Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. Before we get started, I just wanted to say that
episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind.
Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this podcast.
Listener discretion is strongly advised.
Well, hello everyone. Welcome to episode number 31 of Dying to be Found. My name is Deb.
And I'm Beth.
And we are so glad that you're here today. Beth, I'm going to start off today by offering my
condolences to you on the passing of Queen Elizabeth. Holy cow, I was put into shock when
somebody came into my room and talked to me about that. And my heart goes out to the royal family
and the Commonwealth. So I just wanted to let you know that you were on my mind this week.
Well, thank you very much. It is a very sad time right now. And I see that the funeral is going to
be on the 19th. So I'm working three to 11 and we'll be able to watch that.
Oh, good. So I'm thinking back to, oh goodness, all of the era of Princess Diana, her wedding,
her funeral. And I will say at that point in my life, I was able to see both of those events,
but it's opposite, aren't they? About eight hours ahead of us. Five hours. Okay. Wow. Okay.
Yeah. So I was thinking about you this week and wanted to offer my thoughts on that. And I know
we've gone off in a couple of different directions in the past couple episodes. So I'm trying to put
myself in check here and move on with our case for the week. Is there anything you want to say
before we get started? No, I don't think so today. Okay. Well, I'm excited because Beth is taking the
reins today. And I'll tell you, you never fail to bring me interesting stories that I've never
heard of before we talk about them. And I know that this episode is not going to be disappointing.
The only thing I don't like about this, Beth, is the title, which is the acid bath murders.
The reason I don't like it is because my imagination is really getting the best of me,
just with the title. I'm excited to hear it and very intrigued on the occurrences, but I want to
know how did you find this story? Well, it intrigued me as a teenager when mom and dad visited England
and they went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London, England. And when they showed me the
pamphlet, it just intrigued me, but I never gave it a thought afterwards until now. Oh, good. Okay.
I remember their trip. I think I was pretty young. You were, but I do remember them coming home with
those pamphlets. And I'll tell you, I've been very intrigued with wax museums based on what they
showed us. And I've been to a few of those myself, which is really, really cool. Have you ever been
to a wax museum? No, I would like to. Yeah, you need to. It's very cool. I mean, so realistic.
Awesome. Until mom and dad brought those pamphlets home, I never heard of wax figures. And what I saw
in the pamphlet was so realistic. One of the figures in the pamphlet was John Hague. The little
wrap-up sounded horrific. And after I saw the pamphlet, I never gave it a second thought until
this past week when I wrote up the following for you. So really thinking back, that was the inspiration
for what we're talking about today? Sure is. Okay. I'm excited. I can't wait. Wait, I'm really not
excited about hearing about death, but okay, Beth, I can't wait to hear what you've got to tell us
today. These are the facts about the acid bath killer, who was later found out to be John George
Hague. John was born on July 24th, 1909 in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, to John Robert Hague and
Emily Hague. Robert and Emily were members of the Plymouth Brethren and a conservative Protestant
sect. What does all that mean? So it means a radical ideology in the religious sector. They don't
believe in the mainstream ideas. Okay. That brings to mind a few different religions that I'm aware
of that I've actually researched a little bit. I get it. And for those who know about Jonestown.
Okay. I gotcha. And we don't know much about his childhood. There wasn't much written,
but I'm going to talk about his childhood and what we do know. Okay. So during his childhood,
his parents were very strict. They sure were. Get this. They built a seven foot high fence all around
the house. So this would not let any children over to play. I mean, I wonder why though, Beth,
because even back in what was it 1909? Yes. Yeah. People should have known during that era that we
are social creatures, Beth, and that's part of building who we are. You've got to let kids
socialize with each other because those interactions are what helped to develop social skills that are
lifelong. You know what I mean? I do. And I believe the same thing. I can't imagine being walled up
with a seven foot fence because I think that just changes your personality and who you are.
