Nancy Gish wrote (about a French case of murder):
 >
 > This case is more similar than one Eliot obviously noted--Crippen, who
 > murdered his wife and buried her in the basement, then fled to America
 > but was found out on the boat and arrested.  The boat might also be an
 > echo in "The Family Reunion," but Eliot read about murders and, at one
 > point, went to a fancy dress party dressed as Crippen.  It was an
 > ongoing fascination.  You can decide how to think about that.


Now off topic.

Between nodding-offs I watched portions of a recent documentary on the
Crippen Case (it was part of the "Secrets of the Dead" PBS series).  It
made a case that (a) the evidence wasn't strong enough to convict Dr.
Crippin today (they used DNA analysis and even say the body fragment
that the police did dig up was of a male) (b) that the police withheld
evidence and (c) they may have planted incriminating evidence.

Here are two webpages for and against Crippin.  Even together they do
not cover all the arguments.

He didn't do it:
 
http://www.thirteen.org/pressroom/pdf/sod/executed/SODExecutedinErrorRelease.pdf
He did it:
 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/david_aaronovitch/article4244448.ece


Regards,
     Rick Parker