United States of America
MISSOURI
Black Widow 1869
Active Pre-1900 in Gardiner, Maine
THE DISPATCH
The Details
News reports circulated that an 85-year-old woman was arrested for killing four husbands. She arrived in Portland by boat from Boston. Dressed in black and “sinking with age,” she was taken by the Gardiner city marshal by train over the Kennebec road back to Gardiner.
A post-mortem examination of her last husband showed traces of poison. Identical or almost identical news articles were published in April and May, 1869 in the USA and Britain. We were unable to find an follow-up.
She is only suspected of being a serial killer.
SIMILAR SERIAL KILLERS
Vera Renczi
also used poison to kill dozens of people
John Joseph Joubert IV
prowled Portland, Maine for victims in the 1980s
Belle Gunness
also poisoned the people she "loved"
WHERE IT HAPPENED
A non-interactive map of where she was arrested, and returned to face charges
BOOKS
Books about women using poison to kill people
King Of Poisons: A History Of Arsenic by John Parascandola
Publisher : Potomac Books; Illustrated edition (Oct. 1 2012)
Language : English
Hardcover : 208 pages
ISBN-10 : 1597977039
ISBN-13 : 978-1597977036
For centuries arsenic’s image as a poison has been inextricably tied to images of foul play. In King of Poisons, John Parascandola examines the surprising history of this deadly element. From Gustave Flaubert to Dorothy Sayers, arsenic has long held a place in the literary realm as an instrument of murder and suicide. It was delightfully used as a source of comedy in the famous play Arsenic and Old Lace. But as Parascandola shows, arsenic has had a number of surprising real-world applications. It was frequently found in such common items as wallpaper, paint, cosmetics, and even candy, and its use in medical treatments was widespread. American ambassador Clare Boothe Luce suffered from exposure to arsenical paint in her study, and Napoleon’s death has long been speculated to be the result of accidental or intentional poisoning. But arsenic poisoning is still a public menace. In the neighborhood around American University in Washington, D.C., the army has undertaken a massive cleanup of artillery shells and bottles containing chemical warfare agents such as arsenical lewisite after a number of workmen and residents became ill. Arsenic contamination of the water supply in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India, is a major public health problem today. From murder to crime fiction, from industrial toxin to chemical warfare, arsenic remains a powerful force in modern life.
Criminal Poisoning: Clinical And Forensic Perspectives by Christopher P. Holstege, Thomas Neer , Gregory B. Saathoff , R. Brent Furbee
Publisher : Jones & Bartlett Learning; 1st edition (March 29 2010)
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 0763744638
ISBN-13 : 978-0763744632
Criminal Poisoning: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives offers health care providers, investigators and attorneys a comprehensive look at the history, employment and ex post facto analysis of criminal poisoning. Drawing on the vast expertise of the authors law enforcement agents and physicians with robust experience in the realm of criminal poisoning Criminal Poisoning: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives covers the illegal use of poisons to harm people and the methods of detection available to investigators and prosecutors. Each chapter covers a specific toxin, from acids and herbals to drugs of abuse, and includes a case study that explains the diagnostic challenges associated with detecting and prosecuting a criminal poisoning. What s more, the book delves into who may poison including the psychological factors that motivate someone to kill and who may be a likely victim.
THE STATS
The Missouri Black Widow in historical timeline
Statistical table for the Missouri Black Widow
| Killer Name | Missouri Black Widow 1869 |
| Gender | F |
| Suspected Only | Yes |
| Arrest Date | 1869 |
| Approximate Birth Date | 1784 |
| Deceased | Yes |
| Sexual Preference | Straight |
| Marital Status | Widowed |
| Killer Type | Black Widow/Bluebeard, Organized, Stationary, Unidentified |
| comment1 | Various newspapers say that an officer arrived there on Thursday week, from Boston, on the way to Gardiner, Me., having in custody a woman eighty-five years old, dressed in black and palsied by the infirmities of age. The charge on which she was arrested is that of murdering her husband. Suspicious circumstances arose at the time of his death, and a post mortem examination of his body proved that he had been poisoned, but his wife had previously left the State. He was the fourth husband the woman has had; the circumstances of their several deaths confirm the belief that she had poisoned them all. |
| Total Dead Victims | 4 |
| Victims (Suspected) | 4 |
| Victim Gender | M |
| Victim Type | Husband |