that he is suffering
from a form of mental derangement which finds exercise and
a desire to take away life. There is no other
motive attributable to the cruel poisonings, and as the history
of the Whitechapel murders shows, the indulgence of this homicidal
(14:28):
tendency upon women and a defenseless position is not singular
to the Lambeth poisoner. The Whitechapel murders mentioned were those
committed by the notoriously unidentified serial killer known as Jack
the Ripper.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Now here's the thing about Thomas Neil Kream. He probably
could have continued his killing streak if he had just
stayed quiet about his activities. But he didn't. It seems
like he couldn't. He bragged about his detailed knowledge of
each killing. He even took former New York Least detective
John Haynes on a tour of the murder scenes in
(15:04):
the area. Haines became alarmed at the amount of detail
that Thomas knew, and he brought his concerns to the
attention of the police inspector. Thomas also gave a similar
tour to a mister McIntyre, who turned out to be
a police sergeant. But Thomas did not know that. McIntyre
began to surveil the doctor police constable. Comely we think
(15:26):
he was a constable. He was definitely law enforcement had
by chance seen a man who fit Thomas's description with
two of the women on the nights of their deaths.
He too, started to keep a close eye on him.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And then, of course there were those letters Thomas wrote
his letters under false identities in an attempt to cast
suspicion on other people, innocent people and always doctors or bourgeois,
and to extort money from anyone who could have in
some way been a potential suspect in the murders of
the four women in Lambeth. Think of these as I
(16:02):
know what you did, pay me not to talk kinds
of notes. It's the very definition of blackmail, no matter
that there was no truth in his accusations. Once his
letters drew attention from Scotland Yard, circumstances finally led to
his arrest. Thomas was charged with the extortion of two
London physicians.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Though there were others.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
When evidence including seven bottles of Strych nine, was found
at his lodging, he was subsequently arrested and charged with
the murders of four women and the attempted murder of
a fifth.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Thomas's trial took place at London's Central Criminal Court, known
as the Old Bailey, over the course of five days
in October of eighteen ninety two. The jury needed only
twelve minutes to find him guilty of the death of
Matilda Clover, and with that Justice Henry Hawkins, the presiding
judge sentenced the doctor to hang, telling the prisoner that
(16:57):
his deeds could quote be expied only by your death.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
On November fifteenth, eighteen ninety two, Thomas was taken to
the gallows. A pretty sizable crowd had gathered. Reports estimate
anywhere between three hundred to five thousand people came to
the scene of the execution. It wasn't public, though public
hangings ended in London in eighteen sixty eight. The Toronto
Globe reported the next day, quote, probably no criminal was
(17:25):
ever executed in London who had a less pitying mob
awaiting his execution.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
According to the Courier in argus, quote, the morning was
dull and wet. By order of the High Sheriff, no
pressmen were admitted to the scene of the execution. Neil
appeared half dazed, but he walked and assisted. After the executioner,
James Billington, drew from his pocket a white cap and
placed it over Neil's head. He pulled the lever. The
(17:52):
bolts supporting the drop were drawn, and Neil was launched
into eternity. So as he fell, Thomas, allegedly, according to
only Billington, began to say something and it was something
that sounded like, quote, I am Jack, but he was
cut off as he fell to his death. Historians have
(18:13):
theorized that those last words, which Billington insisted were a
confession that he was Jack the Ripper, were probably nothing
more than an attempt to take credit for the murders
of a more famous killer. However, it is even more
likely that he never said anything at all.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
While the Ripper theory is still holding today among some crowds,
most following the Ripper's story believed he couldn't have been
that infamous killer. As Thomas served his prison sentence from
eighteen eighty one to eighteen ninety one in Juliet, Illinois
in the United States, and all of Jack the Ripper's
murders were committed between August thirty first and November ninth,
(18:51):
eighteen eighty eight. And then there's this theory which we
felt we really did need to include in his biography.
