Dr. Thomas Neill Cream

1850 - 1892

The Waterloo Poisoner. Born in Scotland, Cream was brought up in Canada where he studied medicine at McGill College in Montreal. When a lady friend became pregnant, he performed an abortion, almost killing her. He left for Britain and continued his medical education at St. Thomas' Hospital (London) and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Returning to Canada, Cream became an abortionist and soon a murderer. His killing continued when he moved to Chicago and he was eventually imprisoned. However, his family bought his early release and he quickly left for London. Here, he began poisoning prostitutes with strychnine. Cream would have avoided paying for these crimes had he not attempted blackmail and in doing so incriminated himself. He was arrested and hanged on the 15th November, 1892. However, as the trap-door fell open, Cream shouted "I am Jack...[the Ripper]". This case was very much in the minds of Londoners at that time and was never solved. However, it seems unlikely that Cream was the perpetrator of these crimes because he was still behind bars in the USA when they were committed.

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