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On this episode of
"Expedition Files"...

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in 1849, spine-tingling author
Edgar Allan Poe vanishes from

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the streets of Baltimore,

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only to reappear
days later, delirious

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and on the verge of death.

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What killed one of America's
greatest writers?

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For nearly two centuries,
his demise has remained one of

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literature's most
haunting mysteries.

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But a startling new theory may

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shed light on what
really happened.

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Then, in 1513, Spanish explorer
Ponce de León is said to risk

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everything in search of
the mythical Fountain of Youth,

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a spring that can
grant immortality.

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Now, stunning new insights may
completely rewrite the story of

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this legendary quest.

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And in 1910,
a horrifically mutilated body

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is found beneath the London
home of Dr. Hawley Crippen.

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He's convicted and executed
for murder.

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But 100 years later, will DNA
evidence provide a bombshell

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that overturns the case?

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In the corridors of time

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are mysteries that
defy explanation.

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Now, I'm traveling through
history itself

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on a search for the truth.

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New evidence.

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Shocking answers.

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I'm Josh Gates.

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And these...

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are my "Expedition Files."

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When I was a kid, I was
obsessed with magic.

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The idea that someone could
pull a rabbit out of

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a seemingly empty hat,
or take an ordinary playing

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card and make it disappear,
and then reappear.

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OK, so, David Blaine, I am not,
but trickery is

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our theme tonight.

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And many of history's greatest
mysteries involve their fair

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share of smoke and mirrors.

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So watch closely and expect
the unexpected as we seek out

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the truth in three mischievous
mysteries designed to deceive.

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We begin here in Baltimore
on October 3rd, 1849.

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It's Election Day,
and the tavern behind me,

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Gunner's Hall, is both polling
place and drinking spot,

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popular with all kinds
of patrons.

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One of them is this man.

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To say that he's seen better
days would

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be an understatement.

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He's considered one of

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the greatest writers of
all time.

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Meet the master of the macabre,
Mr. Edgar Allan Poe.

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After five days missing,
he's just reappeared,

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disheveled and incoherent.

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He's not even wearing
his own clothes.

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Days from now, he'll die from
unknown causes.

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So what kills this
literary giant?

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What happened to him in those
last lost days?

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175 years on, new evidence will
emerge suggesting Poe's ending

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may be his most tragic
tale yet.

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The life of Edgar Allan Poe,
famed writer of Gothic tales

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like "The Raven"
and "The Tell-Tale Heart,"

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begins 40 years earlier when
Poe is born just as Edgar,

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no Allan yet, in the city
of Boston.

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Poe's upbringing is as grim as
his later work.

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What I do outside
of this house

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is none of your business!

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When he's just a baby,
his alcoholic father,

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an out-of-work actor,
abandons the family,

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leaving them broke.

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Then, in 1811, his mother dies
from tuberculosis,

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leaving him an orphan.

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Where Poe's morbid worldview
came from is no mystery.

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Much like the incessant pulse
beating beneath the floorboards

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in his story,
"The Tell-Tale Heart,"

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alcoholism, sickness,
and financial woes

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will follow Poe throughout
his life,

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all the way to the grave.

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After his mother's death,

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Edgar Poe becomes
Edgar Allan Poe,

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when he's taken in by
his late mother's wealthy

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friends, John
and Frances Allan.

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The Allans invest in
his education and refinement,

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even sending him to England for
five formative years.

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Back in the U.S., Poe enrolls
at the University of Virginia.

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His foster parents provide only
limited funds for expenses,

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leaving Poe short on cash.

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To make up the difference,
he turns to gambling

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and quickly falls into debt.

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After just one year,
he's forced to

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leave the university.

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A few years later, he moves
to Baltimore

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to try to make it as a writer.

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At the age of 27,
Poe marries his 13-year-old

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first cousin, Virginia Clemm,
which raises some

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serious eyebrows.

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For the next decade,
with Virginia by his side,

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Poe hits his stride,
revolutionizing

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American literature.

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He births the modern
detective story

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with "The Murders
in the Rue Morgue"

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and perfects
psychological horror through

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stories like "The Fall of
the House of Usher."

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Then comes his masterpiece.

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In 1845, his poem "The Raven"
finds instant success,

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turning Poe into
a household name.

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Fame brings Poe recognition,
but no security.

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He remains trapped in a cycle
of financial desperation.

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Even "The Raven," the poem that
makes him famous, earns him

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just $9, roughly
400 bucks today.

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Scrambling to survive,
Poe takes on whatever work

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he can find.

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But then, in 1847,
comes the blow that truly

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shatters his world.

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On January 30th,
his beloved wife,

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Virginia, will die at the young
age of 24 from the same disease

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that took his mother,
tuberculosis.

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Friends describe Poe as
utterly broken.

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He turns to the bottle for
solace, despite his family

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history of alcoholism,
which makes him violently ill

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after drinking even
a small amount.

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[retching]

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The next year proves no better
for Poe, as he begins suffering

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from extreme hallucinations.

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Again!

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What?

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Louder!

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[Josh]
Some say it's due to
his descent into alcoholism,

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an accusation he denies.

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He blames it on contracting
cholera, which killed thousands

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that summer and left Poe ill
for weeks.

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By September, however,
it appears he may be

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recovering, giving several
well-received lectures in

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Richmond, during which
he appears to be

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completely sober.

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But is he really better?

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On September 27th,
he boards a ship in Richmond,

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departing for Baltimore.

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From Baltimore, he planned to
take a train to New York to see

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a relative, with a stop along
the way in Philadelphia to edit

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a collection of poetry.

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But he never
makes his appointments.

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Somewhere before Philadelphia,
Poe disappears.

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It isn't until five days later
on Congressional Election Day

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in Baltimore that Poe is seen
again outside Gunner's Hall.

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And like a plot lifted from one
of his twisted stories, Poe is

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a disturbingly changed man.

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Witnesses describe
his appearance as repulsive

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and that he's completely
incoherent, not wearing his own

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tailored clothes
but a stranger's cheap rags.

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What happened during those
five days will become one of

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the literary world's
greatest mysteries.

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[man] Wake up, sir.

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[Josh]
Believing Poe to be drunk,
bystanders and a local friend

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get him to Washington College
Hospital, where they

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leave him to dry out.

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According to the attending
physician, Poe drifts in

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and out of consciousness for
days, muttering incoherently

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and repeatedly calling out
the name Reynolds...

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[as Poe] Reynolds.

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...a name that doesn't mean
anything to anyone.

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[as Poe sobbing] Reynolds.

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Reynolds.

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[Josh]
Then, four days after he's
admitted to the hospital,

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Poe takes his last breaths
and reportedly utters

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his final words.

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Lord, help my poor soul.

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[breaths out]

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[Josh]
Immediately, Poe's death is
linked to alcohol,

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given his well-known struggles.

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The Baltimore Patriot cites
"congestion of the brain,"

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a common euphemism for
alcohol poisoning.

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The doctor that attended to Poe
attributes his death to

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"alcohol-related brain fever."

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But many find these
explanations unsatisfying.

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Why was Poe wearing someone
else's clothes?

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Why couldn't he account for
those missing five days?

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Who was this Reynolds he was
rambling about?

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And if alcohol was to blame,
why had he been stone-cold

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sober at his lectures in
Richmond just days before?

