Books which convicted notorious Crippen fail to sell at Shropshire auction
Prescription books used by the murderer Dr Crippen have failed to sell at an auction in Shropshire.
Hawley Crippen was hanged in 1910 for poisoning his wife Cora, whose dismembered body was found under the basement floor of their house.
The two leather-bound ledgers were seized by police and used in the prosecution case.
They were expected to sell for up to £5,000 at Mullocks auctioneers in Ludlow, but failed to meet the reserve.
The documents cover a period from 1893 to 1896 when Dr Crippen worked for a firm that sold patent remedies.
The covers of the books are inscribed: "The preparations log books of Munyon Remedies London removed by warrant reviewed in the murder trial of Dr H H Crippen found guilty and duly hanged Nov 23 1910."
The ledgers contain a list of patients and the remedies they were given.
A manuscript attached to them gives a list of poisons.
Crippen was arrested by police in North America after trying to flee the UK with his mistress Ethel Le Neve, who had disguised herself as a young boy for the journey.
He was the first criminal to be captured with the aid of wireless communication after the captain of the boat he was on sent a wireless telegram to the British authorities.
His trial at the Old Bailey in October 1910 lasted five days and he was found guilty by a jury after just 27 minutes of discussion.
Crippen was hanged at Pentonville Prison in London in November 1910.
Le Neve was acquitted of being an accessory to murder and emigrated to the US on the morning of Crippen's execution.
In 2010, scientists at the University of Michigan said new DNA testing showed that Crippen was not guilty of killing his wife.
Auctioneer Richard Brookes said the books had come from a private collector in Spain and had been expected to fetch between £3,000 and £5,000.
He added: "I feel sorry for Crippen in a way because there is a lot of thought these days he was in fact innocent.
"His wife went off to the USA and had flings with numerous men and made his life a misery.
"There were plenty of other much more gruesome murders during that era that have been forgotten.
"But because Crippen's case was the first to involve a transatlantic radio, it continues to stand out."
