William Brodie / Deacon Brodie

Brodie was the inspiration
for Stevenson’s ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. By day he was a
respectable businessman and by night a burglar. He used his ill-gotten gains to
fund his secret life, including a gambling habit, two mistresses (each unaware
of the other) and five children. He was hanged in 1788 but it was rumoured that
he designed and wore a steel collar to prevent the hanging being fatal allowing
him to be revived. The hangman was allegedly paid not to notice it. There were
reported sightings of William Brodie in Paris after his death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brodie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brodie