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Over the decades, other causes
of death are proposed.

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Some suggest Poe's strange
behavior could have been caused

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by rabies.

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He apparently had difficulty
drinking water in his final

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days, which can be a tell-tale
sign of the disease.

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Then, in 1999, tests of Poe's
hair revealed elevated levels

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of mercury.

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Peculiar, yes,
but the levels were not high

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enough to confirm
mercury poisoning.

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And in 2007,
an author published a book

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arguing Poe died from
a brain tumor.

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This theory stems from
a witness report from 1875,

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when Edgar's body was exhumed
for a memorial.

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Supposedly, a solid mass was
heard rattling in his skull.

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00:10:28,834 --> 00:10:32,167
Could this have been
the remnants of a large tumor?

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All of these claims are
intriguing, but none of them

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can definitively account for
the five missing days right

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before Poe's death.

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All of this is complicated by
the fact that none of Poe's

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medical records or even
his death certificate survives.

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But now, a historian believes
he knows what happened during

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the author's final days,
and it's a twist worthy of

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Poe himself.

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[Josh]
In 1849, Edgar Allan Poe dies
in mysterious circumstances

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00:11:05,234 --> 00:11:08,400
after disappearing for five
days, before reappearing

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incoherent and incurably ill.

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Then, in 2023, a stunning new
biography is published,

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offering the fullest
explanation yet for both

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00:11:18,334 --> 00:11:20,667
his death
and his disappearance.

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00:11:20,834 --> 00:11:24,934
It's all tied to Baltimore
and, of all things, voting.

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00:11:25,100 --> 00:11:28,167
Chris Semtner, curator of
the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in

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Richmond, explains.

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00:11:30,834 --> 00:11:35,667
I have spent years of
examining Poe's death for books

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and exhibits at the Poe Museum.

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And I believe it's important to
know what happened to Poe

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00:11:40,667 --> 00:11:43,868
because he is really the guy
who put American literature

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on the map.

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00:11:45,367 --> 00:11:47,767
One of our literary
founding fathers.

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00:11:47,934 --> 00:11:51,200
In 1849, Baltimore was known
as "Mob Town."

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00:11:51,367 --> 00:11:53,767
It was a rough place,
the Wild West.

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00:11:53,934 --> 00:11:56,834
There were political gangs
trying to coerce people

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to vote.

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00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:00,734
Well, the most insidious way
that these political gangs

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figured out to convince people
to vote for them

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00:12:03,734 --> 00:12:05,567
was just grab them,

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00:12:05,734 --> 00:12:07,367
drug them, and force them
to vote.

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00:12:07,534 --> 00:12:08,868
It was called "cooping."

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00:12:09,033 --> 00:12:11,868
Basically, the gang would find
somebody from out of town

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00:12:12,033 --> 00:12:15,067
and then beat them up,
drug them, and coop them up in

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a basement or a yard until it
was time to vote.

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00:12:19,100 --> 00:12:22,000
Then the coopers just take
their victims up to vote.

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Then they dragged them back,
switched their clothes,

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00:12:24,434 --> 00:12:25,767
had them vote again.

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00:12:25,934 --> 00:12:28,467
From all the research I've
conducted, it leads me to

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00:12:28,634 --> 00:12:32,267
believe that Poe most likely
died after being cooped.

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00:12:32,434 --> 00:12:35,601
This type of violent election
fraud was so rampant in

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00:12:35,767 --> 00:12:39,167
the 19th century that Congress
actually held hearings on

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00:12:39,334 --> 00:12:42,868
cooping in the 1850s and '60s to
protect future

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00:12:43,033 --> 00:12:44,400
election integrity.

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00:12:44,567 --> 00:12:47,934
Victims testified they were
held with dozens of other men,

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00:12:48,100 --> 00:12:50,601
threatened with guns,
beaten, liquored up,

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00:12:50,767 --> 00:12:53,467
and then left for dead after
being forced to vote for

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00:12:53,634 --> 00:12:57,167
a favored politician.
So was Poe cooped?

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00:12:57,334 --> 00:12:59,300
Well, when you think about
the condition in which he was

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found and that he was found
outside a voting hall,

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00:13:02,901 --> 00:13:05,767
it actually makes perfect sense.

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00:13:05,934 --> 00:13:07,167
Imagine this.

245
00:13:08,267 --> 00:13:10,868
It's the fall of 1849.

246
00:13:11,033 --> 00:13:14,067
Poe steps off the steamship in
Baltimore, stepped into

247
00:13:14,234 --> 00:13:18,467
a tavern, dressed in his finest
silk vest.

248
00:13:18,634 --> 00:13:19,701
An easy mark.

249
00:13:22,167 --> 00:13:25,267
And a gang member offers Poe
a drugged drink.

250
00:13:25,434 --> 00:13:26,734
Have we met somewhere?

251
00:13:26,901 --> 00:13:28,934
Uh, I've given many lectures
in many places.

252
00:13:30,601 --> 00:13:31,601
Cheers to you.

253
00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:36,667
[Semtner]
And then drags Poe to a cellar

254
00:13:36,834 --> 00:13:38,167
where they keep him plied
with alcohol.

255
00:13:40,567 --> 00:13:42,167
[as cooper] More drinks for
our new friend.

256
00:13:45,767 --> 00:13:48,200
Ah, he's almost out of it.

257
00:13:48,367 --> 00:13:50,767
[Semtner]
Changing him out of
his expensive clothes,

258
00:13:50,934 --> 00:13:53,501
replacing them with cheap rags
who won't be recognized.

259
00:13:53,667 --> 00:13:55,467
And there he stays for days.

260
00:13:57,601 --> 00:14:00,467
Finally, on election day,
they drag him back up out of

261
00:14:00,634 --> 00:14:03,734
the cellar along with whoever
else he's been imprisoned with

262
00:14:03,901 --> 00:14:07,267
and take him to the nearest
polling place at Gunner's Hall,

263
00:14:07,434 --> 00:14:09,868
where they all drop
their ballots in the box.

264
00:14:10,868 --> 00:14:13,968
And then after voting once,
the gang just drags him back,

265
00:14:14,133 --> 00:14:16,467
switches all their clothes,
and had him vote again for

266
00:14:16,634 --> 00:14:20,767
the House of Representatives,
and then vote again, plying Poe

267
00:14:20,934 --> 00:14:22,200
with alcohol each time.

268
00:14:24,467 --> 00:14:27,267
By the end, they were probably
dragging him.

269
00:14:27,434 --> 00:14:30,734
He's probably barely able
to stand.

270
00:14:30,901 --> 00:14:33,067
And they just had to drop him
at a table in the tavern.

271
00:14:34,300 --> 00:14:36,300
[Josh]
It's a compelling theory.

272
00:14:36,467 --> 00:14:39,734
But what about the mysterious
name Reynolds, which Poe

273
00:14:39,901 --> 00:14:41,567
repeatedly uttered in
the hospital

274
00:14:41,734 --> 00:14:42,868
just before he died?

275
00:14:44,067 --> 00:14:46,767
Semtner believes that too may
be connected.

276
00:14:48,100 --> 00:14:50,968
[Semtner]
Reynolds was the election
judge at that polling place

277
00:14:51,133 --> 00:14:53,167
where Poe was found.

