In Greek mythology, Medea, princess of Colchis, was regarded as a sorceress, an accomplished “pharmakeía” and is often depicted as a high-priestess of the goddess, Hecate. When Medea was abandoned by her husband Jason in favour of Glauke, princess of Corinth, she took revenge on her rival by sending her a dress and a crown […]
Where the motive of the 17th-century Spana Prosecution poisoners was to rid themselves of their abusive husbands, there exists another class of poisoners – those who use poison for political advancement. Long before the Renaissance trio of Thofiania d’Adamo, Giullia Tofana and Gironima Spana concocted the arsenic-based Aqua Tofana, Rome’s most famous poisoner was Locusta, […]
Ironically the word ‘arsenic’ originates from Greek folk etymology as ‘arsenikon’, a neuter form of the Greek adjective ‘arsenikos’ meaning “male”, or “virile” and over centuries it was arsenic that women have been using to eliminate the males in their lives. In the mid 1600’s a trio of Renaissance Italian woman with a keen sense […]
A champion for children’s rights and an activist for socio-economic reform, whose own father was committed to a debtor’s prison, was Victorian era author and literary genius, Charles John Huffam Dickens. In one of his lesser-known novels, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, Dickens raises the theme of an elderly man, Old Martin, employing […]
Themis is the Greek goddess of justice, divine order, law, and custom and her symbol is the Scales of Justice. Her Roman equivalent is Justitia. She personifies divine law – “that which is put in place”. Judges were often referred to as “themistopóloi” – the servants of Themis. Many defence lawyers in Angel-of-Death nursing […]
Baron Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Freiherr von Münchhausen would entertain the 18th-century Germain aristocrats with stories about his escapades during the1735-1739 Russian-Turkish War, exaggerating to such an extent in 1785 it inspired the German author Rudolf Erich Raspe to write a book, titled Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, with a […]
There is a common misconception that Angels of Death and Angels of Mercy refer to the same typology of serial killers and the terms are used interalia, since they have similar victim profiles, and are often in the medical profession, yet they differ in their motivation. Angels of Death generally operate in a hospital, clinic […]
General research on Black Widow killers concur they commence their criminal careers at the age of 25 years, and target spouses, partners, family members, their children and anyone they might have formed a personal relationship with. They may kill someone threatening to expose them. They are quiet killers and go undetected for long periods because […]