She Vanished After Meeting Her Lover. A Stepmother’s Dream Led to Her Body — and the Killer

It was a skin-crawling revelation.

Staff at a museum in Suffolk, England, recently learned that an unassuming old book sitting in their office was actually made from human skin — believed to be that of a 19th-century murderer who was hanged nearly 200 years ago.

The killer, William Corder, was convicted in 1828 of murdering a woman named Maria Marten in what became known as the Red Barn Murder. According to the BBC, the book was donated decades ago by a family member of the surgeon who anatomized Corder’s body. Curators at Moyse’s Hall Museum in Bury St. Edmunds realized what the book was — and how it was made — about a month ago. It’s now on display.

Corder was from a middle-class family of farmers and lived in the village of Polstead when he met Marten when he was 22. The two subsequently became lovers, per the outlet.

In 1827 Corder came up with a plan for him and Marten to elope. He told her to meet him at the Red Barn on the Corders’ farm so they could run away together. But Marten was never seen again.

Corder swiftly left Suffolk and wrote to the Marten family that he and Maria had eloped. In reality, he was hiding out just outside of London after shooting Maria in the neck and burying her at the Red Barn.

Almost a year later, Maria’s stepmother, Ann Marten, had a dream that Maria was dead and at the Red Barn. Per the outlet, Maria’s father dug with his “mole spud” — a type of spade — and found Maria’s remains at the barn.

A manhunt ensued for Corder. When authorities found him, he denied any knowledge of what had happened to Maria. But he had a letter in his possession informing him that her body had been found.

Corder was tried on 10 counts of murder, each based on a different theory on how Maria was killed, the BBC reported. Corder initially claimed Maria had died by suicide, but he was ultimately found guilty after a two-day trial, which included a confession in which Corder said he accidentally shot Maria during an argument. 

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The BBC reported that an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 people came to see Corder hanged outside the prison on Aug. 11, 1828. 

There are currently two books about the trial — both of which are bound with Corder’s skin, the BBC reported. Popular Mechanics reports that the practice of binding books in human skin — known as anthropodermic bibliopegy — dates back to at least the 13th century. By the 19th century, some doctors were using the skin of their own dissected patients to bind medical texts.

According to The Times, Corder’s skeleton remained at London’s Hunterian Museum for more than 70 years — until it was released in 2004 following a campaign by a relative who had researched her family tree. Subsequently, Corder’s remains were cremated.