Dr Crippen was hanged for killing his wife, and the court refused to let his mistress take the wife's estate through his will

Cora Crippen was last seen at about 1 a.m. on 1 February 1910, after a dinner party at the house in Hilldrop Crescent, London, that she shared with her husband, Hawley Harvey Crippen. In July 1910 police found remains in the cellar. Crippen and Ethel Le Neve were arrested on 31 July aboard the SS Montrose. Crippen was tried at the Old Bailey from 18 to 22 October 1910 and convicted of murder. Le Neve was tried separately and acquitted on 25 October. Between conviction and execution Crippen made a will that left Le Neve his whole estate and named her sole executrix. He was hanged at Pentonville on 23 November 1910. Cora had left no will. As Crippen's heir, Le Neve applied to administer Cora's estate. Cora's sister, Theresa Hunn, opposed her. In 1911 Sir Samuel Evans, President of the Probate Division, refused the grant. He ruled that no person can obtain or enforce rights resulting from his own crime, and neither can his representative claiming under him. The case, In the Estate of Cunigunda (otherwise Cora) Crippen [1911] P 108, carried the forfeiture rule from the killer to those claiming through him. Le Neve later married, lived in Croydon and died there on 9 August 1967^†. In England the rule still stands; since the Forfeiture Act 1982 a civil judge can decide whether a person who unlawfully killed may benefit.