Marshall Hall, the lawyer who defended Thomas, stated he believed
that the doctor had a double and that the two
used the same name and used each other's terms of
imprisonment as alibis for each other. I mean, it really
(19:11):
does seem everyone has a theory about Jack the Ripper
still today.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Oh yes, it has launched a thousand books. Would you
like to head out to the coercion concoction area?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I certainly would listen.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
This may be very predictable, but I wanted to do
a creamy drink because of.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
His name dark cream yep, and.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Because the pills that were mentioned were described as light colored.
So I wanted to make something that you drink and
you're like, oh, this tastes like a thing, and then
a second later you go, wait, does this have that
other thing in it? Which is exactly what happened when
I tested on my adorable guinea pig's mouth. This is
called Doctor Cream's Elixir. I almost called it criminal fanfic
(19:59):
because as he made up so much stuff about other people.
And this is one where I really want you to
stick with me, because you might go this doesn't go together,
but I promise you it does something cool. We're gonna
start out with a half ounce of a simple syrup
or a vanilla syrup. I always like a vanilla for
something like this. Two tablespoons of egg white, and this
(20:22):
is where you're gonna be like holly, two ounces of
pumpkin creamer. Now, I literally bought a creamer from the
grocery store, like one of those that you put in
your coffee. If you want to be fancy and make
your own homemade pumpkin creamer, you can do that by
combining some pureade pumpkin and some heavy cream and a
(20:46):
little bit of sugar and whatnot. But I just bought
it off the shell. Food is great. Here's where again
it's gonna get weirder. You're gonna add to this an
ounce of white rum and then an ounce of absinthe.
Now I know your brain is going does go together?
It actually does?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
What and then of course it had this moment.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Right yeah, licorice pumpkin. I'm telling you you're gonna shake
this like the Dickens. Now, this isn't the case where,
you know, often when you have egg white in a drink,
you want to give that a hard, dry shake on
its own without ice in it. You don't need to
do that here because it's not the star of the show.
You're not trying to like make it that beautiful frothy
(21:26):
top that sits on a cocktail. You're just giving a
little more body to the whole thing. So you don't
have to do that step if you want to go crazy,
but you don't have to. But you are gonna give
this a nice heavy shake. You're gonna strain it over
fresh ice into like a rock's glass, and then it
looks like a yummy, delicious winter time creamy drink, and
it is. You can garnish it with pumpkin pie, spice
(21:48):
or whatever. But what's interesting is you sip it and
it all goes together. It doesn't fight with each other
at all, but the finish, you get that licorice note
and go. Is there absent than this creamy? Which? There
are creamy drinks with absinth, right, there's a drink called
an absence sweee, which we may have referenced on the
show before, which I love. But I just thought combining
(22:09):
it with pumpkin would do something interesting. And it did
nothing dangerous to you unless you're allergic to something in here,
but it does it echoes that whole I thought I
was getting medicine, and then it was something else. But
this one is a delightful surprise and not an evil one.
If you would like to make the mocktail, obviously you
can use your cream or your egg white and your syrup,
just as in lieu of white rum and absinthe. What
(22:32):
I would do is either make an anis or a
licorice tea and use that in the two ounce amount.
Or you can do like an anisset syrup and use
a little like a half ounce of that and then
do like a really softy like a camo meal or
something to fill it out. And then you're gonna have
(22:53):
a yummy doctor cream's elixir like patent medicine, but this
one will not hurt you in any way. That is
our yummy drink for the week. I drank it, and
then I kept drinking it.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
And it was yummy.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
I really really liked this one. I was surprised because
even I was like, am I about to really miss
this up? Am I gonna have to make a totally
different drink, And in fact came out great pumpkin creamer. Listen,
if you want to start playing with creamers in your
cream based drinks. If you don't mind the pre made stuff,
(23:30):
the world is your oyster. They come in all the flavors.