278
00:14:53,334 --> 00:14:56,100
Maybe Poe was trying to give us
a clue, saying Reynolds is

279
00:14:56,267 --> 00:14:57,868
a dirty judge.

280
00:14:58,033 --> 00:15:00,067
But there's no way to prove
this now.

281
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,200
There's strong circumstantial
evidence that Poe was

282
00:15:04,367 --> 00:15:06,367
the victim of a cooping scheme.

283
00:15:06,534 --> 00:15:10,167
But it turns out that even if
he was intoxicated and beaten,

284
00:15:10,334 --> 00:15:13,467
his actual death might have
been hastened by something else

285
00:15:13,634 --> 00:15:18,000
entirely, a disease that Poe
sadly knew all too well.

286
00:15:18,167 --> 00:15:19,934
I think it's most likely that
he died of

287
00:15:20,100 --> 00:15:21,934
tuberculous meningitis.

288
00:15:22,100 --> 00:15:23,734
With tubercular meningitis,

289
00:15:23,901 --> 00:15:25,767
it starts to affect the central
nervous system.

290
00:15:27,167 --> 00:15:31,000
And that could cause
the delirium, the head pain,

291
00:15:31,167 --> 00:15:35,367
the confusion that we associate
with Poe's last four days

292
00:15:35,534 --> 00:15:38,067
in the hospital,
and Poe would have been exposed

293
00:15:38,234 --> 00:15:39,467
to tuberculosis.

294
00:15:39,467 --> 00:15:42,367
His mother, his foster mother,
his brother, and then most

295
00:15:42,534 --> 00:15:45,968
recently, his wife had all died
of tuberculosis.

296
00:15:46,133 --> 00:15:49,601
Most people who'd contracted
the tuberculosis bacteria were

297
00:15:49,767 --> 00:15:54,167
asymptomatic, but after being
cooped, after being left for

298
00:15:54,334 --> 00:15:58,167
dead, his system could have
been so weakened that

299
00:15:58,334 --> 00:16:00,868
the tuberculous meningitis
from which he was already

300
00:16:01,033 --> 00:16:03,601
suffering was able
to ravage his body,

301
00:16:03,767 --> 00:16:05,667
and it's accelerated his death.

302
00:16:05,834 --> 00:16:10,000
I think it's most likely that
these two factors, the cooping

303
00:16:10,167 --> 00:16:13,000
and the tuberculosis
meningitis, came together,

304
00:16:13,167 --> 00:16:15,200
and that's what solves
the mystery of Poe's death.

305
00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,467
It is ironic that the author
who explored the darkest

306
00:16:19,634 --> 00:16:23,567
corners of the human psyche,
who gave us mysterious tales of

307
00:16:23,734 --> 00:16:27,267
murder and madness, should die
a death that seems straight out

308
00:16:27,434 --> 00:16:29,567
of one of his macabre tales.

309
00:16:29,734 --> 00:16:33,000
And though his days were marked
by hardship and tragedy,

310
00:16:33,167 --> 00:16:35,868
today Poe has found immortality,

311
00:16:36,033 --> 00:16:38,167
celebrated as one of
the greatest authors in

312
00:16:38,334 --> 00:16:41,067
American history,
his work living on for

313
00:16:41,234 --> 00:16:42,767
future generations.

314
00:16:42,934 --> 00:16:46,167
As Poe himself once wrote,
"The boundaries which divide

315
00:16:46,334 --> 00:16:50,000
"life from death are at best
shadowy and vague.

316
00:16:50,167 --> 00:16:52,467
"Who shall say where the one
ends and where

317
00:16:52,634 --> 00:16:53,767
the other begins?"

318
00:16:58,367 --> 00:17:01,767
Better than Botox,
more powerful than a facelift,

319
00:17:01,934 --> 00:17:04,400
for over 1,000 years,
the legendary

320
00:17:04,567 --> 00:17:08,200
Fountain of Youth, has been
said to restore beauty and even

321
00:17:08,367 --> 00:17:11,767
grant immortality to anyone
who drinks from it.

322
00:17:11,934 --> 00:17:15,367
The year is 1513,
and Spanish conquistador

323
00:17:15,534 --> 00:17:19,167
Juan Ponce de León is on a quest
to find it, searching in,

324
00:17:19,334 --> 00:17:21,367
of all places, Florida.

325
00:17:21,534 --> 00:17:24,267
Or at least that's how this
story will be told for the next

326
00:17:24,434 --> 00:17:26,100
500 years.

327
00:17:26,267 --> 00:17:28,167
But is Ponce here really
searching for

328
00:17:28,334 --> 00:17:29,667
the Fountain of Youth?

329
00:17:29,834 --> 00:17:32,601
Or is he actually seeking
something of a very

330
00:17:32,767 --> 00:17:34,000
different value?

331
00:17:34,167 --> 00:17:35,767
Well, half a millennia
from now,

332
00:17:35,934 --> 00:17:37,767
records will be discovered that

333
00:17:37,934 --> 00:17:42,167
finally help tell the true
story of the man said to risk

334
00:17:42,334 --> 00:17:45,100
it all in the search for
everlasting life.

335
00:17:46,968 --> 00:17:47,968
Do I look younger?

336
00:17:56,167 --> 00:17:58,667
The origin of the legend
and everything else about

337
00:17:58,834 --> 00:18:01,000
the Fountain of Youth is murky.

338
00:18:01,167 --> 00:18:03,868
The tale first appears in
the 5th century BC

339
00:18:04,033 --> 00:18:06,734
writings of Greek
historian Herodotus,

340
00:18:06,901 --> 00:18:10,267
who describes a mythical spring
in Africa said to bring

341
00:18:10,434 --> 00:18:11,734
long life.

342
00:18:11,901 --> 00:18:14,467
Centuries later,
the fountain becomes a popular

343
00:18:14,634 --> 00:18:18,000
theme in medieval stories
and European art.

344
00:18:18,167 --> 00:18:21,934
But in the 16th century,
the legend takes on a new life

345
00:18:22,100 --> 00:18:23,367
when stories emerge,

346
00:18:23,534 --> 00:18:26,300
linking it to the explorer
Juan Ponce de León.

347
00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:32,567
Born around 1474 in the Kingdom
of Castile in Spain,

348
00:18:32,734 --> 00:18:37,267
Ponce de León comes from a noble
lineage, but one with little

349
00:18:37,434 --> 00:18:38,767
power behind it.

350
00:18:38,934 --> 00:18:42,400
Seeking opportunity, as a young
man, he joins an expedition to

351
00:18:42,567 --> 00:18:45,067
explore the uncharted reaches
of the world.

352
00:18:46,567 --> 00:18:48,968
The year is 1493.

353
00:18:49,133 --> 00:18:53,000
Juan Ponce de León has set sail
on a ship bound for mysterious

354
00:18:53,167 --> 00:18:55,200
lands known as the Indies.

355
00:18:55,367 --> 00:18:58,167
De León hasn't made his name
yet, but this guy certainly

356
00:18:58,334 --> 00:19:00,567
has, Christopher Columbus.

357
00:19:00,734 --> 00:19:03,167
A year earlier,
he crossed the Atlantic hoping

358
00:19:03,334 --> 00:19:04,567
to reach Asia,

359
00:19:04,567 --> 00:19:07,300
instead, landing in the islands
of the Caribbean before

360
00:19:07,467 --> 00:19:09,467
returning to Spain a hero.

361
00:19:09,634 --> 00:19:15,000
Now, Columbus is at it again,
leading 17 ships and 1,000 men,

362
00:19:15,167 --> 00:19:18,000
including Ponce here,
because this second expedition

363
00:19:18,167 --> 00:19:20,067
isn't just a voyage
of discovery.

364
00:19:20,234 --> 00:19:21,734
It's a mission of conquest.

365
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:25,200
Their destination?

366
00:19:25,367 --> 00:19:29,267
An island he's christened
Isla Española, what is now

367
00:19:29,434 --> 00:19:31,567
the nations of Haiti
and Dominican Republic.

368
00:19:33,267 --> 00:19:35,601
In the years that follow,
Spain conquers

369
00:19:35,767 --> 00:19:37,868
the island, killing, enslaving,

370
00:19:38,033 --> 00:19:40,767
and forcibly converting
the indigenous population

371
00:19:40,934 --> 00:19:42,367
to Christianity.

372
00:19:42,534 --> 00:19:45,601
Ponce de León rises quickly
through the colonial ranks,

373
00:19:45,767 --> 00:19:47,901
ruling with force.

374
00:19:50,367 --> 00:19:54,667
In 1508, he leads his first
expedition west and claims

375
00:19:54,834 --> 00:19:58,067
an island he names
San Juan Bautista,

376
00:19:58,234 --> 00:19:59,667
today known as Puerto Rico.

377
00:20:04,300 --> 00:20:07,734
A year later, he is named
interim governor of the island,

378
00:20:07,901 --> 00:20:10,367
building his wealth
and solidifying his power

379
00:20:10,534 --> 00:20:11,467
as a conquistador.

380
00:20:16,767 --> 00:20:19,734
But Ponce's success
is short-lived.

381
00:20:19,901 --> 00:20:21,367
When Christopher Columbus's son

382
00:20:21,534 --> 00:20:23,567
Diego arrives with something
to prove...

383
00:20:23,734 --> 00:20:25,100
[as Diego]
He insists.

384
00:20:25,267 --> 00:20:28,167
[Josh]
...he tries to take control of
the Caribbean colonies,

385
00:20:28,334 --> 00:20:30,767
an act that would strip Ponce
of his authority.

386
00:20:32,667 --> 00:20:35,367
A bitter power struggle erupts
between Ponce

387
00:20:35,534 --> 00:20:37,267
and Diego Columbus.

388
00:20:37,434 --> 00:20:39,868
But it's hard to beat a man
whose father discovered

389
00:20:40,033 --> 00:20:41,200
the New World.

390
00:20:41,367 --> 00:20:44,000
Diego wins out and seizes
full control.

391
00:20:51,067 --> 00:20:54,200
Determined to regain
his status, Ponce petitions

392
00:20:54,367 --> 00:20:56,067
the Spanish king for permission

393
00:20:56,234 --> 00:20:58,267
to explore new lands
to the west.

394
00:20:59,767 --> 00:21:03,834
In 1512, he receives a royal
contract granting him the right

395
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,968
to claim and govern any
territories he discovers.

396
00:21:08,567 --> 00:21:10,167
His destination is Bimini,

397
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,767
an island in the Bahamas
rumored to hold miraculous

398
00:21:15,934 --> 00:21:18,000
waters said to restore youth.

399
00:21:19,501 --> 00:21:21,167
The indigenous Taíno people

400
00:21:21,334 --> 00:21:23,267
spoke of a legendary
spring there,

401
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,100
"La Fuente De La Juventud,"

402
00:21:27,601 --> 00:21:29,100
or the Fountain of Youth.

403
00:21:33,467 --> 00:21:36,300
April 2nd, 1513,

404
00:21:36,467 --> 00:21:40,167
Ponce de León and his crew
spot land on the horizon.

405
00:21:40,334 --> 00:21:43,267
They believe it's another
island, but it isn't.

406
00:21:43,434 --> 00:21:46,267
This is a continent,
the eastern edge of a vast

407
00:21:46,434 --> 00:21:49,968
territory not yet claimed by
any European nation,

408
00:21:50,133 --> 00:21:53,267
a place we know today as
the United States of America.

409
00:21:55,467 --> 00:21:59,300
Ponce de León comes ashore,
the first known European to set

410
00:21:59,467 --> 00:22:02,067
foot on what would become
the continental U.S.

411
00:22:03,567 --> 00:22:05,467
He gives this land its name,

412
00:22:05,634 --> 00:22:07,367
a name that continues to
this day.

413
00:22:09,567 --> 00:22:12,000
La Florida,
the Land of Flowers.

414
00:22:16,567 --> 00:22:19,100
But we don't know anything
about his hunt for the Fountain

415
00:22:19,267 --> 00:22:22,100
of Youth here, or if that's
really what he was

416
00:22:22,267 --> 00:22:23,434
searching for.

417
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,100
The following year,
Ponce de León returns to Spain.

418
00:22:29,167 --> 00:22:32,767
He's granted a lifetime title,
Governor of the Islands of

419
00:22:32,934 --> 00:22:37,200
Bimini and La Florida,
because at the time, Florida is

420
00:22:37,367 --> 00:22:39,868
still believed to be an island.

421
00:22:40,033 --> 00:22:43,400
In 1521, he's dispatched back
to the New World to make

422
00:22:43,567 --> 00:22:46,067
La Florida his own.

423
00:22:46,234 --> 00:22:48,767
Eight years after their first
landing in Florida,

424
00:22:48,934 --> 00:22:52,501
200 Spaniards have returned
to build a permanent colony.

425
00:22:54,934 --> 00:22:58,767
Ponce de León is struck by
a poisoned arrow, likely in

426
00:22:58,934 --> 00:23:01,767
a surprise attack by
the indigenous Calusa tribe

427
00:23:01,934 --> 00:23:03,467
defending their homeland.

428
00:23:03,634 --> 00:23:06,000
If anyone was ever in need
of a fountain of youth,

429
00:23:06,167 --> 00:23:07,367
it's right about now.

430
00:23:09,601 --> 00:23:12,834
But with no healing waters to
cure him, Ponce de León

431
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,868
dies at 47 years old.
-[as Ponce groaning]

432
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:19,501
[Josh]
In all of the official records

433
00:23:19,667 --> 00:23:22,300
from his lifetime,
his contracts, petitions,

434
00:23:22,467 --> 00:23:25,100
and correspondence with
the Crown, the Fountain of

435
00:23:25,267 --> 00:23:28,400
Youth is never mentioned.
Not once.

436
00:23:28,567 --> 00:23:31,167
So you're probably asking
yourself, "Well, how the hell

437
00:23:31,334 --> 00:23:33,734
"did Ponce de León become
forever linked to the search

438
00:23:33,901 --> 00:23:35,133
for the Fountain?"

439
00:23:35,133 --> 00:23:38,200
Well, one historian who scoured
the Spanish archives has

440
00:23:38,367 --> 00:23:41,467
a shocking explanation,
and it all traces back to one

441
00:23:41,634 --> 00:23:43,467
man, Christopher Columbus.

442
00:23:49,734 --> 00:23:52,200
[Josh]
For centuries, the world has
believed Juan Ponce de León

443
00:23:52,367 --> 00:23:55,367
searched for the Fountain of
Youth, but there is no written

444
00:23:55,534 --> 00:23:56,767
record he ever did.

