The Macabre Legacy of William Corder Resurfaces

A second book believed to be bound with the skin of notorious murderer William Corder has been rediscovered at Moyse’s Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Unlike the first well-known volume that was completely covered in human skin, this newly found book uses the skin only on its spine and corners. Museum officials confirmed that “visual comparisons between the leather of the first and second book seem to suggest they are one and the same.”

The Red Barn Murder Case

A Fatal Deception

William Corder, a farmer’s son with a reputation as both a fraudster and a ladies’ man, became romantically involved with Maria Marten in the 1820s. After Marten gave birth to their child (who later died), Corder promised marriage and convinced her to meet him at the Red Barn in Polstead in 1827, ostensibly to elope. This meeting would be the last time Maria was seen alive.

In the aftermath of her disappearance, Corder maintained an elaborate deception, claiming to friends and family that he and Maria had married and were living well elsewhere. His fabrications temporarily concealed his sinister actions.

A Mother’s Premonition

The case took an extraordinary turn when Maria’s stepmother experienced a series of disturbing dreams that convinced her Maria had been murdered and buried within the Red Barn. Following these premonitions, a search revealed Maria’s decomposed body hidden in one of the barn’s grain bins, just as the dreams had suggested.

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Justice and Public Spectacle

Evidence quickly implicated Corder, leading to his arrest and subsequent trial in 1828 at Shire Hall in Bury St Edmunds. Found guilty of murder, he faced public execution before an enormous crowd estimated between 7,000 and 20,000 spectators.

The Museum’s Unusual Artifacts

After Corder’s execution, surgeons performed a postmortem examination, during which his skin was removed, tanned, and used to bind an account of the murder. This book has long been a macabre highlight of Moyse’s Hall Museum’s collection.

The newly rediscovered second volume had been donated decades ago by a family connected to the surgeon who had performed Corder’s anatomical examination. Rather than being properly cataloged in the museum’s official collection, the book had been inconspicuously sitting on an office bookshelf among ordinary volumes, becoming what museum staff refer to as a “museum loss” – an item unseen for decades.