Poisoner Murder Stories

The IV Bag on the Bench: How a Torn Label Exposed a Killer Nurse A torn IV bag label found hanging from a park bench led from a partial lot number to a missing bag signed out at Mercy Ridge Medical Center - and ultimately to a death that began as a routine gallbladder surgery. How did one coiled drip line and three syringes in a locker connect to a non-diabetic patient’s fatal hypoglycemic collapse? In this episode, we follow the sequence of discoveries: the jogger who called the non-emergency line, the hospital inventory that revealed one unaccounted IV bag, and a daughter’s notes tracing a post-operative decline - and we ask whether a single torn label can uncover a pattern that official records missed. Person: Pamela Mueller Date: March 28, 2019 (surgery); April 1, 2019 (cardiac arrest); April 14, 2019 (IV bag found) Location: Pelham Park (bag found) and Mercy Ridge Medical Center (patient) Case: One missing IV bag from Lot with partial lot number; three insulin syringes later found in a hospital locker - Michael Roberts found the IV bag at 5:50 a.m. on April 14, 2019 and called the non-emergency line at 6:03 a.m. - The IV bag had a torn label with a partial lot number consisting of a hyphen and four digits. - Mercy Ridge distribution records showed six bags signed out for that lot and five accounted for, leaving one missing. - Pamela Mueller underwent laparoscopic gallbladder surgery on March 28, 2019 and went into ventricular fibrillation on April 1, 2019. - Three insulin syringes were found in a hospital locker before the connection to the bag and Mueller’s death was understood.

The Thermos in the Ditch: How Coffee Turned Deadly for Donna Morris The discovery of a dark green vacuum thermos upright in a drainage ditch changed everything: it was labeled "D. MORRIS" and contained a colorless, odorless poison banned in the United States since 1972. Who placed that thermos behind the Greer County Human Services building, and why did Donna Morris drink from the same cup of coffee for weeks while her body accumulated a deadly toxin? In this episode, we follow the timeline from Donna’s routine mornings and eleven-year career at the cafeteria to the moment she was found disoriented and losing hair in a hospital bed. We trace the chain of everyday habits-the labeled prep thermos, the personal travel mug, the familiar coworkers-and ask how an ordinary object became the pivot of a criminal case. Person: Donna Morris Date: March 11, 2019 Location: Drainage easement behind Greer County Human Services building, Pallister Status: Admitted to Pallister Regional Medical Center, exhibiting hair loss and systemic poisoning Other Person: Mark Carter, lead cook who kept a separate prep thermos - Donna Morris was 44 years old in spring 2019 and had worked 11 years at the Greer County Human Services cafeteria. - Donna left her apartment at 6:15 a.m. each workday and arrived at the cafeteria by 6:50 a.m. - Mark Carter was 48 years old and brewed a separate, higher-quality batch of coffee for the prep staff kept in a vacuum thermos. - The thermos found by Crystal Sanders on March 11, 2019 had a strip of masking tape with "D. MORRIS" written in blue marker. - The poison found in Donna had been banned in the United States since 1972 and is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, able to dissolve into a cup of coffee without detection.

He Installed the Filter: How a Husband Turned Water Into Poison The kitchen water filter was still attached when investigators arrived - and toxicology later showed arsenic deposits in hair and liver consistent with months of chronic ingestion. A forensic pathologist found the pattern began after the filter was installed in October 2010; who turned a faucet into a poison tap? In this episode, we outline the timeline from the filter’s installation through four months of daily drinking, the escalating symptoms, and the laboratory discovery that shifted a death certificate from undetermined origin to arsenic poisoning. How did a routine household device become the vector for a slow, fatal exposure? Person: Carol Erickson Young Date: February 6, 2011 (death) Location: Sutter Mill Road, Calloway Township Toxicology finding: Arsenic in hair, nails, and liver tissue consistent with chronic ingestion Filter installation: Sometime in October 2010 - Carol drank from the kitchen faucet every day for four months after the filter was installed. - Carol stopped volunteering at the Millhaven Area Food Pantry in October 2010 after four years of perfect attendance. - Carol died at age 28 on February 6, 2011, with official cause listed as acute liver failure of undetermined origin for eleven days. - On February 17, 2011, Indiana State Police lab results identified arsenic at levels inconsistent with environmental exposure. - Forensic pathologist Emily Dempsey searched her eight-year private database and found two prior Fenwick County deaths (Ray Erickson, age 31; Dennis Pulver, age 40) with similar patterns.

