John George Haigh was a British serial killer active in the 1940s who became notorious for murdering several people and disposing of their remains in strong acid. He is widely known by the nickname “The Acid Bath Murderer.”

Key Facts

• Haigh murdered six people during his criminal career.
• He became widely known as “The Acid Bath Murderer.”
• Police arrested Haigh in August 1949 after discovering evidence at his workshop.
• He was convicted on six counts of murder and received the death sentence.
• Haigh was executed at Wandsworth Prison on 15 March 1950.
• His modus operandi involved killing victims and attempting to dissolve their bodies in vats of sulfuric acid.
• His crimes took place primarily between 1944 and 1949.
• Most of the offences were committed in and around London, using a workshop and rented accommodation.
• By training he worked as a chemist and engineer and he suffered persistent financial problems.
• At trial he pleaded guilty and claimed temporary insanity, a defence that psychiatric examiners rejected.

Crimes and Victims

Between the mid-1940s and 1949 Haigh targeted middle-aged men and women whom he brought to his premises under the pretense of business deals or other opportunities. Once there, he killed them and attempted to destroy their bodies to prevent identification.

Investigators linked multiple disappearances and suspicious sales of victims’ possessions to the same perpetrator before evidence in his workshop made the connection clear. Victims identified in court included Olive Durand-Deacon, William McSwann, Donald McSwann, Dr Archibald Henderson, Rupert Greenwell, and Dr Hugh Neil Cream.

Capture and Trial

Police searched Haigh’s workshop in August 1949 and found remains and chemical containers consistent with attempts at body disposal, prompting his arrest. The physical evidence recovered there formed a central part of the prosecution’s case.

Haigh pleaded guilty at his January 1950 trial but argued that he was temporarily insane due to schizophrenia; psychiatric assessments presented at trial concluded he was sane when the offences were committed. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts, and he was sentenced to death, with the execution carried out at Wandsworth Prison on 15 March 1950.

Psychology and Motives

Haigh’s stated motive was largely financial: he sold the belongings of his victims after their deaths and used those proceeds to support himself. Investigators and commentators also noted a persistent fascination with death and violence in his history.

During the legal proceedings Haigh claimed mental illness, but medical experts who examined him found him to understand his actions and to be legally responsible. Subsequent analyses by scholars and criminologists have debated whether his behaviour reflected calculated criminality, personality disorder, or psychopathology.

Background / Early Life

John George Haigh was born on 24 July 1909 in Stamford Hill, London, into a strict Methodist household and later described his upbringing as “dark and lonely.” He reported feeling neglected and isolated during his childhood, a background that has been discussed in biographies and case studies.

As an adult Haigh trained and worked in roles related to chemistry and engineering but experienced ongoing financial instability. Those occupational skills later informed his methods for attempting to destroy evidence.

Legacy and Media Coverage

Haigh’s case attracted intense public and media attention in postwar Britain and has remained a subject of ongoing interest in books, documentaries, and true-crime accounts. Coverage has focused on both the gruesome nature of the offences and the legal and psychiatric questions raised during the trial.

The nickname “The Acid Bath Murderer” has persisted in popular portrayals, and Haigh’s crimes continue to be discussed in studies of serial offending, forensic methods, and the historical policing context of the 1940s. His case is frequently cited in examinations of how forensic science and investigative practice developed in the mid-20th century.