The Webster-Parkman Murder Case

The Webster-Parkman Murder Case

Sierra Lewis

How does it involve bones?

Who was involved?

Dr. George Parkman, a 60-year-old physician and former anatomy professor at Harvard's Massachusetts Medical College in Boston and Dr. John Webster, a highly respected professor of chemistry and mineralogy at the institution.

Littlefield had been helping Professor Webster in his laboratory the day Dr. Parkman went missing.

Although the janitor was not in the room during Dr. Parkman's visit, he had overheard bits of their heated

conversation. When Littlefield learned of Parkman's disappearance, he became suspicious. The janitor felt certain the chemistry professor had something to do with his creditor's disappearance. The next day, Littlefield snuck into Webster's chemistry lab to search for Parkman's body. When he touched the brick wall of the assay oven, it was still warm. (The oven was built inside a vault that was locked.) To see what was inside, Littlefield, with his wife standing guard as a lookout, broke through the wall with a chisel and crowbar. Inside, he saw what looked like a human pelvis, and two parts of a leg. On December 13, 1849, the coroner's jury announced its verdict: "All the remains have been demonstrated to be parts of one and the same person; and those parts of the human frame have been identified and proven to be the remains and parts of the body and limbs of Dr. George Parkman...that he was killed...by blows and wounds inflicted upon him by the hands of Dr. John W. Webster."

Where did it occur?

The little building that housed Dr. Webster's laboratory at Harvard in Cambridge, MA

Was it solved?

When did it occur?

On Friday afternoon, November 23, 1849.

What happened?

A grand jury indicted Dr. Webster for first degree murder on January 26, 1850. The judge sentenced him to death. Six months later, with his execution just a few days off, the condemned man wrote out a full confession. After killing Dr. Parkman with a stick of wood, Webster dragged the body into an adjoining room and stripped off his clothing, which he burned. Then came the dissecting part. "My next move was to get the body into the sink which stands in the small private room. By setting the body partially erect against the corner, and getting up into the sink myself, I succeeded in drawing it up. There it was entirely dismembered." On August 20, 1850, Dr. Webster was hanged.

Dr. George Parkman paid a visit to Dr. John Webster. The purpose of Dr. Parkman's visit that day to Dr. Webster's college laboratory was to collect on a series of loans he had made to the chemistry professor. It seemed that Dr. Webster enjoyed a rather extravagant life-style that kept him in debt to Dr. Parkman and other creditors. Dr. Parkman was seen entering the little building that housed Dr. Webster's laboratory at 1:45 that afternoon, the last time anyone saw him alive. Dr. Parkman's mysterious disappearance created a lot of attention and concern among his family, friends, and colleagues.

Resources

Interesting Info

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkman-Webster_murder_case
• http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.com/2012/03/bones-in-furnace-webster-parkman-case.html

• The Webster-Parkman Murder is noteworthy as one of the earliest uses of forensic evidence to identify a body.
• In 1991, the British historian Simon Schama published a book, Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations, based in part on the case.
• The Murder of Dr. Parkman (2002) is a documentary, both about the case and the making of history.