Poisoners.

Poisoners are the most dispassionate of murderers, killing their victims at a distance, sometimes over long periods of time. In the days when the deadliest of poisons were readily available and difficult to detect, they were used to eliminate unwanted spouses and paramours, and to hide indiscretions. Poison was the preferred tool of a particular type of serial killer. And a poisoner had a better than even chance of getting away with it.

Here, in chronological order, is the Murder by Gaslight poisoners hall of fame:

Lucretia Chapman and Carolino Amalia Espos y Mina - 1831

Lucretia and her Cuban lover were accused of putting arsenic in her husband’s chicken soup.

Robert Mathews (The Prophet Mathias) - 1834

Cult leader Mathias was accused of killing his most ardent follower with poisoned blackberries.

Henry G. Green - 1845
Eight days after their wedding, Henry poisoned his wife Mary. His mother did not approve of the bride.

Henrietta Robinson - 1853

The mysterious Henrietta Robinson poisoned two neighbors by putting arsenic in their beer.

Lydia Sherman - 1864

"The Poison Fiend," Lydia Sherman, poisoned three husbands, five of her children, and two stepchildren before getting caught.

Rev. Herbert H. Hayden - 1878

Accused of poisoning and stabbing his young female parishioner and employee, Mary Stannard.

Jimmie Malley, Walter Malley, Blanche Douglas - 1881

Accused of poisoning Jennie Cramer to cover up a rape.

Dr. Thomas Neill Cream - 1881

After serving time in Chicago for a poison murder, Cream continued his crimes in England where he was known as the Lambeth Poisoner.

Sarah Jane Robinson - 1881-1886

Poisoned seven members of her family and one landlord in Cambridge, MA.

Minnie Wallace Walkup - 1885

Acquitted of poisoning her husband, Minnie married two others who each died under suspicious circumstances.

Hugh Mottram Brookss - 1885

Poisoned his gay lover and left his body in a trunk in a St. Louis hotel.

Carlyle  W. Harriss - 1891

Secretly married Helen Potts to get her into bed, then got rid of her by poisoning.

Mary Sheedy & William "Monday" McFarland - 1891

Mary Sheedy poisoned her husband’s coffee after McFarland beat him with a cane.

Mary Alice Livingston Fleming - 1896

A review of James D. Livingston’s book Arsenic and Clam Chowder, about the poisoning of Evilina Bliss.