Thallium
Fast Facts:
– “Tl” on the periodic table (atomic no.81)
– Grey metal not found free in nature
– Produced as byproduct from refining of heavy-metal sulfide ores
– Historically used in rat poison and insecticides, now restricted/banned in many countries
– Also used for ringworm and tuberculosis
– Detected through hair analysis
– Popular murder weapon, especially in Australia in the 50s
– Poison used by the Teacup Poisoner
Thallium is a metal that isn’t found free in nature. It was discovered in the residue of sulfuric acid production by scientists in 1861. It has many uses, including optical, electrical and medical.
Tasteless soluble thallium salts are highly toxic. Historically they were used in insecticides and rat poison, however many countries have restricted or banned their use as they are non-selective – meaning they will kill anything. They were also used to treat ringworm and to reduce the night sweats of tuberculosis cases, however use is now limited (and there are better medicines available now).
Symptoms of thallium poisoning include hair loss (although this isn’t in every case), gastro, effects on the nervous system as well as liver, kidneys and heart. Treatment includes daily doses of oral prussian blue, which absorbs thallium letting it pass through the body.
Thallium has a history of being a popular murder weapon and is also known as “the poisoner’s poison” and “inheritance powder”.
In the 1950’s there were a lot of thallium murders in Australia as the poison was still present in rat poison in New South Wales (there was a rat infestation in Sydney at the time, meaning you could buy the bait over the counter):
From: Zegan Metals
- A mother of two killed her first husband and her abusive second husband. Neighbours became suspicious when the second husband had the same symptoms as the first husband. She received a life sentence.
- A grandmother killed her daughter’s fiance.
- A woman was found not guilty for attempting to murder her son-in-law with thallium with whom she was having an affair. She killed herself with thallium.
- A woman added rat poison to her husband’s tea to “give him a headache to repay the many headaches he had given me” during violent arguments.
- A woman received a life sentence after adding thallium to tea she gave to her family and a close family friend (she was called “Aunt Thally” in jail).
In the 1920’s, Austrian woman Martha Löwenstein murdered her husband (she’d already convinced him to chop off his leg for insurance money – she spent a short time in jail thanks to the bribes she offered the coroners). Not long after his death, her two children became sick with the same symptoms and died. Martha played the role of long-suffering widow and mother. As a result, an aunt, in a moment of compassion, made her sole heir – not long after the aunt died. She then convinced her landlord to take out an insurance policy in Martha’s favour, after which the landlord died. The landlord’s son raised suspicions after which an investigation and exhumation led to the discovery of the murders. She was found guilty and executed.
Graham Young, the Teacup Poisoner, used thallium in his murders. You can read about him in my 2018 A to Z serial killers post HERE.
From: Research Gate
American George Trepal was found guilty and sentenced to death for the murder of his neighbour, Peggy. 41-year-old Peggy was unwell for a while with what her family thought was a stomach bug. When others in the family fell ill (her stepson and son, both in their teens) it was assumed the bug was doing the rounds. But when her sister-in-law, a nurse, visited Peggy she knew something was wrong and took her to hospital. There it was discovered she had thallium poisoning. Peggy slipped into a coma and testing on the teens discovered thallium – they were in hospital for months. Peggy was ill for 4 months before dying. Testing revealed trace amounts in her husband, daughter, step-daughter and granddaughter. Testing discovered a box of coca cola they kept in their carport had been dosed with thallium.
The behind neighbour, Trepal, a former chemist and computer programmer gave some strange answers to police questioning. Further investigation revealed Trepal had served time for methamphetamine production – thallium is a byproduct of that process. A small bottle containing traces of thallium nitrate was eventually found in his garage.
References:
https://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20110304/news/608075843/LL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thallium_poisoning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thallium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Marek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Grills
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Young
https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/23/archives/illinois-man-guilty-in-fathers-death.html
https://murderpedia.org/male.T/t/trepal-george.htm
April 23, 2021 at 9:19 pm
Lots of people putting this is tea! Goodness! I think your 2018 serial killer series was how I first found your blog!
April 25, 2021 at 8:47 am
I think it was! And yes, lots of tea (and lots of women).
April 23, 2021 at 10:56 pm
Give him a headache to repay the many headaches he had given me – sounds legit ;-)))
Wow, Ms Löwenstein was quite the criminal. I think there’s typo in the year, This probably happened in the 1910s.
