THE STORY

On a warm afternoon a week before Thanksgiving, 1849, Dr. George Parkman, one of the richest men in Boston, went missing. A massive manhunt uncovered pieces of a body in and under the Harvard Medical College. Professor John Webster was arrested for the murder. What followed was the most famous trial and conviction of the 19th Century.

THE EXPERIENCE

Evidence of the story still remains in Boston’s old Beacon Hill neighborhood. Use your iPhone to follow geocoded videos that reveal the evidence, characters, and feeling of a time when mystery stories, detective work, and a century of progress were just starting. Developed in partnership with the producers of the PBS film “Murder at Harvard” and Simon Schama’s book “Dead Certainties,” this original production is a first-of-its-kind location-based adaptation of a major documentary film. The work is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Center for Independent Documentary.