12:45pm Thursday 28th September 2006
THEY were written by one of the UK's most notorious murderers and adorned the walls of a Herefordshire dominatrix's dungeon.
And now the last remaining letters of convicted killer Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen are up for sale by their owner Lindi St Clair.
Miss St Clair, who is also known as Miss Whiplash, is selling the memorabilia she bought more than 20 years ago.
Back in the mid-1980s, Miss St Clair was earning £10,000 a week as a dominatrix in London and was always on the lookout for trinkets that would give her professional dungeon added character.
The chance to buy letters written by the man who was hanged in 1910 for poisoning his wife before running off with his younger lover were seen as the perfect addition and were soon snapped up.
But now the 54-year-old said she wants to concentrate on her Herefordshire farm and is breaking away from her past.
The items up for sale include signed typed and handwritten letters from Dr Crippen in the days leading up to his execution and newspaper cuttings of the murder trial, which gripped the country.
A forged note thought to be written by Dr Crippen pretending to be his deceased wife and asking for the murder trial to be brought to a halt is another item up for sale.
Miss St Clair said she would announce a sale date through the Hereford Times once she finalised terms with an auctioneer.
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