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Page last updated at 08:58 GMT, Monday, 8 February 2010

Were Hunter and Smellie serial killers?

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The names of William Hunter and William Smellie, pioneers of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, still inspire respect among today's doctors, more than 250 years after they made their contribution to healthcare.

But an article just published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine paints a very different picture of the duo.

Historian Don Shelton explains how they may have been responsible for a series of murders in 18th century London with a death total greater than those committed by Burke, Hare and Jack the Ripper combined.

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