445
00:23:57,868 --> 00:24:01,133
Deep in the Spanish Empire's
vast archive of the Indies,

446
00:24:01,300 --> 00:24:03,767
professor of history
Dr. J. Michael Francis

447
00:24:03,934 --> 00:24:06,868
has discovered writings
that reveal the truth

448
00:24:07,033 --> 00:24:08,367
behind the story.

449
00:24:08,534 --> 00:24:11,667
The first documented
connection we have that ties

450
00:24:11,834 --> 00:24:16,300
Juan Ponce de León with
the Fountain of Youth story

451
00:24:16,467 --> 00:24:19,200
comes more than a decade after
Juan Ponce's death.

452
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,868
It happens in 1535 in
a chronicle written by

453
00:24:25,033 --> 00:24:26,133
the royal chronicler

454
00:24:26,300 --> 00:24:28,734
Gonzalo Fernández
de Oviedo y Valdés,

455
00:24:28,901 --> 00:24:31,400
in which he relates this quest

456
00:24:31,567 --> 00:24:35,267
to locate this so-called
Fountain of Youth

457
00:24:36,567 --> 00:24:40,067
based on stories that he had
heard that there was this

458
00:24:40,234 --> 00:24:43,100
magical spring that

459
00:24:43,267 --> 00:24:48,934
if you bathed or drank
the water, it can restore one's

460
00:24:49,100 --> 00:24:51,467
health and one's youth.

461
00:24:51,634 --> 00:24:54,367
[Josh]
OK, so we have found where
the Fountain of Youth story

462
00:24:54,534 --> 00:24:58,033
started, but is there any truth
to the idea that Ponce de León

463
00:24:58,200 --> 00:24:59,501
actually searched for it?

464
00:24:59,667 --> 00:25:03,167
Well, Dr. Francis found clues
in the way the conquistador is

465
00:25:03,334 --> 00:25:06,667
depicted that may
explain everything.

466
00:25:06,834 --> 00:25:10,601
Oviedo's rendering
of Ponce de León as a rather

467
00:25:10,767 --> 00:25:15,267
comical character who was guided
by vanity and not by logic.

468
00:25:15,434 --> 00:25:17,868
And had he thought logically
about this story of

469
00:25:18,033 --> 00:25:20,300
the Fountain of Youth,
he wouldn't have believed it.

470
00:25:20,467 --> 00:25:26,367
He wouldn't have then spent
a fortune on a campaign in

471
00:25:26,534 --> 00:25:28,067
search of this
Fountain of Youth.

472
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:34,167
It seems that Oviedo was more
closely aligned with Columbus

473
00:25:34,334 --> 00:25:35,734
and with Diego Columbus.

474
00:25:35,901 --> 00:25:38,868
And for that reason,
he might have rendered

475
00:25:39,033 --> 00:25:41,767
Ponce de León
in a more negative light.

476
00:25:42,834 --> 00:25:47,133
After Oviedo, Ponce de León
and the Fountain of Youth are

477
00:25:47,300 --> 00:25:50,267
inextricably intertwined.
The story then,

478
00:25:51,467 --> 00:25:53,934
in a sense, takes on a life
of its own.

479
00:25:54,100 --> 00:25:56,667
It continues to be
repeated and repeated.

480
00:25:56,834 --> 00:26:00,868
Different details are added.
Other details omitted.

481
00:26:01,033 --> 00:26:05,267
And over time, what we find is,
if you repeat a story often

482
00:26:05,434 --> 00:26:06,734
enough, a myth

483
00:26:08,067 --> 00:26:09,834
transforms into history.

484
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,667
Dr. Francis thinks that
the Fountain of Youth story is

485
00:26:12,834 --> 00:26:15,934
essentially one of history's
first and most successful

486
00:26:16,100 --> 00:26:17,367
smear campaigns.

487
00:26:17,534 --> 00:26:21,200
The Columbus family worked to
turn Ponce into a punchline,

488
00:26:21,367 --> 00:26:24,667
stripping him of his ambition
and complexity and recasting

489
00:26:24,834 --> 00:26:27,667
him as a vain fool chasing
magical waters.

490
00:26:29,267 --> 00:26:30,968
And the story worked.

491
00:26:31,133 --> 00:26:33,267
To this day,
the connection between Ponce,

492
00:26:33,434 --> 00:26:36,300
Florida, and the Fountain of
Youth remains as strong

493
00:26:36,467 --> 00:26:37,601
as ever.

494
00:26:37,767 --> 00:26:40,200
When I was in St. Augustine,
Florida, I even joined

495
00:26:40,367 --> 00:26:43,734
the tourists at the so-called
Fountain of Youth Park to have

496
00:26:43,901 --> 00:26:45,100
a sip myself.

497
00:26:45,267 --> 00:26:47,267
-Here we go -- cheers.
-Cheers.

498
00:26:49,734 --> 00:26:53,667
Like all conquistadors,
Juan Ponce de León sought land,

499
00:26:53,834 --> 00:26:55,267
riches, and power.

500
00:26:55,434 --> 00:26:58,834
But we now know that he didn't
seek the Fountain of Youth.

501
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,601
Nevertheless, eternal life
still found him, not through

502
00:27:02,767 --> 00:27:05,868
magical waters, but through
an ever-enduring legend.

503
00:27:10,934 --> 00:27:14,367
It's July 13th, 1910.

504
00:27:14,534 --> 00:27:17,067
Detectives are searching
the cellar of a North London

505
00:27:17,234 --> 00:27:21,200
townhouse, home to Dr. Hawley
Crippen and his wife, Belle.

506
00:27:21,367 --> 00:27:24,000
Both have gone missing,
but the police are about to

507
00:27:24,167 --> 00:27:25,767
make a gruesome discovery.

508
00:27:27,467 --> 00:27:30,367
[man] Oh, dear Lord.
The smell is unbelievable.

509
00:27:31,367 --> 00:27:32,367
[Josh] Human flesh.

510
00:27:33,934 --> 00:27:37,133
No head or even bones,
just muscle, skin,

511
00:27:37,300 --> 00:27:40,067
and fat wrapped in some kind
of cloth.

512
00:27:40,234 --> 00:27:42,968
This is the beginning of one of
the most disturbing murder

513
00:27:43,133 --> 00:27:46,267
cases in British history,
one that will make the name

514
00:27:46,434 --> 00:27:48,467
Dr. Crippen infamous.

515
00:27:48,634 --> 00:27:52,200
But a century from now,
cutting edge DNA testing will

516
00:27:52,367 --> 00:27:55,767
allow these remains to be
reexamined, leading to

517
00:27:55,934 --> 00:27:57,267
a terrifying twist.

518
00:28:05,734 --> 00:28:08,400
Who is Dr. Hawley Crippen,

519
00:28:08,567 --> 00:28:10,834
the man at the bloody heart of
this story?

520
00:28:13,267 --> 00:28:16,033
Well, he isn't what you'd call
a traditional doctor.

521
00:28:17,467 --> 00:28:21,367
Born in Michigan in 1862,
he trains in homeopathic

522
00:28:21,534 --> 00:28:24,601
medicine, going on to sell
over-the-counter remedies that

523
00:28:24,767 --> 00:28:26,367
are alleged to cure everything

524
00:28:26,534 --> 00:28:30,067
from headaches to malaria
to baldness.

