Myths of the much maligned Richard III Richard murdered his two nephews Shakespeare's play depicts Richard murdering his nephews, the sons of Edward VII, in their beds as part of a vicious and merciless plot to clear his path to the throne. But some historians insist there is no evidence to support the story and claim the fate of the two princes remains a mystery even today. The rumour of the boys' murder was initially reported as being spread among the rebels who hoped to restore them to the throne, experts say, forcing them to seek out alternative candidate in the form of Henry Tudor. Richard's body was exhumed and tossed in a river Legend has it that after the Franciscan friary in which he was buried was torn down, Richard's body was dug from the ground and carried by local people to a nearby river into which it was thrown. Now many historians claim this story was invented by John Speedie, a map maker who was chronicling landmarks in Leicester in 1611 but could not find the king's grave because he was looking in the wrong place. Rather than searching in Greyfriars Mr Speedie had been looking in an area called Blackfriars, where no grave was to be found. He made up the tale to avoid embarrassment, experts say.