Absolutely. Yeah. You're isolated. Yes. So Deb Haake was also bullied at school, but instead of
fighting back, he took out his own frustration on animals and we know how you feel about animals.
Oh gosh. Yeah. One time he even chased a pig around in its stye until it died from exhaustion.
What? Yeah. Okay. I don't know how big the stye was, but how long did it take for him to chase
that poor animal? That's really, really cruel. It is very cruel. I thought that when I was
reading it and putting this report together, Haake said he suffered from recurring religious
nightmares in his childhood as well. Okay. So you said that his parents had radical beliefs. So did
he give any specifics? Only that he had religious nightmares and he came out, I didn't write in the
report, as he was an older man, he mentioned it too, that he did these vicious deaths by having
religious nightmares. So it was connected to his nightmares. Yes. Oh wow. All right. Keep going.
Haake was a very talented piano player and he learned that when he was homeschooled,
which surprises me that he was homeschooled. So then he even had less of a connection with people.
Yeah. I mean, if he's already kept in that seven foot fence, that surprises me too. He was delighted
to listen to classical music and often attended concerts. Haake made friends wherever he went.
People loved him. That's interesting because, Beth, you just said that he was bullied in school. Oh,
wait a minute though. I wonder if that's why he began getting homeschooled, because you said he
was bullied in school? Yes. That sounds very plausible. Okay. Now listen too. This case is
already starting to remind me of Charles Albright. Do you remember him? The eyeball killer? Yes.
Yeah. So we talked about him in episode 12 and Albright was also musically inclined, but he was
polite. And like you said with Haake, he's making friends very easily. So do you think this could be
something along the lines of them being charmed? Oh gosh, Beth, this just reminds me of so many
people we've talked about already. So it's like a magnetic or charming personality that attracts
these people. It is. So that's like being a car salesman. They're smooth talkers and they're
pleasant. People love them. So true. Deb Haake was very intelligent as well. He won a scholarship to
the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield, England. Then he attended Wakefield Cathedral,
where he became a choir boy. Later, Haake apprenticed as an engineer. Do you know what
kind of engineer he was or apprenticed? No, it never mentioned. Okay. However, he lasted a year
in his apprenticeship and eventually switched paths to pursue insurance and advertising. There
you go. There's that smooth operator coming to play. Yep. Cause he's working the sales. There you
go. Yeah. Unfortunately, as a 21 year old, he was fired for being suspected of stealing from a cash
box. Oh wow. Okay. Well, you know what though, because I'll tell you, Shelby has a degree in
accounting and this is something I actually warned her about Beth is because you hear so many things
in the news where you've got crooks in the accounting and finance industry because they get
greedy. And I told Shelby in no way do I believe she would ever do this because Shelby, I raised
you right and you're a good girl, but you know, when you get around a lot of money, people just
tend to get greedy. And if you remember what happened with Enron, that's a classic example
of people getting greedy when they get around money. So I'm kind of glad that he already got
fired at the age of 21 because if he was doing that at 21, what would he be doing later? You're
right. That's so true. On July 6th, 1934, Haig married Beatrice or Betty Hamer, but it didn't
take the marriage long to fall apart. Oh, as it was falling apart, Haig was jailed for fraud.
While in prison, Betty had a baby and gave it up for adoption. I wonder why she would have done
that because she already knew that she's going to get a divorce. Sorry, Deb. I don't know any
answers to that, but his conservative family ostracized John from that point forward.
Huh. I mean, okay. So sounds to me like he's been criticized his whole life already.
Yes. He could have had a lot of anger built up with those anger issues.
All right. Well, Deb, in 1936, at the age of 27, Haig moved to London and became a chauffeur
to William McSwan, the wealthy owner of an amusement arcade. And he maintained McSwan's
amusement machines as well. From that time forward, Haig pretended to be a solicitor named
William Cato Adamson and falsely said he had six offices. He also sold fraudulent stock shares,
reported to be from estates of the deceased families at below market rates. What do you think
of that? Okay. So he's going to draw people in with his debonair personality, and he's going to
make things sound much, much better than they are. Okay. Yeah. He's classic, classic salesman.