525
00:28:30,234 --> 00:28:32,968
Some patients swear by them,
but critics call them

526
00:28:33,133 --> 00:28:34,734
snake oil.

527
00:28:34,901 --> 00:28:36,467
Either way, they become
big business.

528
00:28:40,300 --> 00:28:43,367
After setting up shop in
New York City, Dr. Crippen has

529
00:28:43,534 --> 00:28:46,667
a brief marriage that ends
tragically when his wife dies

530
00:28:46,834 --> 00:28:49,367
of a stroke in 1892.

531
00:28:49,534 --> 00:28:52,501
Crippen becomes a widower at
just 30 years old.

532
00:28:54,167 --> 00:28:56,200
But he seems to bounce back.

533
00:28:56,367 --> 00:29:00,200
Nine months later, in September
1892, Crippen marries

534
00:29:00,367 --> 00:29:04,267
a 19-year-old dance hall singer
named Cora Turner, known by

535
00:29:04,434 --> 00:29:06,167
her stage name, Belle Elmore.

536
00:29:07,300 --> 00:29:10,868
The brash party girl singer
and the mild-mannered doctor,

537
00:29:11,033 --> 00:29:14,767
nearly 12 years her senior,
appear an odd pair.

538
00:29:14,934 --> 00:29:17,601
But the Crippens make it work,
for a while at least.

539
00:29:21,467 --> 00:29:24,767
In 1897, Dr. Crippen gets a job

540
00:29:24,934 --> 00:29:28,934
managing Munyon's Homeopathic
Home Remedies in London,

541
00:29:29,100 --> 00:29:30,801
and the couple ships off
to England.

542
00:29:33,267 --> 00:29:36,267
Belle sets her sights on making
her name in the bustling

543
00:29:36,434 --> 00:29:38,133
vaudeville scene,
becoming a member

544
00:29:38,300 --> 00:29:40,767
of the Music Hall Ladies Guild.

545
00:29:40,934 --> 00:29:43,868
The future seems bright for
the Crippens, but things don't

546
00:29:44,033 --> 00:29:45,367
go exactly as planned.

547
00:29:47,367 --> 00:29:51,000
Two years after arriving in
England, Dr. Crippen parts ways

548
00:29:51,167 --> 00:29:52,334
with his company.

549
00:29:52,501 --> 00:29:55,167
Barred from practicing as
a doctor in the UK due to

550
00:29:55,334 --> 00:29:58,868
his lack of qualifications,
he bounces between odd jobs.

551
00:30:00,501 --> 00:30:02,501
Belle's theater career never
takes off either,

552
00:30:03,501 --> 00:30:05,501
but that doesn't seem to
faze her.

553
00:30:05,667 --> 00:30:08,601
She lives lavishly,
partying with a wide circle of

554
00:30:08,767 --> 00:30:10,000
friends across London.

555
00:30:10,868 --> 00:30:13,868
In reality, times are tight,
but you would never know it.

556
00:30:17,267 --> 00:30:20,067
On January 31st, 1910,

557
00:30:20,234 --> 00:30:22,200
Belle and the doctor
entertain a few of

558
00:30:22,367 --> 00:30:23,968
their closest friends.

559
00:30:24,133 --> 00:30:26,667
The party runs late,
with laughter and drinks

560
00:30:26,834 --> 00:30:29,200
flowing until 1:30
in the morning.

561
00:30:29,367 --> 00:30:32,801
This is the last time Belle's
friends will see her alive.

562
00:30:35,267 --> 00:30:37,267
Two days later,
Belle misses a meeting

563
00:30:37,434 --> 00:30:39,767
of the Music Hall Ladies Guild.

564
00:30:39,934 --> 00:30:42,267
In her place,
Crippen's secretary,

565
00:30:42,434 --> 00:30:46,501
Ethel Le Neve, delivers a letter
signed by Belle stating

566
00:30:46,667 --> 00:30:48,267
she must resign her position

567
00:30:48,434 --> 00:30:51,801
and go to America to tend to
a sick relative.

568
00:30:54,267 --> 00:30:57,000
Weeks go by with no word
from Belle.

569
00:30:57,167 --> 00:31:00,667
Soon, Crippen is seen publicly
with his secretary, Ethel,

570
00:31:00,834 --> 00:31:03,467
who has since moved into
his home and has been seen

571
00:31:03,634 --> 00:31:05,667
wearing Belle's fur and jewelry.

572
00:31:07,367 --> 00:31:10,167
Crippen is pressed for details
by Belle's friends,

573
00:31:10,334 --> 00:31:12,067
and his story keeps changing.

574
00:31:12,234 --> 00:31:13,868
I'm very sorry.

575
00:31:14,033 --> 00:31:16,133
This has all been
a terrible shock.

576
00:31:16,300 --> 00:31:18,200
[Josh]
First, he says she's fallen ill,

577
00:31:18,367 --> 00:31:21,267
then that she's died while
away in America.

578
00:31:23,734 --> 00:31:27,467
By March 1910, Belle's friends
alert Scotland Yard,

579
00:31:28,567 --> 00:31:31,067
bringing in
Inspector Walter Dew,

580
00:31:31,234 --> 00:31:32,400
a seasoned detective

581
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,200
well-known for his work
on the Jack the Ripper case.

582
00:31:37,667 --> 00:31:39,868
Dew meets Crippen on July 8th.

583
00:31:40,033 --> 00:31:43,567
To his surprise, Crippen calmly
admits he lied to Belle's

584
00:31:43,734 --> 00:31:47,767
friends, claiming she's alive
in America with another man,

585
00:31:47,934 --> 00:31:50,501
and that he invented her death
to avoid embarrassment.

586
00:31:52,167 --> 00:31:55,267
Dew then searches Crippen's
home, but finds nothing.

587
00:31:57,501 --> 00:32:00,934
The following Monday,
the 11th of July, Dew returns

588
00:32:01,100 --> 00:32:02,601
for a follow-up visit.

589
00:32:07,868 --> 00:32:10,501
But Crippen and Ethel are
nowhere to be found.

590
00:32:11,934 --> 00:32:14,400
At this point,
our Scotland Yard inspector is

591
00:32:14,567 --> 00:32:16,667
certain the couple is
on the run.

592
00:32:16,834 --> 00:32:18,467
But the most
disturbing discovery

593
00:32:18,634 --> 00:32:19,968
isn't their disappearance.

594
00:32:20,133 --> 00:32:23,067
It's what he's about to find
hidden inside their house.

595
00:32:28,934 --> 00:32:30,467
London Police Inspector
Walter Dew believes that

596
00:32:30,634 --> 00:32:33,501
Dr. Crippen and
his secretary-turned-girlfriend

597
00:32:33,667 --> 00:32:37,200
Ethel Le Neve are evading police
after the mysterious

598
00:32:37,367 --> 00:32:39,767
disappearance
of his wife, Belle.

599
00:32:39,934 --> 00:32:42,567
Dew suspects the couple is
hiding something,

600
00:32:42,734 --> 00:32:44,634
and he's about to find it.

601
00:32:47,100 --> 00:32:49,834
After two days of searching
Dr. Crippen's home,

602
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,934
police decide to dig up
the coal cellar floor when

603
00:32:53,100 --> 00:32:55,000
they notice loose bricks,

604
00:32:57,467 --> 00:33:00,200
eventually leading to
a horrifying discovery.