Now you can chocolate chip creamer if you want. You
can get pepper mentally popular this time of year. Pumpkin
pie is really popular this time of year. The sweet
Italian cream I think would do some really yummy stuff
and cocktails. Go forth and play. We are so thankful
that you spent this time with us as we played
around with history and talked about some grizzly things, but
(23:52):
also had a yummy drink. We hope you join us
again next week for more tales of criminals and some
drinks inspired by them. Criminalia is a production of Shondaland
Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio,
(24:15):
please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Thomas Neil Cream graduated with honors on March thirty first,
eighteen seventy six, from Montreal's McGill Medical School. The address
given to his class that day was titled the Evils
of Malpractice in the Medical Profession. A little bit of
evil foreshadowing, you might say. His thesis had been about
the effects of chloroform A lot more foreshadowing, as he
(00:37):
would soon demonstrate just how devastating he could be with
toxic compounds. Sixteen years later, a mob of onlookers attended
his execution for murder and extortion outside Newgate Prison in London.
So let's meet the good doctor. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm
Mariach Marky.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And I'm Holly Frye. Thomas Neil Cream was born on
May twenty seventh, eighteen fifty, the eldest of eight children
to William and Mary Cream in Glasgow, Scotland. The family
left Scotland for Canada when Thomas was just four years old,
and his father became the manager of a shipbuilding and
lumber firm located in Wolf's Cove near Quebec City, and
(01:17):
the family prospered. His father had grown a very successful business,
and Thomas had become accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle that
included flashy clothing and jewelry and touring about in fancy
horse drawn carriages. When he attended McGill, he gained a
reputation among his fellow students as being extravagant, wild, and
(01:38):
a little bit sleazy. Through photographs and written descriptions of him,
we know that Thomas looked a lot like what you
might consider an archetypal villain of Victorian era. He wore
a top hat and a black silk cape, and he
had a big mustache that was perfect for twirling.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Thomas killed his first, well his first proven victims in
the United States. Additional victims were in England, others in Canada,
maybe in Scotland. But we're not here to talk about
the murderer Thomas Neil Cream. We're here to talk about
his other criminal offense, extortion and blackmail. Thomas was ultimately
(02:21):
undone when he attempted to frame and blackmail other people
for his murders.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Not long after his graduation from medical school, Thomas met
a woman named Flora Brooks, who was the daughter of
a prosperous hotel owner in Waterloo, Quebec. When Flora became pregnant,
Thomas terminated her pregnancy, but that did not go well.
Flora fell ill, and after learning what had transpired, her
father tracked down Thomas, forced him back to Waterloo and
(02:50):
then also forced him, allegedly at gunpoint, to marry Flora.
But the day after the two were married, Thomas left.
He moved to London.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Thomas's story takes place during the Industrial Revolution, which spanned
from about seventeen sixty to eighteen forty, a period responsible
for an increase in the standard of living, an increase
in population, and the emergence of the capitalist economy. And
we mentioned this specifically because in England there was an
(03:21):
increase in the demand for doctors to care for those
living in poverty. Some reports state Thomas planned to study
surgery at Saint Thomas's Hospital, but failed their entrance requirements.
He was though accepted by the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons in Edinburgh. In late eighteen seventy eight, he
returned to Canada, where he set up his practice in London, Ontario.
(03:43):
He quickly became known as the guide to see a
terminated pregnancy in a legal act. At that time in Ontario,
he spent his free time carousing and courting women.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Meanwhile, back in Quebec, in eighteen seventy seven, his wife
Flora contracted broncos and she died of what appeared to
be consumption. Today we would call that tuberculosis. Her doctor, however,
later stated that he couldn't help but wonder if her
death had been linked to pills that Thomas had sent her,
and he admitted that he had always considered that her
(04:16):
death may have involved foul play. That, of course, though,
was his opinion in the hindsight.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
About a year after establishing his new practice in Ontario,
the body of a woman named Kate Gardiner was discovered
in an outhouse located behind his office building, with a
bottle of chloroform next to her body. Authorities were suspicious
about the circumstances of Kate's death, after all, there was
a bottle of chloroform sitting with her, and they soon
(04:45):
discovered that she had visited Thomas's office on more than
one occasion seeking to end a pregnancy. But when questioned,
the doctor insisted that he had refused her in his
estimation her death must have been a suicide. Jury disagreed
with his assessment and ruled that Gardner died from chloroform
administered by some person unknown. Thomas was not charged with
(05:10):
her murder. However, suspicions against him grew so strong that
both his practice and his reputation were ruined. He relocated
to the United States. Thomas set up a medical practice
on Chicago's West Side, in a district known for its
high percentage of sex workers and its poverty stricken neighborhoods.
