Poisoned History

Today we are doing our annual Fake Crime show, this time it’s a short story by Agatha Christie called the Chocolate Box. We are switching roles for this episode; our resident Christie/Poirot expert Mary Ann is going to host.

Sources and resources:

Poirot, Season 5, Episode 6, The Chocolate Box. Episode aired Feb 21, 1993. Broadcast by PBS and A&E; Starring: David Suchet as Hercule Poirot; Producers: LWT and ITV Studios

Agatha Christie, The Clue of the Chocolate Box; 1923 magazine story in The Sketch, UK.

Agatha Christie, The Chocolate Box, published in 1925 in a book of short stories called Poirot Investigates, Dodd, Mead, and Company, United States.

Wikipedia

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minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0

All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.

Cover art photos: public domain.

Mary Ann Geering was a British woman who poisoned her husband and three of her adult children, seemingly out of nowhere. But as the case progressed, some details came out that made her reasons more clear.

Mary Blandy was a fine young lady who got involved with the wrong man, who despite his title was quite ignoble. Her attempt to convince her father he was a great guy ended in tragedy.

Sarah Ann French was a young wife with an older husband who took a fancy to a younger man, with disastrous results.

Sources and resources:

Teresa Geering, The Guestling Murderess, 8 February 2008, https://tgeering.blogspot.com/2008/02/guestling-murderess.html

William French Family Tree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/French-11772#:~:text=Biography,poisoned%20her%20husband%20and%20sons

Walton, G., Onion pie murder in 1852 by Sarah Ann French, geriwalton.com, 29 August 2022, https://www.geriwalton.com/onion-pie-murder-in-1852-by-sarah-ann-french

Hard to swallow – the story of the Sussex onion pie murder, The Argus, 17 May 2020, https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18451730.hard-swallow---story-sussex-onion-pie-murder

The Chiddingly murder, Sussex Express, 10 April 1852, https://www.sussex-opc.org/ParishDetails/EastSussex/Chiddingly/ChiddinglyMurder/ChiddinglyMurderG.htm

Trial transcript: https://www.sussex-opc.org/ParishDetails/EastSussex/Chiddingly/ChiddinglyMurder/ChiddinglyMurderD.htm

Wikipedia

This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:

minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0

All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.

Cover art photos: public domain.

Martha Place was a middle-aged woman with a tragic life story and a fearful temper. One day her husband brought out the Jersey girl in her, leading to more tragedy.

Sources and resources:

National Center for Biotechnology Information (2026). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 176, Acetic Acid. Retrieved April 24, 2026 from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Acetic-Acid.

National Center for Biotechnology Information (2026). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 944, Nitric Acid. Retrieved April 24, 2026 from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Nitric-Acid.

Norquist, S., When photography required chemistry, Heroes, Heroines, and History, 9 March 2020, https://www.hhhistory.com/search?q=photography+chemistry

Carlton, F., The gruesome crimes of Martha Place, the first woman to die in the electric chair, 8 May 2023, https://allthatsinteresting.com/martha-place

Wikipedia

This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:

minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0

All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.

Mary Alice Livingston Fleming was a single mom from a wealthy family who allegedly killed her own mother in 1895 but denied having anything to do with it. Her family and this case were a large part of history and a huge story in the sensationalist press of the time.

Sources and resources:

Livingston, J; Arsenic and Clam Chowder: Murder in Gilded Age New York. The Gotham Center for New York City History, https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/arsenic-and-clam-chowder-murder-in-gilded-age-new-york

Wilhelm, R; Book Review: The fatal bowl of soup by James D. Livingston. Murder By Gaslight, 14Aug2010, http://www.murderbygaslight.com/2010/08/

Ephemeral New York: The sensational clam chowder murder of 1895, 8Jan2012, https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/tag/mary-alice-fleming-livingston/

Livingston, JD, Arsenic and clam chowder: murder in gilded age New York; Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 2010, https://www.hudsonrivervalley.org/james_d_livingston1

Wikipedia

This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:

minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0

All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.

Cover art photos: public domain.

Adelaide Bartlett was a young French woman living in England, who got into a love triangle with her husband and another man. When her husband turned up dead one day though, the whole arrangement fell apart and she suddenly became a murder suspect.

Sources and Resources:

“The impossible case of the Pimlico poisoning,” The CutPrice Guignol, https://thethreepennyguignol.com/2024/04/17/the-impossible-case-of-the-pimlico-poisoning/

Farrell, M. “Adelaide Bartlett and the Pimlico Mystery,” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2542684/pdf/bmj00471-0054.pdf

Wikipedia

Dr. Edward Pritchard was a doctor (of sorts), viewed as a quack by many of his contemporaries, who decided that killing would solve all his problems most efficiently. He was right, for a little while at least.

Sources and resources:

Loney, G; How the Huan Crocodile met the Glasgow hangman for the last public execution in Scotland; Glasgow Live, 18Nov2018, https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/history/human-crocodile-execution-glasgow-history-11676137

Our Legal Heritage: The last man publicly hanged in Glasgow; Scottish Legal News, 31Aug2018, https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/our-legal-heritage-the-last-man-publicly-hanged-in-glasgow

Grebar, Henry; What became of America’s water-cure towns? Bloomberg, 16Nov2015, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-16/the-legacy-of-america-s-water-cure-towns

Discover Saratoga, visitor information, https://www.discoversaratoga.org/things-to-do/attractions/mineral-springs/#:~:text=State%20Seal:%20A%20popular%20choice,has%20water%20rich%20in%20magnesium

Van Hoose, Anne; Edward William Pritchard: Gone? A killer in the Glasgow Photographic Society, https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/family-history/stories-and-blogs-from-the-mitchell/special-collections-blogs/edward-william-pritchard-gone

Emsley, J., The Elements of Murder, Oxford University Press, 2006.

The Anatomy Lab; Forensic Medicine, History of Medicine Museum; Forensic Medicine: The Case of Dr Pritchard, https://surgeonshallmuseums.wordpress.com/2020/05/22/forensic-medicine-the-case-of-dr-pritchard/

Our Records: the Glasgow Poisoner; Scotland’s People, https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/glasgow-poisoner

Martin R, Lee VR. Antimony Toxicity. [Updated 2024 Sep 2]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK608003

Chan TY. Aconite poisoning. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2009 Apr;47(4):279-85. doi: 10.1080/15563650902904407. PMID: 19514874. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19514874/

Wikipedia

This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:

minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0

All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.

Cover art photos: public domain.

Thomas Neill Cream was a good-looking man about town in the late 1800s, who was poisoning many of the people he treated and blackmailing anyone he thought could afford to pay. He was eventually caught when the family of one of his victims denied that she could possibly have committed suicide as was suggested by a note she wrote. But that’s not the end of the story.

Sources and Resources:

Wilson Smith, A, Strychnine and Vomit: The Untold Story of Past US Addiction Treatments, Filter Magazine 8 September 2021, https://filtermag.org/strychnine-addiction-treatments/

McLaren, A., Dr Cream’s Crimes were Just Part of the Problem, Chicago Tribune, 18 March 1993, https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/03/18/dr-creams-crimes-were-just-part-of-the-problem/

Butts, Edward. "Thomas Neill Cream". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 15 December 2013, Historica Canada. thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/thomas-neill-cream. Accessed 09 November 2025.

Murder by Gaslight, the Lambeth Poisoner, 29Aug2010.

History of Shrewsbury, Quebec, Chapter III, LaChute 1835-1876, https://morrison13750.tripod.com/lachute/part3.pdf

Foran, J., The Evil Deeds of Dr. Cream. Canada’s History, https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/politics-law/the-evil-deeds-of-dr-cream

Medical Murders Podcast: “’Lambeth Poisoner” Thomas Neill Cream, Part 2”

Wikipedia

This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:

minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0

All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.

Cover art photos: public domain.

Time for another fake crime episode!

In this episode of Columbo, a restaurant owner is murdered by a restaurant critic who had been charging him for good reviews. Columbo suspects the writer from the start, but doesn’t have any proof yet. He hounds the restaurant writer, popping up everywhere, in an effort to wear him down. This show, if you’re not familiar with it, is a how-catch-em instead of a whodunit. The audience already knows from the opening scene who the murderer is, the fun is watching Columbo figure out who did it and find a way to prove their guilt.

Sources and resources:

Vittorio Rossi | The Columbo Wiki | Fandom https://share.google/Yr2jiOMoo1RElQIz0

Yong YS, Quek LS, Lim EK, Ngo A. A case report of puffer fish poisoning in singapore. Case Rep Med. 2013;2013:206971. doi: 10.1155/2013/206971. Epub 2013 Dec 4. PMID: 24368916; PMCID: PMC3867830. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3867830/

Internet movie database (IMDB)

Wikipedia

This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:

minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0

All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.

Image: This ⁠Wikipedia⁠ and ⁠Wikimedia Commons⁠ image is from the user ⁠Chris 73⁠ and is freely available at //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fugu_in_Tank.jpg under the ⁠creative commons cc-by-sa 3.0⁠ license.