John George Haigh was born on July 24, 1909, in Yorkshire, England. He was an only child and grew up in somewhat solitary conditions with parents who were members of The Plymouth Brethren, a puritanistic religious sect. He was forbidden from participating in secular recreational actvities. His parents instructed him that the world was evil, and the family needed to keep themselves separate.
On March 3, 1949, London's Daily Mirror began a series of gruesome stories about murder that began with the headline, "Hunt for the Vampire." What precipitated these stories was a missing person's report made by Haigh himself, two weeks earlier. On February 20, Haigh went to the police station in Chelsea, England, to report that Mrs. Olive Durand-Deacon, aged 69, seemed to have vanished. According to Haigh, this wealthy widow had made an appointment with him to visit his place of business in Sussex but failed to appear. He told police that he had gone to her friend, Constance Lane, and they had decided to report the woman's disappearance together.
Detectives investigated Haigh's place of business. He had rented a two-story brick storefront, surrounded by a six-foot fence, for what he claimed was conversion work, an typical procedure of breaking down industrial materials in powerful acid. Inside the building, however, police found among the tools papers relating to someone named Archibald Henderson, Rose Henderson, and three people named McSwan. There was a marriage certificate, several passports, identity cards, and driver's licenses. Police also discovered a recently fired.38 revolver and ammunition. A cleaner's receipt for a Persian lamb coat that belonged to Mrs. Durand-Deacon was also located at Haigh's shop. Though he was arrested, Haigh continued to be polite and cooperative with authorities.
Under police questioning, Haigh admitted to killing several persons, including Mrs. Durand-Deacon. He disposed of the bodies by placing them in the acid bath, which he hoped would render any evidence useless. He was dubbed "The Acid Bath Vampire" by the media because Haigh claimed to have drained the bodies of blood, which he allegedly drank, prior to dissolving the bodies. The Daily Mirror struck a deal to pay for Haigh's defense in exchange for his life story. Haigh maintained he was a vampire. His defense counsel maintained he was insane. Police and prosecutors scoffed at this assertion, however, believing that Haigh killed for pecuniary gain. Haigh presented himself as highly intelligent and clearly understood the trial proceedings. The testimony of medical doctors was not sufficient to relieve Haigh of liability. He was convicted at trial and sentenced to death. After Haigh's trial, two more medical officials observed him in Wandsworth prison, and they found no signs of insanity.
Even so, the British Home Secretary, under the Criminal Lunatics Act of 1884, ordered a special medical inquiry into Haigh's condition. Three psychiatrists examined Haigh's case thoroughly. All believed that Haigh was fabricating a mental illness. They concluded he was not insane and did not suffer from a mental disease or defect that would free him of responsibility for his actions.
Despite his death sentence, Haigh finished writing his life story for the newspaper that had paid for his trial. He also wrote letters to his girlfriend and to his parents. On August 6, 1949, at Wandsworth Prison, Haigh was hanged. Prior to his death, he sat for a wax mask for Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors. After his death a wax figure of him was erected. He had prepared instructions that it must always be kept in perfect condition, the trousers creased, the hair parted, the shirt cuffs showing. Haigh's likeness was placed on display in this manner in the wax museum.
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