Soon word got around to those in the neighborhood and
(05:31):
to local police that he was the guide to see
to terminate a pregnancy, also illegal in the United States
at that time.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
We're going to take a break for a word from
our sponsors here, and when we're back we will talk
about Thomas's arrest and time spent at the Illinois State Penitentiary.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about the people who
died under Thomas's care.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
In August of eighteen eighty, a woman named Julia Faulkner
whose name may have been Mary Anne. That's a little
bit unclear anyway, she had been under Thomas's care, and
she died under mysterious circumstances. This time he was arrested
on charges of murder, but due to lack of evidence,
he was not convicted. In December of that same year,
(06:31):
another of his patients, Ellen Stack, died after she took
medicine that was prescribed by Thomas. It was about a
month after Ellen's death when Thomas started to engage in
blackmail and extortion. This was his first go round, and
in it he attempted to blackmail the pharmacist who had
compounded Stack's prescription by sending him threatening letters. The pharmacist
(06:55):
complained to the police, but no charges were ever brought forth.
Nothing can of this whole thing.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It was eighteen eighty one when authorities finally had enough
evidence to arrest and try Thomas. They charged him with
the murder of a Chicago man named Daniel Stott. Daniel's wife, Julia,
had been regularly picking up pills from Thomas, who had
been marketing them as a remedy for epilepsy. She and
Thomas began an affair, but when Daniel grew suspicious of them,
(07:24):
Thomas coerced Julia into having her husband take out a
life insurance policy on himself, and then he sent her
home with strych nine laced pills instead of his epilepsy remedy.
Stott died on June fourteenth, eighteen eighty one, within minutes
of taking those pills, but his death was ultimately considered
to be from complications of an epileptic seizure, and again
(07:48):
Thomas picked up his pen. He sent a blackmail letter
to the coroner accusing the pharmacist who compounded Stott's pills
of being responsible for the death, and he demanded five
thousand dollars for his silence. He also threatened to collect
money on Julia's behalf. When the coroner ignored the letter,
Thomas went to the district attorney to request the body
(08:08):
being zoomed. Upon further examination, it was found there was
enough strychnine in Stott's stomach to kill three people.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Although he pointed a finger at the pharmacist, it was
Thomas who was arrested. He was a suspicious character in
the death, and then Julia told authorities that she suspected
he had tampered with her husband's medicine. Thomas was charged
with and found guilty of murder in the second degree,
and he was sentenced to life at the Illinois State
(08:39):
Penitentiary and Juliet. He didn't serve a life sentence, though
not even close. He was released in June of eighteen
ninety one when Governor Joseph Pfeiffer commuted the sentence. Though
there isn't really much, if any evidence, it is assumed
that the governor was bribed and possibly by Thomas's family.
(09:00):
Returned to Canada very briefly to collect an inheritance of
sixteen thousand dollars from his father's death. Then he returned
to England, where he moved to Lambeth Palace Road, in
an impoverished neighborhood of South London.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Thomas began referring to himself as Thomas Neil minus the Cream.
At this time. Almost all reports about him state he
was addicted to morphine and possibly cocaine, and possibly other
drugs too. In the first seven months in the Lambeth district,
he poisoned at least four sex workers, including Matilda Clover, Ellen,
(09:36):
Nellie Donworth, Alice Marsh and Emma Shrivel. A fifth victim
named Louise Harvey, had luckily and wisely decided against swallowing
the strych nine laced pills the good doctor had offered
to her. Her spidy sense of sorts kicked in and
it saved her life. She later testified against him in court.
