title: The 1850 Webster/Parkman Trial: Dr. Keep's forensic evidence.
abstract: Shortly before two o'clock on a chilly November afternoon in 1849, the celebrated Harvard physician and surgeon, Dr. George Parkman, left his home on Boston's fashionable Beacon Hill, expecting to return in a few hours. He was never seen alive again. This account describes Parkman's brutal murder and explores the dynamics which preceded this crime. It explains how and why Dr. John White Webster, MD, Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy at Harvard University, killed Dr. Parkman and unsuccessfully attempted to destroy the physical evidence. Webster's subsequent trial, conviction and ultimate punishment are also detailed. The Parkman-Webster case remains one of the classic murders in the annals of American crime. Compelling dental evidence presented by the famous American dentist, Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep, directly led to the conviction of Dr. Webster. This graphic, ground-breaking case clearly established the viable role of forensic dentistry in legal criminal investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Biology, Indiana University School of Dentistry, USA.
authors.forename: Arden G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Christen
authors.forename: Joan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Christen
mesh_terms: D001900:Boston; D003778:Dentures / Q000266:history; D005553:Forensic Dentistry / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006708:Homicide / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts