Lydia Sherman: The Queen Poisoner

When someone thinks of a serial killer, they probably imagine some sort of

knife-wielding maniac who does his dirty work in the depths of night, silencing the

screams of the innocent for his own sick pleasure. Just looking at him, it would be clear

that he's crazy. However, Lydia Sherman was the opposite of all that. The Queen

Poisoner managed to kill all 3 of her husbands and seven of their children in the light of

day with nothing but a little bit of arsenic. Maybe she was insane, but maybe she had

motives to kill such people.

Lydia Sherman, the Arch Murderess of Connecticut, has a story that may be hard to

understand, but should be known. There have been many people who kill with poison,

and from all different eras. In 2012, a woman named Deborah Cain was drinking her

morning cup of coffee prepared by her husband when she noticed something strange

about it: it appeared to be tinted green. Suspicious of this strange coloring, Cain called

the police immediately. After a police investigation, rat poison was discovered at the

bottom of the coffee pot. The entire case was just dripping with suspicion; the woman's

husband wouldn't usually make coffee for her. William Cain claimed that he had been

trying to do nothing more that make her sick, but Deborah confirmed that a friend had

warned her that he was going to kill her. William Cain was arrested and tried on

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012.

Long ago in Ancient Rome there was a woman named Locusta who was considered

Rome's professional poisoner. She was employed by Agrippina the Younger, Emperor

Claudius's last wife. She wanted him dead, so she entrusted the job to Locusta. Locusta

was able to kill him by serving him a plate of poisoned mush...

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Lydia Sherman was guilty of all charges. Connecticut in that era didn't allow women to

be hanged, so she was sentenced to life in prison, where she died at age 54.

Lydia Sherman was a mysterious killer, and even after her wrongdoings she is still

relevant. I found it interesting that Sherman would kill the people she should have loved

most: her family. I don't think, however, that the world would be better off without her.

All life is sacred, and we can learn from her mistakes. She may leave a bitter taste on

those who know of her, but she's still important. Without people like her in the past

people today would have no morals, since there would be nothing to have based them

on. The Poison Fiend was a strange, maybe troubled person, and I hope that after the

things she did we can be wise enough to know that they should not be repeated.