Reynolds's newspaper reported the exchange between Louise and Thomas went
(09:59):
as so quote. He took two pills out of his
waistcoat pocket. They were wrapped in tissue paper and were long,
rather narrower at one end than the other. It was dark,
but they seemed to be of light color. He asked
her to swallow them one by one and not bite them.
He put them into her right hand. She pretended to
(10:21):
take them and passed them into her left hand. He
then asked her to show her right hand, and she
showed him it was empty. He then asked to see
the left hand in which the pills were, and she
threw them away.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Thomas worked by befriending his victims, and then he would
offer them medications, supposedly to clear up something like a
rash or another vague ailment or complaint they had. But
his remedies were laced with strychnine. It's highly likely that
he would have avoided detection. Except he could not stop
scratching the itch. He decided to accuse his neighbor of
(10:56):
two murders. And here's where he really begins to use
a distortion along with his killings. Using a false name
of Malone, he wrote a letter to a prominent English neurologist,
doctor William Broadbent, claiming to have evidence of the doctor's
involvement in Matilda Clover's death, and he demanded twenty five
thousand pounds to keep that information to himself. Doctor Broadbent
(11:21):
contacted Scotland Yard, who then waited for the mystery blackmailer
to collect the money. No one ever showed up. But
Thomas had unwittingly incriminated himself in that letter to Broadbent
because he had referred to the death of Matilda Clover
as a murder, despite it having been recorded as death
due to her excessive alcohol abuse. He had revealed knowledge
(11:44):
that only the killer could have known, and in that
instant Scotland Yard knew the person the press had nicknamed
the Lambeth poisoner was linked to the recent rash of
blackmail letters.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Thomas also wrote to the coroner offering to name the
murder of Nellie Donworth in return for a three hundred
thousand pound payout. He also attempted to blackmail a WFD Smith,
owner of W. H. Smith Books, accusing him of Donworth's
murder and demanding money to keep quiet about it.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
He then kind of went blackmail crazy. He claimed that
he had incriminating evidence against a Joseph Harper, who was
a local medical student. He sent an accusatory letter to
Harper's father, signed William H. Murray, demanding fifteen hundred pounds
to destroy alleged evidence against his son or he was
going to share his knowledge with the police. Harper refused. Then,
(12:40):
under different pseudonyms and once pretending to be a detective,
Thomas sent letters to the coroner implicating Harper and to
a Frederick Smith, demanding three thousand pounds to destroy supposed
evidence against both of them in the murders of the
four women. A similar letter was sent to Lord Russell,
a British Liberal Party politician. No blackmail money was ever collected.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
We're going to take a break for word from our sponsors,
and when we return, we'll talk about Thomas's arrest and
sentencing and what he may or may not have said
on the day of his execution.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Welcome back to criminalia. Now let's talk about how Thomas
was finally caught and how he may or may not
have been Jack the Ripper. Yeah, stay tuned with us
on that one.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
The poisonings were beginning to incite fear among the public,
and London's Daily News reported quote the police at Scotland
Yard are still pursuing their inquiries into the recent cases
of fatal poisoning of women in the neighborhood of Lambeth,
with a view to establishing a connection between the suspected
person against whom the police hold a warrant. From the
(14:04):
accounts which the police have received from various quarters concerning
this individual, there is every reason to believe that the
opinion of the detectives is correct, that he is suffering
from a form of mental derangement which finds exercise and
a desire to take away life. There is no other
motive attributable to the cruel poisonings, and as the history
of the Whitechapel murders shows, the indulgence of this homicidal
(14:28):
tendency upon women and a defenseless position is not singular
to the Lambeth poisoner. The Whitechapel murders mentioned were those
committed by the notoriously unidentified serial killer known as Jack
the Ripper.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Now here's the thing about Thomas Neil Kream. He probably
could have continued his killing streak if he had just
stayed quiet about his activities. But he didn't. It seems
like he couldn't. He bragged about his detailed knowledge of
each killing. He even took former New York Least detective
John Haynes on a tour of the murder scenes in
(15:04):
the area. Haines became alarmed at the amount of detail
that Thomas knew, and he brought his concerns to the
attention of the police inspector. Thomas also gave a similar
tour to a mister McIntyre, who turned out to be
a police sergeant. But Thomas did not know that. McIntyre
began to surveil the doctor police constable. Comely we think
(15:26):
he was a constable. He was definitely law enforcement had
by chance seen a man who fit Thomas's description with
two of the women on the nights of their deaths.
