Lydia Sherman
Lydia Sherman (December 24, 1824 – May 16, 1878),[1] née Danbury,[2] also known as The Derby Poisoner,[3] was an American serial killer. She poisoned eight children in her care (six of which were her own) and her three husbands and was convicted of second-degree murder in 1872.[4] Five years into her sentence, she escaped under the pretext of being sick and got a job as housekeeper to a rich widower in Providence. She was caught and imprisoned again before dying in Wethersfield State Prison on May 16, 1878 from cancer.
Lydia Sherman | |
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| Born | Lydia Danbury December 24, 1824 Burlington, New Jersey, United States |
| Died | May 16, 1878 (aged 53) Wethersfield, Connecticut, United States |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Other names | The Derby Poisoner |
| Occupation | Housekeeper |
| Spouse(s) | Edward Struck (1841-1864)
Dennis Hurlburt ( -1868) Horatio Sherman (-1871) |
| Children | Martha Ann Struck ( - 1864)
George Whitfield Struck ( - 1864) Ann Eliza Struck ( - 1864) Edward Struck ( - 1864) Josephine Struck (1842 - 1843) Lydia Struck (1846 - 1864) William Struck (1863 - 1864) |
| Criminal penalty | life sentence for second-degree murder |
| Details | |
| Victims | 12 (including 3 husbands and 8 children, 6 of which her own) |
Span of crimes | 1863–1877 |
| State(s) | Connecticut, Rhode Island |
Date apprehended | June 7, 1872 |
| Imprisoned at | Wethersfield |
Life and crimes
Lydia Danbury was orphaned as a child and raised by her uncle, the farmer John Claygay.[5] At age 16, she worked as a tailor and met her first husband, Edward Struck, at age 17 through the Methodist church. They moved to New York City. After her husband became depressed after losing work, Lydia Struck poisoned him with arsenic[6] in 1864.[7] Six weeks later, she poisoned three of her young children in the same manner and two more children in 1865. Their death certificates listed "typhoid fever" as the cause of death.[7]
Meanwhile, Lydia Struck worked as a nurse and married her second husband, the widower Dennis Hurlburt, in 1868. After noticing her husband's declining health, she poisoned him with arsenic. She married Horatio Sherman in 1870 and killed him in May 1871.[7]
Notes and references
- "Lydia Sherman". Find a Grave. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- Schechter, Harold. (2014). Fatal : the poisonous life of a female serial killer. Pocket Books. ISBN 9781476729121. OCLC 893102591.
- Staff (January 11, 1873). "The Derby Poisoner. – Confession of Mrs. Lydia Sherman, the Murderer of Three Husbands and Four Children" (PDF). Hartford Courant (via The New York Times). Retrieved August 4, 2015.
- "Historic Burlington City, NJ: Lydia Sherman". February 4, 1998. Archived from the original on April 26, 2013.
- Sherman, Lydia (1873). "Lydia Sherman: confession of the arch murderess of Connecticut: bloody deeds perpetrated with a cold heart, numerous poisonings, trial and conviction". The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800-1926.
- "Lydia Sherman: The Derby Poisoner | Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project". Retrieved November 12, 2019.
- Bendici, Ray (2012). Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Connecticut History. Morris Book Publishing.
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