Burke and Hare murders Burke and Hare murders The Burke and Hare murders were a series of 16 killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures. Edinburgh was a leading European centre of anatomical study in the early 19th century, in a time when the demand for cadavers led to a shortfall in legal supply. Scottish law required that corpses used for medical research should only come from those who had died in prison, suicide victims,
Capital punishment in Japan Capital punishment in Japan Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Japan. It is applied in practice only for murder, and executions are carried out by hanging. Death sentences are usually reserved for cases of multiple murders, though some single murderers are occasionally hanged. Generally, the only time single murderers are executed is when they commit particularly heinous or depraved acts of murder, such as murder during a kidnapping, torture murder or murder during the commission of another violent crime. Beginning in about the 4th century, Japan became increasingly influenced by the Chinese judicial system, and gradually adopted a system