The Pros and Cons of Burke

William Burke tried to distance Helen McDougall from any of the schemes and to protect her from prosecution. Authorities in Edinburgh knew that in order to get a conviction, they just had to get the four of them to turn on each other. The first warrant for the murder of Mary Dockery was sworn out against all four. And only after hair's detailed confession, the warrant for Wilson's murder was amended and was only against Burke and McDougall.