Which serial killer was described as the WORST villain to ever set foot in the Old Bailey? New Mail podcast explores the horrifying history of murderous doctors that terrorised Victorian England

In the latest episode of the Mail’s ‘An Appointment with Murder’ podcast, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Johns and police surgeon Dr. Harry Brunjes examine the Victorian period’s most notorious medical murderers.

Medical murderers are those who pervert their positions of trust, as doctors or nurses, to prey on the public.

As modern medicine emerged during the Victorian period, so too did a new breed of killer – doctors who turned healing into harm.

One medical murderer featured on the podcast has been almost forgotten by history, but in his day was described by Charles Dickens as ‘the worst villain to ever set foot in the Old Bailey’.

His name was William Palmer, but the press knew him as ‘Palmer the Poisoner’, after his role in one of the most notorious murder cases of the 19th century.

Palmer the Poisoner

William Palmer, born in Rugeley, Staffordshire in 1824, was a doctor who used cyanide and strychnine to systematically murder family members and friends for financial gain.

His subsequent trial became one of the first high-profile poisoning cases to capture national attention.

‘Before Jack the Ripper, there was William Palmer’, Dr Harry Brunjes told the podcast.

‘William studied medicine in London and qualified at the age of 22. He had a reputation different from most doctors – he was known to be profligate, a drinker, a womaniser and a gambler.

‘He poisoned family and friends for money – to cash in on a legacy or an insurance policy.

‘The case which brought him to public attention was that of John Cook, a friend who he had murdered by poisoning in 1855. Palmer received £12,000 from Cook, which in today’s money would be worth £1.2 million.’

Before his conviction and execution for Cook’s murder, Palmer is believed to have killed several family members, including his wife, brother, mother-in-law, and four of his children.

As a doctor, Palmer could sign his own family members’ death certificates, suspiciously listing ‘convulsions’ as the cause of death for all of his children.

William Palmer, born in Rugeley, Staffordshire in 1824, was a doctor who used cyanide and strychnine to systematically murder family members and friends for financial gain

Palmer was caught when a post-mortem examination of John Cook revealed evidence of poisoning, leading to his immediate arrest for murder

Dr Harry Brujnes: ‘William was known to be profligate, a drinker, a womaniser and a gambler.’ Listen here

The era worked in his favour – potent poisons like strychnine and cyanide were relatively new and produced symptoms that mimicked common diseases like cholera.

High infant mortality rates also provided cover, making it believable that one family could lose four children in the unsanitary conditions of Victorian cities.

‘It was thought that he killed his children to avoid the expense’, Dr Harry Brunjes explained.

‘He also found a way to stop more children recurring, because he killed his wife Anne Palmer, not long after taking a life insurance policy out against her.

‘He gave her a diagnosis of cholera, but poisoning was later the suspicion. A year after killing his wife, he killed his brother, Walter, who died shortly after William took out an insurance policy.

‘Later that year, he murdered Cook and in 1856, was hanged at Stafford prison.’

Palmer was caught when a post-mortem examination of John Cook revealed evidence of poisoning, leading to his immediate arrest for murder.

While Palmer may be overshadowed by other notorious Victorian murderers, his crimes have an enduring legacy, as Dr. Andrew Johns explained.

‘Palmer’s preferred poison was strychnine added to an alcoholic drink. His notoriety gives us the expression, what’s your poison – when you’re asked – what would you like to drink?’

For a complete and chilling history of medical murderers of the Victorian period, search for An Appointment with Murder now, wherever you get your podcasts.