Burke And Hare: 8 Facts About The Bodysnatchers Who Weren't

The selling of Old Donald's body can be easily described as unethical, but it was difficult to say whether or not it was strictly illegal under the laws of the time. What the pair did over the next year following this pay-day cannot be viewed in the same light.

Another of the lodgers became ill and the pair became impatient waiting to see if they were going to pass away naturally or not. They plied the man with alcohol and when he was sufficiently inebriated, smothered him to death. Then, they sold the body as before. Reports from the time indicate that they were being paid between £7 and £10 for each body, roughly £740 and £1050 in modern terms.

They stopped limiting themselves to current lodgers and began to entice people in for their nefarious purposes. They preyed predominantly on the poor, the lower classes and people that they thought no one would miss. Initially at least.

A local prostitute, an elderly grandmother and a boy known as "Daft Jamie" who was both mentally and physically disabled all met their fate at the hands of these two men. Even as local gossip began to mount about people seen in the company of the two men and never seen again, they carried on. While the official count is 16 murdered (and one of natural causes), the actual number may be higher.

Their reputation as bodysnatchers and not murderers may stem from the fact that almost all the other bodies given to Knox and the other anatomists were taken from fresh graves. It seems perverse to split hairs in this manner, but the most famous bodysnatchers in history were in fact cold-blooded murderers.