117. Murder

To burke is to kill by strangulation, a word taken from the name of a 19th century murderer. In Anglo-Saxon England, a killing could be settled with payment through the wergild, a sum paid by the offender to the victim's family. In France, a petty criminal would go on to become one of the first figures to resemble a modern detective. Alongside these histories, this episode explores the origins of words such as assassin, scelerate, culprit, trucidate and lucre. Transition sound b...