He too, started to keep a close eye on him.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And then, of course there were those letters Thomas wrote
his letters under false identities in an attempt to cast
suspicion on other people, innocent people and always doctors or bourgeois,
and to extort money from anyone who could have in
some way been a potential suspect in the murders of
the four women in Lambeth. Think of these as I
(16:02):
know what you did, pay me not to talk kinds
of notes. It's the very definition of blackmail, no matter
that there was no truth in his accusations. Once his
letters drew attention from Scotland Yard, circumstances finally led to
his arrest. Thomas was charged with the extortion of two
London physicians.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Though there were others.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
When evidence including seven bottles of Strych nine, was found
at his lodging, he was subsequently arrested and charged with
the murders of four women and the attempted murder of
a fifth.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Thomas's trial took place at London's Central Criminal Court, known
as the Old Bailey, over the course of five days
in October of eighteen ninety two. The jury needed only
twelve minutes to find him guilty of the death of
Matilda Clover, and with that Justice Henry Hawkins, the presiding
judge sentenced the doctor to hang, telling the prisoner that
(16:57):
his deeds could quote be expied only by your death.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
On November fifteenth, eighteen ninety two, Thomas was taken to
the gallows. A pretty sizable crowd had gathered. Reports estimate
anywhere between three hundred to five thousand people came to
the scene of the execution. It wasn't public, though public
hangings ended in London in eighteen sixty eight. The Toronto
Globe reported the next day, quote, probably no criminal was
(17:25):
ever executed in London who had a less pitying mob
awaiting his execution.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
According to the Courier in argus, quote, the morning was
dull and wet. By order of the High Sheriff, no
pressmen were admitted to the scene of the execution. Neil
appeared half dazed, but he walked and assisted. After the executioner,
James Billington, drew from his pocket a white cap and
placed it over Neil's head. He pulled the lever. The
(17:52):
bolts supporting the drop were drawn, and Neil was launched
into eternity. So as he fell, Thomas, allegedly, according to
only Billington, began to say something and it was something
that sounded like, quote, I am Jack, but he was
cut off as he fell to his death. Historians have
(18:13):
theorized that those last words, which Billington insisted were a
confession that he was Jack the Ripper, were probably nothing
more than an attempt to take credit for the murders
of a more famous killer. However, it is even more
likely that he never said anything at all.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
While the Ripper theory is still holding today among some crowds,
most following the Ripper's story believed he couldn't have been
that infamous killer. As Thomas served his prison sentence from
eighteen eighty one to eighteen ninety one in Juliet, Illinois
in the United States, and all of Jack the Ripper's
murders were committed between August thirty first and November ninth,
(18:51):
eighteen eighty eight. And then there's this theory which we
felt we really did need to include in his biography.
Marshall Hall, the lawyer who defended Thomas, stated he believed
that the doctor had a double and that the two
used the same name and used each other's terms of
imprisonment as alibis for each other. I mean, it really
(19:11):
does seem everyone has a theory about Jack the Ripper
still today.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Oh yes, it has launched a thousand books. Would you
like to head out to the coercion concoction area?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I certainly would listen.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
This may be very predictable, but I wanted to do
a creamy drink because of.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
His name dark cream yep, and.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Because the pills that were mentioned were described as light colored.
So I wanted to make something that you drink and
you're like, oh, this tastes like a thing, and then
a second later you go, wait, does this have that
other thing in it? Which is exactly what happened when
I tested on my adorable guinea pig's mouth. This is
called Doctor Cream's Elixir. I almost called it criminal fanfic
(19:59):
because as he made up so much stuff about other people.
And this is one where I really want you to
stick with me, because you might go this doesn't go together,
but I promise you it does something cool. We're gonna
start out with a half ounce of a simple syrup
or a vanilla syrup. I always like a vanilla for
something like this. Two tablespoons of egg white, and this
(20:22):
is where you're gonna be like holly, two ounces of
pumpkin creamer. Now, I literally bought a creamer from the
grocery store, like one of those that you put in
your coffee. If you want to be fancy and make
your own homemade pumpkin creamer, you can do that by
combining some pureade pumpkin and some heavy cream and a
(20:46):
little bit of sugar and whatnot. But I just bought
it off the shell. Food is great. Here's where again
it's gonna get weirder. You're gonna add to this an
ounce of white rum and then an ounce of absinthe.
Now I know your brain is going does go together?
It actually does?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
What and then of course it had this moment.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Right yeah, licorice pumpkin. I'm telling you you're gonna shake
this like the Dickens. Now, this isn't the case where,
you know, often when you have egg white in a drink,
you want to give that a hard, dry shake on
its own without ice in it. You don't need to
do that here because it's not the star of the show.
You're not trying to like make it that beautiful frothy
(21:26):
top that sits on a cocktail. You're just giving a
little more body to the whole thing. So you don't
have to do that step if you want to go crazy,
but you don't have to. But you are gonna give
this a nice heavy shake. You're gonna strain it over
fresh ice into like a rock's glass, and then it
looks like a yummy, delicious winter time creamy drink, and
it is. You can garnish it with pumpkin pie, spice
(21:48):
or whatever. But what's interesting is you sip it and
it all goes together. It doesn't fight with each other
at all, but the finish, you get that licorice note
and go. Is there absent than this creamy? Which? There
are creamy drinks with absinth, right, there's a drink called
an absence sweee, which we may have referenced on the
show before, which I love. But I just thought combining
(22:09):
it with pumpkin would do something interesting. And it did
nothing dangerous to you unless you're allergic to something in here,
but it does it echoes that whole I thought I
was getting medicine, and then it was something else. But
this one is a delightful surprise and not an evil one.
If you would like to make the mocktail, obviously you
can use your cream or your egg white and your syrup,
just as in lieu of white rum and absinthe. What
(22:32):
I would do is either make an anis or a
licorice tea and use that in the two ounce amount.
Or you can do like an anisset syrup and use
a little like a half ounce of that and then
do like a really softy like a camo meal or
something to fill it out. And then you're gonna have
(22:53):
a yummy doctor cream's elixir like patent medicine, but this
one will not hurt you in any way. That is
our yummy drink for the week. I drank it, and
then I kept drinking it.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
And it was yummy.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
I really really liked this one. I was surprised because
even I was like, am I about to really miss
this up? Am I gonna have to make a totally
different drink, And in fact came out great pumpkin creamer. Listen,
if you want to start playing with creamers in your
cream based drinks. If you don't mind the pre made stuff,
(23:30):
the world is your oyster. They come in all the flavors.
Now you can chocolate chip creamer if you want. You
can get pepper mentally popular this time of year. Pumpkin
pie is really popular this time of year. The sweet
Italian cream I think would do some really yummy stuff
and cocktails. Go forth and play. We are so thankful
that you spent this time with us as we played
around with history and talked about some grizzly things, but
(23:52):
also had a yummy drink. We hope you join us
again next week for more tales of criminals and some
drinks inspired by them. Criminalia is a production of Shondaland
Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio,
(24:15):
please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Holly Frey
Maria Trimarchi
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