And it was like our earlier episode on H. H. Holmes.
Yes. I was thinking about him a couple minutes ago when I said that this was starting to sound
like several of the episodes that we've already done. If you guys have not gone to listen to our
H. H. Holmes episode, wow. You just, you'll start seeing patterns, but you got to go listen to that
one. Well, when you think about it, Ted Bundy was the same way too with Charmer. So they must have
that all that same personality. Narcissism. Oh.
Do you think? Yes. I think you're right. Yeah. Another thing too, Beth, since you're bringing
that up, what I find so interesting is that these guys are really intelligent. And to me,
it's such a shame that they're using it in such dark and devious ways, but what would life have
been like if they actually use their intelligence in a positive light? You know what I mean?
Yes, I do. That would be awesome. The world would be a great place.
Absolutely. Hague's scheme was discovered by someone who noticed a very simple error on Hague's part.
You'll never believe this. He had misspelled the city of Guilford on the letterhead.
Oh gosh. Wow. That's so minute. Okay. He was that intelligent and he overlooked something so simple.
Yeah. Well, it doesn't sound like him, does it? No. Wow. Okay.
One little mistake and zap. Yeah. So he got discovered with all that fraud. Okay.
And for his crime, he served four years in prison for fraud. Hague was released just at the start
of the second world war and continued to commit fraud, was again found out and spent several more
terms of imprisonment. What a waste. I just find it so hard to believe that they get put into prison
once, even twice, three times. And yet no matter how many times they spend time behind bars,
they come out and do exactly the same thing. They do. And Deb, Hague regretted that victims he
targeted lived to accuse him and soon became intrigued by French murderer, George Alexander
Saronne, who disposed of bodies using sulfuric acid. Hague was so intrigued that he experimented
with mice and soon discovered sulfuric acid dissolved the bodies of the mice. Holy cow.
What did he do? Did he just start researching kind of like how you have a criminal that when the FBI
comes to get their computer, if they saw what was on my computer right now. So you're telling me he
started researching how to murder people and use the, what was it, Serat as a role model? Bingo.
Wow. And in 1943, by the time Hague was 34, he was released from prison and became an accountant
with get this an engineering firm. Okay. So he's kind of going with what he knows, accounting and
engineering. That's true. Shortly after he ran into his former employer, William McSwann in the pub,
McSwann introduced his parents, Donald and Amy. McSwann worked for his parents collecting rents
on the London properties and Hague was very impressed by their lifestyle. Sure, because they
probably had a little bit of money. On September 6th, 1944, McSwann disappeared. Oh no. Hague later
admitted that he lured McSwann to the basement, hit him over the head with a lead pipe and then
put his body into a 40 imperial gallon or 180 liters or 48 US gallons. He put them in a drum
with concentrated sulfuric acid. Holy moly. Within two days, McSwann's body was almost completely
dissolved and Hague disposed of his remains into a manhole. That's really random. Did Hague give any
reason why he murdered McSwann? No, he didn't give any reason, at least from what I've read. We both
can figure it out through the money. Oh yeah. You'll find a little bit more coming up. So Hague told
McSwann's parents that their son had gone into hiding in Scotland to avoid being called up for
military service since this happened during World War II. Okay. Hague then took over McSwann's house
and collected rents on McSwann's parents' properties. So he used his charm to wedge his way into
William McSwann's life, earning his parents' trust and they happily assigned him William's duties
after he disappeared. Convenient, isn't it? Yeah. For almost a year, Hague was successfully entrenched
in stepping into McSwann's life. However, curious as to why their son had not returned, they went to
confront Hague on his whereabouts as World War II was nearing its end. Okay, because he had probably
through that year mentioned that he knew his whereabouts? Yes. Okay, I got you. So Deb, in June