The Mug in Frozen Grass: How a Nurse Hid Digoxin in Plain Sight A branded mug sat upright in frozen grass forty feet from a locked gate with no footprints and no path nearby - and twelve hours earlier a fifty-four-year-old resident of Sycamore Commons was dead. The mug’s logo tied it to the facility and a toxicology report would reveal digoxin at non-therapeutic concentrations; who moved the mug and why does that trace lead back to the nursing staff? In this episode, we recount the timeline from the mug in Ridgeline Cut to the discovery that Russell Foster’s tissue contained digoxin inconsistent with any prescription. Along the way you’ll hear how a physician’s private notepad and a trail-walker’s photograph pushed a routine death into a criminal inquiry - could a staff member have used access and knowledge to conceal poisoning? Person: Russell Foster Date: January 9, 2019 Location: Sycamore Commons / Ridgeline Cut Person: John O'Connor Person: Dr. Howard Baker - The mug was found forty feet from a locked gate in frozen grass with no footprints around it. - Russell Foster died twelve hours before the mug was photographed by trail walker Brian Thompson. - Russell was fifty-four years old and had been at Sycamore Commons since September 2018. - Dr. Howard Baker drove to the sheriff’s office on January 21, 2019 with preserved tissue samples and a notepad noting a potassium inventory discrepancy. - State lab toxicology reported digoxin in Russell Foster’s tissue at concentrations inconsistent with any therapeutic prescription.

The Mug in the River: How Coffee Killed Two Women A coffee mug pulled from the Parr River held a brownish granular residue that tested positive for inorganic arsenic trioxide, and that tiny ring of powder would become People's Exhibit Seven at a murder trial - but why did it take six weeks on a sheriff's shelf and a single non-standard urine test to start answering the rest? What did the residue mean for Darlene Nelson, her sudden decline, and the man everyone called a devoted husband? In this episode, we tell how routine hospital notes, a urine heavy metals screen, a fisherwoman's find, and a delayed evidence submission converged to change one coroner's conclusion and reopen a death. Follow the sequence from symptoms and lab results to the discovery of the mug and the lab confirmation that altered the case. Person: Darlene Nelson Date: November 23, 2011 Location: Birch Creek Road; Parr River; Dellhaven Township; Claremont Regional (about forty miles north) Event: Mug recovered from Parr River on early December 2011; evidence sent to state laboratory December 14, 2011 Topic: Inorganic arsenic trioxide found in residue inside mug - Darlene Nelson was twenty-two years old at the time of her death on November 23, 2011. - She had documented symptoms over fourteen months, beginning around September 2010, including fatigue, stomach trouble, and episodes of vomiting. - A urine heavy metals screen ordered by Dr. Rachel Taylor in September 2011 returned borderline elevated for arsenic. - The mug was recovered by fisherwoman Nicole Vogel from the Parr River roughly forty yards downstream from County Bridge and delivered the same afternoon. - The mug sat on a sheriff's substation shelf for six weeks before investigator Marcus Holt sent it to the state laboratory on December 14, 2011, which returned a result of inorganic arsenic trioxide.

The Dropper in the Wall: How a Cup Unmasked a Prison Poisoner A styrofoam cup pressed upside-down in soil at the base of a retaining wall hid a tea-stained medicine dropper that should not have been there - and the item would eventually link to five deaths across two correctional facilities. Who placed the dropper where no hand could reach it, and how did that small object unravel a hidden pattern of lethal access to medication? In this episode, we follow the sequence of discoveries that connected unexplained inmate deaths, logged medication irregularities, and the persistence of a nurse-practitioner who refused to accept coincidence. How did a routine survey report, careful chart reviews, and a single agent’s audit of medication cart logs expose a systematic breach that preceded multiple fatalities? Person: Thomas Olson Date: November 14, 2011 Location: Harwick Correctional Facility Person: Terry Stevens Event: Discovery of 17 medication cart key sign-outs without nurse signatures - A styrofoam cup containing a plastic bag with a tea-stained medicine dropper was found at the base of a concrete retaining wall on November 14, 2011. - James Boyd died October 2, 2010; death certificate listed cardiac arrhythmia secondary to metabolic imbalance. - Frank Deluca died in March 2011 with cause listed as multi-organ failure. - Marcus Webb, age 34, was transferred out of Harwick protective custody in September 2011 in critical condition and later died. - Investigator Sandra Coe identified 17 occasions across 14 months where Gary Simpson signed out the medication cart key with no corresponding nurse signature.

The Pool Bottle That Quietly Killed a Coach A single thermal water bottle found upright in a drained pool led to a chain of deaths and illnesses tied to a regulated rodenticide that accumulates silently in the body. Three separate orders for sodium fluoroacetate placed through the aquatic center’s chemical account, the same signature on each, and a death certified as hypertensive cardiovascular disease-how did a harmless bottle hide a slow, invisible killer? In this episode, we lay out the timeline from the October 14, 2019 pool discovery through earlier and later hospitalizations, tracing records, orders, and clinical notes to the central question: could repeated low doses of sodium fluoroacetate at Harmon Aquatic Center explain Wade Kowalski’s decline and link three victims over two years? Person: Wade Kowalski Date: October 3, 2019 (date of death) Location: Harmon Aquatic Center / 4 Lakeview Terrace Agent: sodium fluoroacetate (rodenticide) Investigator: Clifford Bell - Wade Kowalski was 62 and had lost 14 pounds between May and late September 2019. - Kowalski died on October 3, 2019; cause on the death certificate: hypertensive cardiovascular disease. - A thermal water bottle was photographed in the drained deep end on October 14, 2019 and filed in a report that was not reviewed for four months. - Harmon Aquatic Center orders show sodium fluoroacetate was ordered three times across 2018-2020, each bearing the same signature. - Marcus Trent, age 17, was admitted to Harmon Aquatic in February 2020 with hypertension, nausea, peripheral tingling, and progressive fatigue; his second worsening admission prompted a county health review.

