Strychnine
Fast Facts:
– From the seeds of the Strychnos nux vomica (most common)
– Native to India and SE Asia
– A common pesticide
– Used in heroin
– Causes muscle spasms
– Death is from exhaustion and asphyxia
– No antidote
– Used by serial killer Thomas Cream
A naturally occurring poison, strychnine is obtained from seeds of the Dog Button plant (Strychnos nux-vomica) as well as other plants. It’s a neurotoxin which impacts the spinal nerves, causing severe body spasms when ingested, causing death within a few hours. There is no antidote.
It’s been used as a pesticide for rats and gophers, however, due to its dangers (it’s non-selective, meaning it’s a risk to children and pets) it’s been replaced by safer toxins in most places. Low doses are added to street drugs, such as heroin, where it can act as a mild hallucinogen and to alleviate some of the less favourable symptoms of heroin. In a very diluted form it can be a performance enhancer for athletes.
A famous historical account of strychnine poisoning is the case of Dr. Thomas Neil Cream. Starting in 1878, Cream killed at least seven women and one man, all his patients. He served ten years in an American prison then returned to London, where he poisoned more people. He was finally executed for murder in 1892.
From: Ashley Kay
43-year-old Patsy Wright died unexpectedly in 1987. Eight days after her death a routine autopsy was performed. 56,000 different substances were tested and a positive result was found for strychnine. The morning of Patsy’s death she’d called her sister, telling her she’d taken some cold medicine and felt nauseous – she collapsed while talking on the phone. Testing of the cold medicine revealed high levels of strychnine. Product tampering and suicide were ruled out.
Police thought someone who knew Patsy well was responsible as only those close to her knew she had a habit of taking night time cold medicine before bed. Patsy’s ex-husband was questioned by the police as Patsy had a restraining order against him. She was also due to testify against him in an arson case the following week. He’d been harrassing her to change her story but she refused. He maintained his innocence but refused a polygraph. Police hoped that as sales of strychnine are controlled by the federal government someone would remember a suspicious sale from around the time of her death. The case was never solved.
References:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/patsy-wright/
https://www.murdermiletours.com/blog/deadly-poisons-used-by-murderers-serial-killers-despots
https://www.wired.com/2006/08/the-best-deadly-poisons-ingested-or-inhaled/
https://www.thoughtco.com/famous-poisoning-cases-4118225
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Neill_Cream
https://www.thoughtco.com/deadliest-poisons-known-to-man-4058116
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnos_nux-vomica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnine
April 29, 2021 at 9:19 pm
Ooo that case was from the year I was born! It’s so sad it was never solved….
April 30, 2021 at 5:29 pm
Yeah, seems like it was the ex, but without evidence it could never be proven.
April 30, 2021 at 12:34 am
It’s hard to believe this is Y. Only one more day!
April 30, 2021 at 5:29 pm
I know! April has flown by.
April 30, 2021 at 6:32 am
It has no known use but as poison, so if you are free let’s go out Poisoning pigeons in the Park.
April 30, 2021 at 5:31 pm
Don’t they use cyanide on peanuts to poison the pigeons 😉
May 1, 2021 at 11:52 am
I thought Aussies and those people from New Zealand idolized Tom Lehrer.
In the 50’s the US Fish and Wildlife Service used Strychnine to keep the population of pigeons under control in Boston Commons.
April 30, 2021 at 7:37 am
Nasty stuff. It’s so sad when murders go unsolved, especially when the main suspect likely did it.
April 30, 2021 at 5:32 pm
It must be so frustrating for the police to have their suspicions and not be able to find the evidence. Bet it haunts them years later.
April 30, 2021 at 8:58 am
In the fruit and seed form it looks so innocent and harmless …. I wonder how animals like squirrels or fruit eating birds know the difference
https://pagesfromjayashree.blogspot.com/2021/04/y-for-yule-ball.html
May 2, 2021 at 11:16 am
Interestingly, some animals have developed an immunity to strychnine, such as fruit bats.
May 1, 2021 at 6:28 pm
It was probably the ex husband. Poor woman.
The Multicolored Diary
May 2, 2021 at 11:16 am
So sad, isn’t it.
May 1, 2021 at 8:08 pm
Another furtive poison, and unsolved murder…
May 2, 2021 at 11:16 am
There are too many that fit your description.
May 2, 2021 at 8:24 am
Another instance where the dose makes the poison! I had no idea it could be a performance enhancer.
May 2, 2021 at 11:18 am
I didn’t know about the performance enhancer until I did the research either. Not one I’d want to take at any dose.