1945, Hague lured them to his now-owned house by telling the McSwanns their son was coming back
from the war. There, Hague killed them with blows to the head and disposed of the bodies. Hague then
stole McSwann's pension checks, sold his parents' properties and moved into the Onslo Court Hotel
in Kensington. Okay, can I stop you for a second? Yeah. Number one, did he use acid on them like he
did with William? Yes, he did because later on in the story, you're going to find that he didn't
fully let acid kill 100% of the bodies. Okay, I got you. And then how was he able to just take
over the McSwann's belongings in order to sell off their property? Was he forging everything like he
had done in the past? That's my guess, but I'm thinking too that they were not as strict. Oh,
so true. Yeah, back in 1947, they didn't have all the regulations and restrictions. Yeah, you're
right. That makes sense. By 1947, Hague was running low on money and to solve his difficulties, he
found another couple to rob and kill Deb, Archibald Henderson and his wife Rose. Oh. After pretending
he wanted to buy a house they were selling, he was invited to the Henderson's home. They wanted to
hire him to play the piano for their housewarming party. Oh, okay. So he was still playing piano
in his 30s as a favorite pastime. Yes, yes, he was. While at the Henderson's flat, he stole
Archibald's revolver, planning to use it for a later crime. Renting a small workshop in Crowley,
Sussex, he moved acid and drums there from his home. On February 12th, 1948, he lured Archibald
Henderson to his workshop on the pretext of showing him an invention. Upon his arrival, he was
immediately shot in the head with his own stolen revolver. Then Hague lured Rose Henderson to the
workshop, stating Archibald fell ill and she was shot too. Oh, honestly, Beth, it's almost like
they always have to take out the stronger person first because the weaker person is not going to
be able to defend themselves. Yes, and this is just so tragic. After he placed the bodies in the
sulfuric acid filled drums, Hague forged a letter with their signatures. There we go. Yep. And sold
all of their possessions except for the car and dog, which he kept. Wait, so he kept their dog
because he has this immediate sense for a love of animals, although he chased a pig earlier in life
until it died, or is this considered one of his trophies? Ah, I like that. I think you're right
on that because he does tend to keep things from others, which I don't want to give away, but yes,
I think you're right there, Deb. Okay, interesting. So he was keeping the dog as a trophy. Yes. Okay.
Now next, Deb, a last victim was Olive Duran Deacon, a 69 year old wealthy widow of a solicitor
named John Duran Deacon. I love that name, Olive. It is cute. We have a restaurant here called
Olive's. Oh, what do they serve? It is so nice. They have the best salads. Cool. By then Hague was
telling people he was an engineer. Olive happened to mention to Hague that she had an idea for him
and get this, Deb, it was artificial nails. Wow. Wait, what year was this? It was in the late 1940s.
Believe it or not, artificial nails were patented a little later, like in the early 1950s.
Interesting. I did not realize that they were around for that long. I do remember one time when
I was in high school and my psychology teacher of all people, oh boy, was she ever a character.
Honestly, Beth, she fell asleep quite a lot on her desk. She'd put her head down and we'd be all
looking at each other and saying, Hey, what are we supposed to be doing right now? I bring this up
because I remember one time she sat up and she said something about her nails. She's like,
these are my real nails. And then she tapped the table with them to show us how hard they were.
So she was wearing fake nails back in the 80s. Yeah, that would be early. That's for sure. Yeah.
On February 18th, 1949, Haig invited Olive to his new workshop. And once inside, he shot her in the
back of the neck with the same revolver that he stored back in 1947. Beth, okay, hold on. Let me
see if I can wrap my head around this for a second. He invites Olive over because she has this new idea
for artificial nails and he is going to shoot her in the neck with a revolver. That makes
utterly no sense because he could have had a partnership with her on this new product that
could come out on the market. Why would he do that? Because he's an idiot.