The Honey Jar on Her Porch: How a Gift Became Murder A retired postal worker found a neatly labeled jar of honey on the porch of a woman who had been dead for ten days - the jar came from a neighbor's apiary and the woman’s death was initially ruled a cardiac event. Who left the honey, why it traveled between neighbors, and what invisible poison moved through that amber jar before anyone realized? In this episode, we tell the story of Lisa Evans and the chain of people, places, and small habits that connected a local beekeeper’s jar to a sudden death and later hospitalizations; how routine generosity and close-knit routines raised a question no one expected: was a gift actually a delivery of harm? Person: Lisa Evans Age: 26 Date of death discovery: September 11, 2019 Neighbor beekeeper: Grant Ford, 54, owner of eight hives Doctor: Marcus Webb, general practitioner - Jar of honey from Grant Ford’s hive number six was given to Patricia Holt and later reached Lisa Evans in July 2019. - Lisa experienced fingertip numbness and mildly elevated liver enzymes noted by Dr. Marcus Webb before her death. - Lisa was found dead and pronounced on the night of September 1, 2019; a retired postal worker discovered the jar on her porch ten days later. - Two weeks after Lisa’s burial, Sandra Mabe, 51, a book club member, arrived at the ER with palpitations, numb fingers, and severe nausea. - Grant Ford kept eight hives and in a good season produced several hundred pounds of honey, bottled and labeled “Ford Apiary.”

The Key on the Table: How Thallium Turned a Will into Murder A quiet kitchen table held a single house key, a half-full glass of orange juice, and four open prescription bottles-details that split two investigations and turned a presumed suicide into a murder. The autopsy found thallium sulfate with tissue concentrations showing cumulative ingestion over four to six weeks and a fatal bolus in the last 24-48 hours-so who left the key, and why did the will change weeks before her death? In this episode, we follow the timeline from August 3rd to August 14th, tracing Jessica Coleman's routines, a will revision that redirected roughly $200,000, and the movements of her financial advisor, Michael Patterson, who visited on August 11th and again on August 13th; can those visits explain the thallium poisoning and the key on the table? Person: Jessica Coleman Date: August 14 (death found), August 3 (call with daughter), August 11 (visit), August 13 (visit) Person: Michael Patterson Toxicology: Thallium sulfate with cumulative ingestion over 4-6 weeks and a fatal bolus in last 24-48 hours - Jessica Coleman was 48 years old and had lived at 224 Orchard Bend Road for eleven years. - The will revision six weeks before her death redirected roughly $200,000 to Michael Patterson. - Michael Patterson was 41, ran a sole-proprietorship financial consulting practice, and visited Jessica on August 11 and August 13. - The county lab toxicology report returned thallium sulfate results five weeks after Jessica was buried. - Neighbor Connie Marsh observed Jessica unsteady at the fence line on the morning of August 13 and saw a gray sedan in the driveway that afternoon.

The Tailor's Tea: How Cookies Hid Arsenic in Plain Sight A pincushion left on a gravel shoulder led to a studio where a tailor's habit of bringing shortbread cookies and pouring tea preceded two deaths and one near-fatal illness; how did people disappear from good health over months in a small city before anyone noticed? What hidden link tied a frosted-glass door, a tin of cookies, and the steady decline of clients into tragedy? In this episode, we follow the timeline from the morning a road-grader operator found a wrist-style pincushion to the steady appointments at Hill's Fine Alterations, tracing the routines and symptoms that preceded suspicion. How did the ordinary rituals of fittings, tea, and shortbread mask a pattern of illness that took investigators nearly a year to unravel? Person: Bruce Hill Location: Hill's Fine Alterations, Hessler Avenue, Dunmore Person: Dawn Osborne Person: Douglas Zeller Person: Helen Vance - A pincushion with twelve dressmaker's pins was found at 6:40 a.m, on the third Tuesday of July. - Bruce Hill had run Hill's Fine Alterations for nine years and brought a small tin of shortbread cookies to every house-call appointment. - Douglas Zeller was 32 when he first visited the studio and stopped his habitual daily walk through City Park before his death. - Helen Vance was 71, had seen Hill for nearly three years, and experienced progressive fatigue, nausea, and a tremor over eight months before she died. - No autopsy was ordered when Helen Vance died twenty-two months before investigators began questioning Bruce Hill.