Happy Friday, make sure there’s no thallium before you sip!
https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.com/2021/04/a-z-2021-travel-broadens-your-mind.html
April 25, 2021 at 8:48 am
There was a typo (no idea how I missed that, lol). Fixed now. I guess she got away with it, and then kept getting away with it…
April 24, 2021 at 12:07 am
Another interesting one. That damage to the nails–at least that’s a clue there’s a problem.
April 25, 2021 at 8:48 am
There is a clue, although by the time you see it in the nails it might be too late, depending on the dose.
April 24, 2021 at 12:45 am
You seem to have done exhaustive research….is there such an element in the periodic table ? I dont remember much from high school chemistry
http://pagesfromjayashree.blogspot.com/2021/04/t-for-thestral.html
April 25, 2021 at 8:49 am
Yep, this is in the periodic table. Although when I did chemistry back in school, I didn’t realise some of the things on the periodic table couldn’t be found free in nature.
April 24, 2021 at 1:55 am
“Inheritance powder,” what a great euphemism.
April 25, 2021 at 8:50 am
It’s actually a really clever name. Although to get the name does mean it has to have been used an awful lot for that purpose.
April 24, 2021 at 4:19 am
Oh la la, these ones really wanted to kill everybody! I don’t know if it’s funny, or too scarry… 😨
April 25, 2021 at 8:50 am
The fact it’s mostly woman killing family (especially husbands) is a bit scary, but some of the stories about why they did it are a little funny.
April 24, 2021 at 6:41 am
Inheritance powder? For heaven’s sake, what is wrong with people?? Did the investigators figure out why George wanted to kill his neighbors?
April 25, 2021 at 8:51 am
Yes, the investigators said that George and his wife had a history of complaining about their barking dogs… (and I’m still puzzled why he killed them and not the dogs).
April 24, 2021 at 7:48 am
The joys of the industrial revolution. Need something like sulfur, extract it and toss the slag in the river.
I can imagine a conversation.
“I found a way to pull the sulfur from this stuff.”
“What are you left with other than sulfur?”
“Just slag, it is worthless.”
“Why is your hair falling out?”
“Maybe this slag stuff has some value, we can make a depilatory from it.”
“We’ll make a killing.”
April 25, 2021 at 8:52 am
Okay, now you’ve made me laugh, BF!
April 24, 2021 at 12:47 pm
Sounds like a nasty way to die. (You might want to edit the paragraph about Martha Lowenstein. Interesting date.)
April 25, 2021 at 8:53 am
I did make a bit of a boo boo with that date. While it’s a powerful toxin, I don’t thin it has any time machine properties 😉
April 24, 2021 at 1:28 pm
Ah, “Aunty Thally”! Caroline Grills, who got the idea from other cases(and whose family finally worked it out the same way. I was writing a chapter about her in my book, Crime Time: Australians behaving badly, when I went travelling and met a grey nomad couple. When I told them what I was researching, the wife said, “Oh, I knew her, I was working in Long Bay jail as a nurse when she was there. Such a sweet woman!” Weird! But it goes to show how she got away with it for so long when even somebody who KNEW what she had done thought she was lovely…
U Is For Underworld
https://suebursztynski.blogspot.com/2021/04/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-2021-u-is-for.html
April 25, 2021 at 8:54 am
Wow! That is quite incredible you happened to stumble across someone who knew her. Bu sweet? Especially when she knew what she’d done. No wonder she was able to get away with it like she did.
April 24, 2021 at 8:19 pm
I was hoping my comment was here by now, I can’t figure out what’s going on with WordPress…
Anyway, I said that Caroline Grills, the woman nicknamed Aunty Thally, got a chapter in my children’s book on crime opinion Australia. While I was researching it, I was travelling and met a grey nomad couple. We had a chat together over a meal in the pub. I told them about my research and the wife said, “oh, I knew her, I worked as a nurse in Long Bay Jail. Such a sweet woman!”
Not surprised she got away with it for so long when even someone who KNEW what sh3 had done thought she was lovely!
April 25, 2021 at 8:54 am
Sue, your comments are showing (so this is a duplicate). I’m not sure why you can’t see them!