Several cougar poisoners killed those who opposed their relationships with younger men. American Martha Wise almost wiped out her entire family, and two South African women were executed for poisoning their husbands to pursue their young lovers.
The Things We Do For Love, is a song released in 1976 by the British band 10cc. The lyrics: “You lay your bets and then you pay the price,” summarize the tragedies of women who poisoned those who stood in the way of their pursuit of younger lovers, and in the end, they were not only deserted by their lovers, but they lost their lives for it.
USA Martha Wise 1924
American Martha Wise, nee Hasel, was born into a farmer family in 1883 in Hardscrabble, Ohio. In 1906, at the age of 23 she met and married a substantially older Albert Wise, a farmer like her father. Martha’s expectations that she could fulfil the role of the farmer’s wife like her mother, evaporated when she realized Albert expected her to work like a farm labourer. One life of poverty was exchanged for another, and there was no escape. Perhaps because she was expected to do hard labour, she lost their first child, but four children survived.
Martha had a macabre fascination with funerals. She attended all in the district and lamented vociferously even if she did not know the deceased. In 1922, Martha wailed at her husband Albert’s funeral after his sudden death.
Within a year of his demise, Martha formed a relationship with a farmhand called Walter Johns. Her whole family, but especially her mother Sophie and Aunt Lily Gienke objected to the relationship and pressured her to end it. Martha finally acquiesced and Walter Johns moved to Cleveland, abandoning her.
Hurt by losing her lover and threatened by being ostracized by her family, Martha plotted her lethal revenge. She clearly manifested several anti-social tendencies, especially the callous and remorseless attempt to wipe out her entire family for thwarting her. At the Thanksgiving dinner in 1924 several members of the family fell ill and most recovered, but Martha’s mother Sophie died on 13 December 1924. Her mother’s death did not dissuade Martha, rather it fuelled her revenge fantasy. On New Year’s Eve her aunt Lily Gienke, uncle Fred and several of Martha’s cousins developed similar symptoms to Sophie. All of 17 relatives fell ill and many were hospitalized. Four cousins were left partially paralyzed but Lily and Fred had both died by February 1925.
Martha confessed to poisoning the water and coffee pots with arsenic-based rat poison during the festivities to the sheriff of Medina County, Ohio, Fred Roshon. On March 23, 1925, Martha surprized the grand jury by admitting she was irresistibly attracted to attending funerals, and when there were not enough funerals in the community, she was driven to create them by killing.
Despite an insanity plea, Martha was found guilty of first-degree murder on May 12, 1925. The jury urged mercy in sentencing, and the judge sentenced Martha to a life imprisonment. When she was paroled at age 79, not one family member, nor any institution would accommodate her and she returned to prison where she died on June 28, 1971, a lonely old woman.
South African Margaret Elizabeth Rheeder 1957
Born on 6 September 1922 near Knysna, Margaret Elizabeth Harker’s youth coincided with the Great Depression. She was the eighth child born into this already desperately poor family. When her father died, Margaret’s mother remarried her second husband, Cornelius Share, a lazy man, claiming to be too ill to work. The family had to survive on a meagre welfare hand-out. Cornelius might have been too sick to work, but his illness did not prevent him from “blessing the family” with another five children. He died in 1934 and 12-year-old Margaret and her two older sisters, Gwen and Olga were placed in an orphanage. They probably fared much better there than at home, but as soon as Margaret turned 16, she decided it was time to seek her own fortune.
Margaret found employment as a domestic worker and aged 20 she worked as a maid in the local hotel in Knysna where she met and married a drunken lay-about who was often involved in bar fights, like her stepfather. However, every time her husband was locked up for being drunk and disorderly, another man kept her company. Margaret gave birth to two little girls. Eventually Margaret had had enough and she divorced her lazy drunken husband, took her little girls by the hand in left town.
In 1951 she met Benjamin Rheeder in Port Elizabeth, a harbour city, who was in the process of divorcing his wife and needed an able housekeeper to look after his children. It did not come as a surprise when they were married. Benjamin was a dockworker, but he managed to provide for his extended family. There was only one problem, his new wife detested his own children.
In 1955 the couple took in a young lodger. To the 33-year-old Margaret, the handsome 22-year-old Johannes Strydom was the answer to her dreams. It did not take her long to find her way to his bedroom. Margaret fantasized about a life with Johannes, without Benjamin.
On 27 April 1957, Margaret bought ant poison at the pharmacy. She signed the register herself. Two days later she diligently handed the two men their sandwiches to take to work. That Monday afternoon, Benjamin returned home from work early due to illness. Dr Edmund Bloch diagnosed fibrocitis and prescribed medicine. The next morning he managed to drag himself to the emergency unit. Dr Bloch gave him an injection and sent him home. A house visit on the Thursday convinced the good doctor Bloch that Benjamin was recovering, due to his wife’s diligent care.
Five days later, 7th May, Dr Bloch returned to the Rheeder home to find Benjamin with a swollen tongue, he could not swallow, he had diarrhoea and vomited and he complained of pain in his legs. The neighbours also noted Margaret turned the radio up to drain the sound of Benjamin moaning in the bedroom.