So after stripping her all her valuables, including a Persian lamb coat, Haig stuff
Olive's body into a drum of sulfuric acid. Two days later, Olive's friend reported her missing.
I'm assuming back at that era, Olive had told her friends that she was going somewhere,
maybe even mentioned his name when she disappeared. Yes. Probably if she was going to talk to him about
patenting artificial nails. Okay, crooks are stupid, man. Just saying. They are. That's what ends up
giving them up. And it didn't take long for the detectives to follow a trail to Haig. And they
soon discovered Haig's record of theft, fraud, and obtained a search warrant to search his property.
Unlike his last workshop, Haig's new workshop did not contain a floor drain and he got rid of the
remains by pouring out the container into a rubble pile in the back of his property. In their search,
the police found a receipt for the dry cleaning of the Persian lamb coat. How stupid was that?
Yeah, they always leave receipts around. Yeah. But okay, I'm sorry. I was thinking, wait a minute.
Oh, you go ahead. No, I was thinking, did they make receipts back then? But no, we're talking
about 1947. So of course, in 1947, they're going to have receipts. Yeah, hand receipts that don't
disappear like today, where a year later, our receipts are invisible. Did you know that? No,
what do you mean? If you hold on to a receipt. Oh, on the paper that it prints on. Yes, it
disappears. Yes, it's a thermal paper bath. Okay, good to know. I was just going through my purse
yesterday to clean it out and I have receipts from a month ago that are already disappearing.
That's crazy. In their search, the police found a receipt of dry cleaning of a Persian lamb coat,
which belonged to Olive and papers referring to the Henderson's and McSwann's. Further investigation
of the area by the pathologists led to finding 20 pounds of human body fat and part of a human head
and part of a human foot, human gallstones and part of a denture, which was later identified
by Olive's dentist. So Haig was then arrested. Okay, because you had mentioned earlier that
because of that drain, he was not able to put everything down the drain. Interesting. I know.
At his trial, Haig mistakenly believed that if the bodies of his victims could not be found,
a murder conviction would not be possible. I guess he wasn't thinking about circumstantial evidence.
Not at all, Deb. At his trial, Haig confessed that he had killed the McSwann's, the Henderson's,
the Henderson's and Olive Duran Deacon, as well as three other people. So nine in total.
The claims of the three other people could not be confirmed. So he went to trial with just the five
murders. Wait a minute. He killed William McSwann, right? Yes. Okay. So William and his two parents,
right? That's three. And then Olive is four and then two Henderson's. That would be six.
It sure would. I counted wrong. Okay. Hey, I'm not good with math either. I get it. Okay. I didn't
mean to correct you. No, that's okay. Please do. So Haig pleaded insanity, claiming that he drank
the blood of his victims. What? Where did that come from? Just out of the blue. He just... Okay,
whatever. Oh, wait. He's saying that he's insane. So I get it. Okay, that makes sense. I agree. He
just needed an excuse, but people think he's more nutty. Yep. The lead for prosecution urged the
jury to reject Haig's defense of insanity because he acted with intention. Absolutely. He was taking
people's money. He was. And ideas of invention, although of course that didn't go anywhere,
but still, yeah, he was definitely working with intentions. And I think the jury agrees with you,
Deb, because it just took minutes for them to decide that Haig was guilty and he was sentenced
to death. Wow. And they were still hanging back then because Haig was hanged on August 10th, 1949.
Wow. Well, this was in England too, so different laws, right?
One of the intriguing things I found about this story is that the day before Haig was going to be
hanged, he welcomed Madame Tussauds into a cell for three hours. Can you believe that? Wow.
How interesting that this is the same person who had that wax museum, you know, that mom and dad
brought the pamphlets home on. Yes, exactly. And she was there for three hours so she could make
a life mask for a wax model so she could put it into her museum. She's bold. Would you want to sit
in a jail cell with somebody knowing what they did and put some wax on his face? No. Is that how
they do that? Like a mold? Probably back then. I don't know what the heck they do now. Oh my god.
