While many poisoners throughout history have evoke their baneful potions and pulverisation into boozing , some of the more culinarily inclined have crafted killer lulu instead . The nurturing figure of speech these poisoner often presented — with casserole and cake always at the ready — may have even helped disorder from their homicidal way .
1. NANNIE DOSS’S APPLE AND PRUNE PIE
Nannie Doss ( 1905–1965 ) poisoned as many as12family members . She allegedly added poison to both prune cake and an apple - prune Proto-Indo European , soaking the yield overnight in rat poison . Her reportedrecipeincluded sprinkling the top of the crust with sugar when it was fresh from the oven , which probably helped disguise the taste of the poison .
2. ANJETTE LYLES’S BANANA PUDDING
Anjette Donovan Lyles ( 1925–1977 ) owned and operated a fly high luncheonette in Macon , Georgia . She was cognise for simple southerly fare and afters such as her banana pudding with vanilla wafer ( which you may find a formula forherealongside a selection of her other popular creations ) . She contract frequent breach from the restaurant to tend to two exit hubby , a mother - in - law , and a daughter , all of whom she defeat by adding rat poisonous substance to their food — though it ’s not clear precisely which specific dishes she serve them .
3. BLANCHE TAYLOR-MOORE’S PEANUT BUTTER MILKSHAKE
Blanche Taylor - Moore ( 1933- ) dispatched of at least three people in a prolonged and agonising fashion by repeatedly serving themarsenic - tied meals . She then hindered retrieval by bringing digestive - friendly foodstuffs laced with poison ( including banana tree pud ) to theirhospital bottom . shake made with vanilla ice cream , milk , and creamy peanut butter were thefavoriteof her second hubby , the Reverend Dwight Moore , who survived despite reportedly having100 timesthe normal levels of arsenic in his scheme .
4. LYDA SOUTHARD’S APPLE PIE
Lyda Trueblood Southard ( 1892 - 1958 ) and her crime syndicate are enounce to have impress from their home in Missouri around 1907 after go through a photo of a man support acantaloupe - sized applegrown near the new town of Twin Falls , Idaho . She put these apple to use in PIE … along with arsenic from boiled flypaper , which she reportedly used to envenom four hubby , one daughter , and a brother - in - law [ PDF ] . Although she proclaimed her innocence to the remainder , it ’s rumored that her body was hairless , reveal a prolonged exposure to atomic number 33 .
5. LYDIA SHERMAN’S CLAM CHOWDER
Lydia Sherman ( 1824 - 1878 ) poisoned three husband and eight nipper with milk , oatmeal , and New Englandclam chowder . The stock Civil Warrecipeinvolves salinity pork , tater , shucked clams or hard clam , and plenty of milk and ointment . In Lydia ’s case , it also involved arsenic , which helped pull in her $ 20,000 worth of genuine the three estates and $ 10,000 in cash after one inconvenient husband died . She run short the easier path with her next husband by simply adding arsenic to his bottle of brandy .
6. DEBORA GREEN’S HAM AND BEANS
When Debora Green ’s ( 1951- ) married couple dissolve in the summer of 1995 , her married man began suffering from mysterious bout of sickness , vomiting , and diarrhea . Although he at first blamed the symptoms on a bug pluck up during a late holiday in Peru , investigators grew suspicious after a fire cut down the syndicate home that fall , killing two of the match ’s nipper . Police await into the blaze soon let out that Green hadburned downher own house in a craze — and that she been poisoning her husband by set Alpha Geminorum beans in his chicken - salad sandwich andham and attic . Castor oil colour is ordinarily used as a laxative , but when crushed , the beans develop the deadly toxin ricin toxin .
7. LOCUSTA’S MUSHROOMS
The papistical emperor Claudius ( 10 BCE-54 CE ) loved mushroom , a fact that the notorious distaff poisoner Locusta allegedly used to help finish him off . Locusta was acting on the orders of Agrippina the Younger , Claudius ’s fourth wife , who want to reset the path so that her son Nero ( from a old wedlock ) could move up to the toilet . Historiansdebatewhether the assassination ever really happened , but some reputation that Locusta tally the juice from expiry chapiter mushrooms ( Amanita phalloides , known as " thedestroying angel " ) to a dish of Claudius’spreferred fungus , Amanita caesarea . The details after thatvary — a envenom feather stick around down Claudius ’s pharynx or a poison enema may have also been involve — but either way , the dying would have been slow and painful .
8. CAROLINE GRILLS’S TEA CAKES
Caroline Grills ( 1888–1960 ) was a fertile baker known for bring base - bake cakes and cookie totea with relatives . Unfortunately , Grills was interlace her kickshaw and tea with thallium , a pop dirty dog poisonous substance , and may have kill as many as four house appendage doing so . The symptoms ofthallium poisoningoften involve fever , hysteria , convulsions , and progressive sightlessness , followed by death .
Still , Grills ’s sweets were so delicious that even when she was under suspicion of murder , it did n’t break people from consuming them : One relative given somecandied gingercouldn’t resist taste it and was rewarded withpainsin his neck and chest of drawers and numb toes . grill was eventually arrest and point with four murders and one attempted murder , but only convicted on one enumeration . Her case was part of a string of thallium poisonings in post - war Australia , with heaps of cases , several high - profile trials , and10 deaths .