605
00:33:00,367 --> 00:33:02,400
-[as detective] Oh, my word.
-[Josh] Human remains.

606
00:33:04,501 --> 00:33:08,200
But the head, skeleton,
and vital organs are gone,

607
00:33:08,367 --> 00:33:11,567
making identification
nearly impossible.

608
00:33:11,734 --> 00:33:14,767
A piece of cloth buried with
what remains of the body

609
00:33:14,934 --> 00:33:17,300
matches a pair of Crippen's
pajama bottoms

610
00:33:17,467 --> 00:33:18,467
found under his bed.

611
00:33:20,133 --> 00:33:22,767
And a medical examiner
identifies a scar on

612
00:33:22,934 --> 00:33:25,934
the abdomen, which is
consistent with a previous

613
00:33:26,100 --> 00:33:29,067
surgery that Belle Elmore
had undergone.

614
00:33:29,234 --> 00:33:33,100
Tragically, it appears
they found Dr. Crippen's wife.

615
00:33:33,267 --> 00:33:35,467
Now, they just need to find him.

616
00:33:35,634 --> 00:33:37,868
But the doctor and his mistress
Ethel have

617
00:33:38,033 --> 00:33:39,267
a five-day head start.

618
00:33:40,367 --> 00:33:42,767
Scotland Yard shares
the shocking story with

619
00:33:42,934 --> 00:33:47,000
the press, splashing photos of
Dr. Crippen and Ethel across

620
00:33:47,167 --> 00:33:50,000
front pages and posting
their faces at ports

621
00:33:50,167 --> 00:33:51,100
throughout Europe.

622
00:33:54,868 --> 00:33:57,501
It's July 22nd, 1910.

623
00:33:57,667 --> 00:34:01,000
I'm aboard the SS Montrose,
two days into its 10-day

624
00:34:01,167 --> 00:34:03,267
crossing from Belgium
to Canada.

625
00:34:03,434 --> 00:34:04,667
Among the passengers are

626
00:34:04,834 --> 00:34:07,934
a Mr. John P. Robinson and son.

627
00:34:08,100 --> 00:34:10,667
But to the ship's captain,
they look suspiciously like

628
00:34:10,834 --> 00:34:13,067
the fugitives he'd seen in
the paper the day

629
00:34:13,234 --> 00:34:14,667
they set sail.

630
00:34:14,834 --> 00:34:18,100
Fortunately, the Montrose
happens to be one of only 60

631
00:34:18,267 --> 00:34:21,133
ships in the world fitted with
a brand-new marvel,

632
00:34:21,300 --> 00:34:23,601
the Marconi wireless telegraph.

633
00:34:23,767 --> 00:34:27,167
The captain seizes his chance,
tapping out a message across

634
00:34:27,334 --> 00:34:30,934
the Atlantic in what will be
the first time radio waves are

635
00:34:31,100 --> 00:34:32,367
used in a fugitive hunt.

636
00:34:33,834 --> 00:34:37,000
The very next morning,
Inspector Dew races to the port

637
00:34:37,167 --> 00:34:41,300
at Liverpool and boards
the much faster SS Laurentic.

638
00:34:41,467 --> 00:34:44,934
His ship will reach Canada
a full day before the Montrose,

639
00:34:45,100 --> 00:34:46,467
allowing him to intercept

640
00:34:46,634 --> 00:34:48,400
Crippen when they dock
in Quebec.

641
00:34:49,467 --> 00:34:52,934
On the morning of July 31st,
the inspector and two Canadian

642
00:34:53,100 --> 00:34:56,167
policemen are ferried to
the arriving Montrose.

643
00:34:56,334 --> 00:34:59,133
They wear crew-member uniforms
to avoid suspicion.

644
00:35:00,467 --> 00:35:03,767
As the disguised Dr. Crippen
watches the Canadian horizon

645
00:35:03,934 --> 00:35:07,734
come into view, the long arm of
the law taps him squarely

646
00:35:07,901 --> 00:35:09,267
on the shoulder.

647
00:35:09,434 --> 00:35:12,367
Crippen is stunned to see
the familiar face of

648
00:35:12,534 --> 00:35:14,100
Inspector Dew.

649
00:35:14,267 --> 00:35:16,667
Dr. Crippen is placed under
arrest for the murder of

650
00:35:16,834 --> 00:35:18,834
his wife, Belle Elmore.

651
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,601
Crippen's mistress,
Ethel Le Neve, is booked as

652
00:35:21,767 --> 00:35:23,534
an accessory to murder.

653
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:28,934
Back in London, the trial
is a sensation.

654
00:35:29,100 --> 00:35:31,267
Dr. Crippen maintains
his innocence,

655
00:35:31,434 --> 00:35:33,367
but the evidence
is overwhelming.

656
00:35:33,534 --> 00:35:36,033
Perhaps most damning,
the human tissue found in

657
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:40,267
the cellar tests positive for
the toxic sedative hyoscine,

658
00:35:40,434 --> 00:35:41,968
a drug the doctor purchased

659
00:35:42,133 --> 00:35:44,267
just days before Belle
went missing.

660
00:35:46,067 --> 00:35:50,367
On October 22nd, 1910,
after four days of testimony,

661
00:35:50,534 --> 00:35:54,033
the jury takes just 27 minutes
to find Crippen

662
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:55,934
guilty of murder.

663
00:35:56,100 --> 00:35:58,601
Ethel's defense convinces
the jury that she was

664
00:35:58,767 --> 00:36:01,467
an unwitting victim of
the doctor's deceit.

665
00:36:01,634 --> 00:36:04,667
She is acquitted of charges
but lives the rest of her life

666
00:36:04,834 --> 00:36:08,200
under public suspicion of how
much she really knew.

667
00:36:10,667 --> 00:36:14,267
One month later, November 23rd,
Dr. Hawley Crippen

668
00:36:14,434 --> 00:36:16,100
is hanged at Pentonville Prison.

669
00:36:21,367 --> 00:36:24,667
Crippen goes to the gallows
maintaining his innocence,

670
00:36:24,834 --> 00:36:27,667
swearing he didn't kill
his wife, Belle.

671
00:36:27,834 --> 00:36:31,367
Now, a century after
his death, new evidence raises

672
00:36:31,534 --> 00:36:33,167
a troubling question.

673
00:36:33,334 --> 00:36:36,000
What if Crippen was actually
telling the truth?

674
00:36:41,868 --> 00:36:44,167
[Josh]
After a manhunt spanning
the Atlantic Ocean,

675
00:36:44,334 --> 00:36:47,868
Dr. Hawley Crippen is convicted
and executed for the murder of

676
00:36:48,033 --> 00:36:50,033
his wife, Belle Elmore.

677
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:52,868
For the next hundred years,
Dr. Crippen's case is

678
00:36:53,033 --> 00:36:56,767
remembered as a real-life
"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

679
00:36:56,934 --> 00:36:59,767
But then researchers at
the Royal London Hospital

680
00:36:59,934 --> 00:37:03,567
locate a microscope slide of
organic material marked

681
00:37:03,734 --> 00:37:04,934
"Crippen case."

682
00:37:05,100 --> 00:37:07,267
This sample could
change everything.

683
00:37:07,434 --> 00:37:09,701
Journalist Harry Howard
covered the story.