I know. It's just, again, so creepy. And believe it or not, the model went up in the museum the
day after his death. Wow. That didn't take her long at all. That was what? Just three days?
Yes, it was. Wow. I guess if it's wax, it's easily moldable. It sure is. I mean, I burn candles around
the house and I always take my thumb and I push the melted wax down so that it's one level as it's
burning. You know. Yeah. I know how quickly it'll harden to my fingers if any of it sticks. Interesting.
Yeah. So in summary, Haig had played the role of a criminal very well. I will tell you this. He
didn't do it that well because he got caught and he got hung. Yes. So much so that Haig's wax work
exhibit in the Chamber of Horrors was displayed at Madame Tussauds in London. On a 1951 radio series
drama, Haig's story was told on an episode called The Jar of Acid. In the mid-1960s, unproduced Hitchcock
project entitled Kaleidoscope had been inspired by the story of these events. Did they never film
Kaleidoscope? Because I feel like I've heard of that before. And the weird thing is I did too when I
read this. So I suppose once he died, they probably let it go. Yeah. Be more sensational,
wouldn't it? Oh yeah, for sure. Always after they go. And you're going to love this, Deb.
Criminal Minds episode called Masterpiece. It was inspired by Haig. Wow. I love, I think that's one
of the reasons why I like true crime is because I think I must have watched every episode of
Criminal Minds from start to finish over the years. Yes. It was a good show. Hmm. And I don't know if
I told you that it's back on air, but only on a certain channel. And some of the old characters
are in it. I'm not sure who. Is that blonde techie girl still on there? I love her. That I can tell
you she's, she is. Okay, cool. And to add another, the release of the British film Noir, Obsession,
it was delayed because it bared too much resemblance to Haig's chain of events.
Was that also modeled after Haig and his crimes? I don't know if it was before or after. Hmm.
And stage plays were made, music was recording, and it mentioned it in the words of the music.
And here we are today, still telling the story of Haig on a podcast. So this story lingers.
It does. And interesting again, Beth, I have never heard of this case. And wow, this is really,
really popular. I just kind of wonder why have I never heard of this before you came along with it?
I don't know. I wonder though, is it maybe our age difference? If I was in elementary school and you
were already what, going into high school? Definitely different things that we were learning at this
stage of our life. Exactly. So you were too young to read that pamphlet. I remember the pamphlet
though. I, oh, you know what? I probably just looked at the pictures. You probably did. So at
this time, Deb, do you have a teachable moment? We're done already? I guess we are. Okay. Um, no,
really though, I guess my question to you, Beth, is do you have a teachable moment? No, I don't.
Okay, good. Because I have a teachable moment based on this story today. Listen, going back to
episode 28 with the Bogbodies, remember how we talked about take the time to go out and visit
these museums if you can? Well, you just mentioned that you've never been to a wax museum, Beth.
And sometimes there are pop-up museums that pass through town. Also, have you heard of Ripley's,
believe it or not, in their wax museums? Yes. And I think there's one in Niagara Falls.
You need to go early. I've been to a couple towns. I've been to St. Augustine, Florida and
Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Those towns have a Ripley's, believe it or not, wax museum there. And I did
take Shelby and Corey to a wax museum one time because like you said, when mom and dad brought
home those pamphlets, I was intrigued by them. You were intrigued. And I'm telling you, if you
make your way to Ripley's in Niagara Falls, you will not be disappointed. They have figures that
range from celebrities, royalty, Beth, the royal family from England, and of course more macabre
or sinister figures as well. Cool. My teachable moment to you, Beth, is if you ever visit a town
that has a wax museum, go check it out because you're already intrigued with how realistic the
figures looked in a picture. Go learn some history and go see the real thing. I think you should take
a special trip for that. I think I will. Yeah, good. So with that said, that's a wrap. That is a wrap.
And we want to thank our listeners for listening to our episode of Dying to be Found. And before
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Bye.