DR. MICKI PISTORIUS

La Voisin & Maria Lee: The Allure of Female Poisoners

Besides both being regarded as infamous poisoners Catherine Montvoisin, colloquially known as La Voisin, a key figure in the 17th century-Affair des Poisons in France, and Maria Lee, a notorious murderer in post-Second World War South Africa, had several traits in common. Although neither were attractive, they both had a certain sensual allure, that ‘bewitched’ […]

Cougars Poisoning: Lusting for Young Lovers

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 […]

Smelling a Rat – Rodenticides, Female Rat Poisoners

The standard answer “I bought the poison for rats” alerts experienced detectives to “smell a rat” and investigate female poisoners. Rats are commensal, benefitting from human proximity. They evolved millions of years ago in Asia and moved in with humans, for humans provided a readily available source of food, whether their crops, their granaries or […]

Meddling and Peddling Poisons and Potions

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 […]

Powerful Princesses and Policial Poisonings

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, […]

Serial Killer Brydone Brandt, is he Hercules or Cerberus?

Oct 16 2024

Articles

Serial Killer Brydone Brandt, is he Hercules or Cerberus?

Some time after Stewart Wilken, the cannibal serial killer of South Africa was imprisoned, I received a call from St Albans Correctional Facility summoning me since Stewart was out of control in his cell and he called for me. While I was at St Albans, my colleague, detective Derick Norsworthy, who had secured the confession […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

The Science of Decay at Body Farms – Forensic Taphonomy in the Flesh

Oct 9 2024

Articles

The Science of Decay at Body Farms – Forensic Taphonomy in the Flesh

In the early 19th century, two serial killers, William Burke and William Hare, set up an illustrious business by killing 16 people in Edinburgh, selling the bodies to anatomists since there was a shortage of cadavers. With Edinburgh being a leading European centre of anatomical study, Scottish law prescribed that corpses used for medical research […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Sep 18 2024

Articles

True Crime: The Gorgoneion of Medusa

According to Greek mythology, Medusa, a Gorgon, was a beautiful maiden who was raped by the Greek god Poseidon, in a temple of the goddess Athena. Athena punished Medusa by turning her hair into snakes and anyone looking at her was petrified and turned into stone. Theseus, a Greek hero, managed to trick Medusa by […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

High Treason: The Boeremag – Ordinary Men

Sep 5 2024

Articles

High Treason: The Boeremag – Ordinary Men

In October 2002, Soweto, a township designated predominantly for Black people during the Apartheid era, located south-west of Johannesburg, South Africa, was rocked as a volley of bombs exploded, one-by-one over several hours, killing a woman. A month before the explosions on 16 September 2002, Detective Superintendent Tollie Vreugdenburg, former Commander of the Bushveld Murder […]

by Karin Mitchell

Unmasking Aficionados Posing as Experts on Serial Killers

Aug 29 2024

Articles

Unmasking Aficionados Posing as Experts on Serial Killers

The sensational reporting of Jack the Ripper terrorising Whitechapel London in the late 19th century, can serve as an archetypical portrayal of the dichotomous troubling relationship between the press and serial killers. The public craved all the details of the murders of the prostitutes and the press complied with gory descriptions, accompanied by a sketch […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Condoned Cruelty: Prolonged capital punishments over the ages

Aug 21 2024

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Condoned Cruelty: Prolonged capital punishments over the ages

Capital punishment was abolished on 6 June 1995 in South Africa. Norman Simons, the Station Strangler was sentenced on 14 June 1995 to 25 years for the murder of Elroy van Rooi. It was converted to a life sentence by an Appeal court in 1998. In December 2008, Magistrate Marelize Rolle found prima facie evidence […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

The Darker side of the Dark Tetrad: Sadism versus Violence

Aug 17 2024

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The Darker side of the Dark Tetrad: Sadism versus Violence

In 1886, the sexologist Kraft-Ebbing treated the Marquis de Sade’s work as a compendium of sexual pathologies and gave the term ‘sadism’ its clinical definition. The Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (1740 – 1814) was an 18th century French nobleman and author, who wrote several books when he was imprisoned for […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius

Alleged Nairobi Serial Killer Confesses to killing more than 40 women – Questions Asked

Aug 9 2024

Articles

Alleged Nairobi Serial Killer Confesses to killing more than 40 women – Questions Asked

On 26 June 2024, 26-year-old Josephine Owino, a hairdresser from Mukuru Kwa Njenga, in Nairobi the capital of Kenya, went missing after receiving an unexpected phone call and leaving her home at short notice to meet someone. She was never seen again. In the weeks that followed, Josephine’s younger sister, Peris Keya, visited three different […]

by Dr. Micki Pistorius