Preamble
Within a wider context of crime, serial poisoning can be an underestimated issue. Accordingly, I set out the aims of the book, its scope, structure, methodology, and features, and proposed readers. It is also useful to clarify certain terms including criminology , homicide in general, serial homicide, and serial poison homicide. Also important are considerations of the scale of homicide and its different types. Motive is a further potentially slippery term that it is helpful to clarify. After this, we can look ahead to the topics explored by later chapters.
Importance of Serial Poisoning
It is reported that the overall death rate from poisoning homicide is low. In the US, Shepherd and Ferslew (2009) identified 523 homicidal poison deaths between 1999 and 2005, giving an overall rate for the period of 0.26/million/year. However, an analysis of Uniform Crime Reports 1980s for the US indicated that the unknown offender rate for poisoning cases was 20–30 times higher than that for other homicides (Westveer et al. 1996) .
If apparently individual occurrences of poisoning homicide remain unsolved, it is feasible that among them instances of serial poisoning are going undetected.
This is supported by cases of serial poisoning that come to light after many killings. In Germany, in 2017, reports updated previous investigations into the activities of nurse Niels Högel [S61, P20] already convicted of murdering patients. Police now believe that Högel committed 36 murders while employed at the Oldenburg Clinic, Lower Saxony, then moved to Delmenhorst near Bremen where he killed a further 48 patients. (The letters in square brackets after a serial poisoner’s name refer to glossaries appended to this book, ‘S’ being a ‘summary’ of the case and ‘P’ being a more detailed ‘profile’, the numbers referring to the order on these lists.)
The combination of likely underestimated prevalence of serial poisoning, and past and recent cases in which more killings than expected have been ultimately detected, make serial poisoning an important topic to study and investigate.
Aims of the Book
A key aim of this book is to provide an outline for developing a criminology of serial poisoning homicide. Drawing on cases of serial poisoning, I suggest parameters of such a study by:
- Defining central terms such as homicide, and motive
- Examining theories and explanations of serial homicide in relation to serial poisoning
- Explaining the features of the substances that have been used in serial poisoning
- Exploring demographic characteristics of serial poisoners and their victims
- Considering healthcare serial poisoning specifically
- Discussing other aspects of investigating serial poisoning, such as seeking an internal structure or logic of some cases.
Scope of the Book
In its scope, this book examines serial homicidal poisonings in the modern era, allowing us to infer implications for contemporary understanding of poisons, poisoners, and investigation . Cases mentioned throughout the book almost invariably concern perpetrators convicted of murder. North America and the UK provide most of the material but there are examples from Europe (France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, Russia, Belgium, Spain); Canada; South America (Argentina); Australia; Japan; India; and Vietnam. Many of the cases raising important issues have been reported in the press, books, articles and internet sites. This chronological, geographical, and well-documented range of cases illustrate points about serial poisoning that inform broader understanding and allow tentative generalisations to be made.
I touch on rare instances of team serial poisoning (involving more than one perpetrator) and mass poisoning (where a group of people are simultaneously poisoned by a perpetrator or perpetrators). Areas of poisoning not covered in the book include: poisoning as judicial killing by gas chamber or lethal injection (Farrell 1994), wartime poisoning, corporate homicide, suicide pacts, and political assassinations. The scale, motivations, context, and implications of such poisonings I believe require separate treatment.
Features of the Book
In style, I have tried to be direct and use plain language, avoiding jargon. Where technical terms are used, I explain them. The book comprises chapters on serial poisoning and related matters. In each chapter, the structure is intended to aid the assimilation of its content. Each has an introduction, structured headings and subheadings, a conclusion, suggested activities to encourage reflection and discussion, texts for further reading, and references.
There are two glossaries. The first is a summary list of over sixty serial poisoning cases from the mid-1800s to the present day. These are in broadly chronological sequence according to the year when the perpetrator was sentenced. They illustrate the use of a wide variety of poisons, involving perpetrators worldwide. Where in the body of the book one of these cases is mentioned, it is identified by a letter ‘S’ (for summary) followed by a number which relates to the sequenced cases. For example, ‘[S1]’ refers to the first case that is summarised in the list. Where a serial poisoner is suspected of deaths other than the ones for which sentenced, I have usually noted this, but tend to concentrate on the homicides for which they were convicted.
The second glossary comprises over 20 profiles (fuller descriptions) of cases selected from the longer list of brief summaries. These describe cases more fully and include ‘points of particular interest’ and extend from the year 2000 to the present day. Where a case is mentioned in the body of the book which is covered by a fuller profile, this is indicated by the case summary number followed by the profile number.
Methodology Used in the Book
In approaching serial poisoning, I have laid bare the origins of my observations. These are the sixty plus case ‘summaries’ and the subset of these described more fully in the ‘profiles’, both towards the end of the book. In turn, the cases are chosen to be broadly representative of a greater number, allowing generalisations that can be tested by future research including that involving other cases.
About twenty countries are represented. A time frame based on the date that the perpetrator was convicted extends from 1850 to the present day, with an emphasis on more recent cases. Referenced sources with internet links where appropriate include books, book chapters, journal articles, national and local press reports, biographies, television news reports, encyclopaedias, judicial reports, public enquiry documents, unpublished research theses, and accounts of court proceedings. Sources in English, French, Spanish, and German have been consulted and referenced. I have tried to balance good sources with availability so that for many references, readers will be able to consult the relevant documents through libraries, book stores, the internet, and elsewhere. Where press reports are used, I have distilled from several what appears to be a reliable and consistent account of the crimes and have given examples of the coverage.
Additionally, in the work underpinning the book, I have sought the advice and views of specialists including homicide officers, lawyers, toxicologists, pathologists, and academics. Researchers and others have exchanged views and clarified points relating to their own publications. The generous response of these colleagues has been greatly encouraging (Farrell 2017).
This information has been used to look at serial poisoners in relation to serial killers in general, comparing demographic features such as gender, age, and ethnicity. All this allows one to trace the contours of serial poisoning and explore reasons for any differences and similarities in relation to serial killing more generally. I have also explored how wider crime and homicide theories apply to serial poisoning.
Proposed Readers
Core readers of the book are likely to be: students of criminology (classes dealing with criminal psychology, and murder investigation ); criminal justice professionals: attorneys, homicide detectives, forensic pathologists, forensic and clinical toxicologists, and other forensic investigators. More widely, readers are likely to include others who are interested in poisons and poisoners and the detection of poisoning. Relevant disciplines include: criminology , law and policing, toxicology and forensic science, history of crime and detection, and criminal psychology.
Given the scope of the volume and the worldwide range of examples of poisoning cases, I hope that it will attract readers from many English-speaking parts of the world, especially North America, the UK, India, Australia, New Zealand, and English-speaking countries of Africa. Other areas where English is widely spoken such as Scandinavia, may also find the book valuable.
Criminology
For Lacey and Zedner (2012) criminology is informed by sociology, social theory , psychology, history, economics, and political science, and concerns ‘social and individual antecedents of crime’ and ‘the nature of crime as a social phenomenon’. It examines ‘patterns of criminality and their social construction’ and the conditions bringing these about (historical, economic, political or social) (ibid., p. 160). In short, criminology draws on the social sciences, is concerned with...