That evening, Margaret’s brother came to visit the patient. At about ten o’ clock Margaret fed her husband some medication with a spoon, in the company of her brother. Before sunrise, Benjamin Rheeder died. Dr Bloch arrived, diagnosed gastro-enteritis and ascribed the death to hearth failure. He signed the death certificate there and then. When he wanted to contact a coroner to remove the body, Margaret refused. She kept the decomposing body under her watchful eyes for two days until the funeral.
Constable Petrus Rheeder, decided to investigate the death of his namesake. The first person he discreetly questioned was Johannes Strydom, who told him Margaret had admitted to him she had given Benjamin rat poison. Constable Petrus found no poison in the home but he had established that Margaret had bought ant poison from the pharmacy. He requested an exhumation. Analyses of the contents of Benjamin’s stomach revealed enough arsenic that the pathologist could determine it was administered at about ten o’ clock the night before he died.
On 7 November 1957 Margaret Rheeder pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder in court. Nine days later, a jury found her guilty, yet they suggested mitigating circumstances, due to the fact that Margaret had had led such a terrible life. The judge disagreed, and sentenced her to death. On 6th May 1958, just before she was hanged, she confessed that she had killed Benjamin.
South African Maria Magdalena Groesbeek 1969
Born on 9 February 1936, Maria Magdalena Deyzel was one of six children. Her family moved to Vryburg where Maria, or Miempie, as she was nicknamed, decided to leave school in grade 9 in order to earn a salary to help her parents. At 18, she relocated to Harrismith, where she met and married Christiaan Stephanus Buys, 12 years her senior.
Chris Buys was an illiterate labourer. In the 15 years of their marriage, he had changed employment 14 times. Miempie borne him four children. Chris worked at the railways where he earned about a R100 a month, which he diligently paid over to Miempie, who always complained there was never enough money. However she employed three domestic workers to help her to clean their humble little railway house. She also chained smoked. Miempie found employment at a funeral parlour – can one trace the spectre of Martha Wise?
Gerhard Groesbeek had a below average intelligence and left school in grade 8. He joined the railways and met Chris Buys, about 23 years his senior. Both men were reserved and shy but struck up a friendship. Gerhard became a regular visitor to Chris and Miempie, and in 1967 when they moved into a slightly larger house, Gerhard moved in as a lodger.
A year later Gerhard and Miempie had become lovers. She was 12 years his senior. The affair soon became public knowledge and a source of gossip all over town Gerhard’s parents tried to intervene, Chris called upon Miempie’s parents and her brother-in-law even threw Gerhard out of the home one Christmas Eve in 1968, after the pair had admitted their love to the family. For a while Gerhard moved back with his parents. Miempie simply moved into a boarding house, and they resumed their affair. One day she moved back into her home with Chris and asked him for a divorce, but he refused. Since Gerhard was not yet 21, his parents also refused him permission to marry.
On 31 January 1969, Miempie bought ant poison. In the presence of a neighbour and her children, she threatened to take the poison, but they prevented her. When Chris asked her why she wanted to commit suicide, she threatened to do it again if he did not divorce her. Chris steadfastly refused and Miempie had nine unsuccessful attempts at committing suicide with the poison. One wonders if this was already a set up for an alibi for securing poison – I have mentioned before, killing someone with poison is a well-planned premeditated act that can take months or years to be fruitful.
From February to March 1969, Miempie gradually began poisoning Chris and reviving him, building up an alibi of symptoms resembling illness. On 24 March, Chris was admitted to hospital in agonizing pain. He was transferred to Kroonstad Hospital, where he died on 28 March 1969.
Two weeks after Chris’ death on 10 April 1969, Gerhard proposed to her as he would turn 21 within two days. On 12 June 1969, the couple married in Ladybrand. Scarcely married for two weeks, Miempie’s bubble burst when the police arrived on the Groesbeek’s doorstep to arrest her. Gerhard was already in custody at the Police Station. A postmortem analysis had revealed that Chris had died of arsenic poisoning. Miempie had not been
Miempie confessed to killing her husband that afternoon. She told the police that he had assaulted her often. She said life with Chris was unbearable since he never bathed before he got into bed. As awaiting trial prisoners Miempie and Gerhard exchanged passionate love letters, until she implicated him in the murder.
On 10 December 1969, Maria (Miempie) Groesbeek was sentenced to death. She was executed on 13 November 1970.
Gerhard Groesbeek was acquitted, it was deemed his intelligence was too low to have orchestrated the murder. At 22 he had to begin a new life. He returned to his parent’s house and sometimes he would visit Chris’ grave. He said Miempie had seduced him in that house and it was his first sexual encounter. “I don’t know what I saw in that old woman,” he said finally.
These case studies almost follow a blue-print script: A woman born into poverty marries an older man to escape from home. Her marriage is abusive and a disappointment. She has several children. She feels trapped in a life similar to the one she wanted to escape in the first place. She meets a younger lover – and poisons her husband to inherit his money and pursue happiness with the younger man, who deserts her. She is arrested, executed or imprisoned for life – the Things We Do for Love.
Top image: Older woman and younger man (Public Domain)