684
00:37:12,167 --> 00:37:16,667
The Crippen case was reignited
in 2007 when experts did DNA

685
00:37:16,834 --> 00:37:21,033
testing on a slide of skin that
had been taken from the corpse

686
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:22,501
that was found in
Crippen's basement.

687
00:37:23,868 --> 00:37:26,868
Mitochondrial DNA is passed
down the female line,

688
00:37:27,033 --> 00:37:28,667
and they extracted that
from the sample,

689
00:37:28,834 --> 00:37:34,033
and then they compared it to
three distant living relatives

690
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,567
of Belle Elmore,
and the results seemed quite

691
00:37:36,734 --> 00:37:40,734
conclusive, that the body in
the basement was not that of

692
00:37:40,901 --> 00:37:43,167
Belle Elmore, and what's more,
they seemed to show that

693
00:37:43,334 --> 00:37:45,667
the body was actually a male
rather than a female.

694
00:37:46,868 --> 00:37:49,167
A male, not a female.

695
00:37:49,334 --> 00:37:52,167
The scientists declared that
whoever was buried in that

696
00:37:52,334 --> 00:37:54,334
basement, it isn't Belle.

697
00:37:54,501 --> 00:37:57,000
The findings rock
the true crime world.

698
00:37:57,167 --> 00:38:00,467
Was Crippen somehow a victim
of lethal injustice?

699
00:38:02,667 --> 00:38:04,934
[Harry] Suddenly that means that
everything is out in the open

700
00:38:05,100 --> 00:38:07,834
again, and headlines are
proclaiming that Crippen might

701
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:09,033
be innocent.

702
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:10,567
Some people are saying that
he should be

703
00:38:10,734 --> 00:38:12,767
pardoned posthumously.

704
00:38:12,934 --> 00:38:15,367
So there's all these questions
flying around, which really

705
00:38:15,534 --> 00:38:17,801
kind of drive a dagger
through the conviction.

706
00:38:20,267 --> 00:38:23,467
In 2009,
the British government refuses

707
00:38:23,634 --> 00:38:27,234
to reopen the case in the Court
of Appeals, citing that since

708
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:28,501
Crippen was American,

709
00:38:28,501 --> 00:38:31,767
there are no British
citizens who could benefit.

710
00:38:31,934 --> 00:38:34,467
And while the court of public
opinion seems to have shifted

711
00:38:34,634 --> 00:38:38,667
in his favor, not everyone is
convinced he's an innocent man.

712
00:38:38,834 --> 00:38:41,767
Then, in 2025,
there's an incredible new

713
00:38:41,934 --> 00:38:46,133
twist, as famed British DNA
expert Dr. Turi King

714
00:38:46,300 --> 00:38:47,767
enters the fray.

715
00:38:47,934 --> 00:38:52,868
Dr. Turi King is a highly
respected geneticist who was

716
00:38:53,033 --> 00:38:56,868
a key member of the team that
identified the remains of

717
00:38:57,033 --> 00:39:00,501
Richard III, after that
skeleton shocked the world when

718
00:39:00,667 --> 00:39:04,033
it was found in a car park
in Leicester.

719
00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:08,767
So she brings a lot of heft to
anything that she does.

720
00:39:08,934 --> 00:39:12,667
King reviews the work of
the 2007 team and says

721
00:39:12,834 --> 00:39:15,334
she uncovers disturbing
problems with how

722
00:39:15,501 --> 00:39:17,601
they conducted their analysis.

723
00:39:17,767 --> 00:39:22,033
So Dr. King highlighted what
she argued were several flaws

724
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:23,534
in the testing process.

725
00:39:23,534 --> 00:39:26,767
The first one, ordinarily you'd
have two samples tested in two

726
00:39:26,934 --> 00:39:27,968
separate labs.

727
00:39:27,968 --> 00:39:30,334
They only had one sample tested
in one lab.

728
00:39:30,501 --> 00:39:34,067
There was no independent
replication of this test.

729
00:39:34,234 --> 00:39:37,567
And also she was concerned that
there weren't proper protocols

730
00:39:37,734 --> 00:39:39,934
in place to prevent
contamination of

731
00:39:40,100 --> 00:39:43,567
the scientist's DNA getting
into the sample.

732
00:39:43,734 --> 00:39:46,167
None of the analysts
contributed their own DNA to

733
00:39:46,334 --> 00:39:48,367
rule themselves out of the kind
of prospect

734
00:39:48,534 --> 00:39:49,968
of cross-contamination.

735
00:39:50,133 --> 00:39:52,567
And if that obviously did
happen, that would explain why

736
00:39:52,734 --> 00:39:55,100
it was found to be male.

737
00:39:55,267 --> 00:39:58,367
So the implication really of
this is that she doesn't feel

738
00:39:58,534 --> 00:40:02,667
that the 2007 DNA results are
strong enough to cast really

739
00:40:02,834 --> 00:40:04,934
any doubt on Crippen's guilt.

740
00:40:06,934 --> 00:40:11,734
The scientists behind the 2007
study defend their methodology,

741
00:40:11,901 --> 00:40:13,767
saying there was
no contamination.

742
00:40:13,934 --> 00:40:16,367
They have no plans to
retest the sample.

743
00:40:16,534 --> 00:40:19,767
But whether the body is male
or female, Harry says it

744
00:40:19,934 --> 00:40:22,734
doesn't change the most crucial
issue, the guilt of

745
00:40:22,901 --> 00:40:24,534
Dr. Crippen himself.

746
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,968
My feelings on the Crippen
case is that he is guilty.

747
00:40:31,133 --> 00:40:33,467
And even if we say that
the body in the basement was

748
00:40:33,634 --> 00:40:37,601
not hers, there's so many other
elements, her uncharacteristic

749
00:40:37,767 --> 00:40:42,567
disappearance, the flight to
Canada, the hyoscine found in

750
00:40:42,734 --> 00:40:45,934
the corpse, that he was known to
have bought.

751
00:40:46,100 --> 00:40:47,367
It is really kind of like

752
00:40:47,534 --> 00:40:50,067
a wall of evidence that has
been mounted.

753
00:40:50,234 --> 00:40:53,767
And so my feeling is that
he did kill her and that

754
00:40:53,934 --> 00:40:56,067
the conviction of 1910 is
a safe one.

755
00:40:57,834 --> 00:41:00,067
It's hard to disagree with
those facts.

756
00:41:00,234 --> 00:41:03,000
And there is a key question
Crippen's supporters have yet

757
00:41:03,167 --> 00:41:04,334
to answer.

758
00:41:04,334 --> 00:41:07,400
If those mutilated remains
didn't belong to his wife,

759
00:41:07,567 --> 00:41:08,601
whose were they?

760
00:41:08,767 --> 00:41:10,567
Because if the body
in the basement isn't

761
00:41:10,734 --> 00:41:13,834
Belle Elmore, then this is far
from case-closed.

762
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:16,934
Because that means this
real-life Dr. Jekyll has

763
00:41:17,100 --> 00:41:19,067
another unknown victim.

764
00:41:19,234 --> 00:41:23,234
110 years on, there may yet be
more to the horrifying case of

765
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:24,767
Hawley Crippen.

766
00:41:24,934 --> 00:41:28,033
I'm Josh Gates, and I'll see
you on the next expedition.