By April 1953, four of Caroline Grills’s relatives had turned up dead in similar circumstances and even more of her family members were still getting sick. It was under this aura of unnerving uncertainty that John Downey, the son-in-law of one of the recently deceased, stumbled upon a newspaper article about Yvonne Fletcher, the first Australian found guilty of murder by thallium poisoning. So, when John saw Aunty Carrie slipping something into his mother-in-law’s tea, he decided it was time to take action.Sources:

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/serial-killer-caroline-grills-served-rat-poison-to-her-relatives/news-story/d4bc91eecf8ff0d85050cd38ecc0737d

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/grills-caroline-10371

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/277828549

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/280482217

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48927134

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/recipe-for-murder-the-poisoners-tales-20110520-1evcj.html

https://mhnsw.au/whats-on/exhibitions/crimes-passion/

https://vernon.mhnsw.au/objects/54282/photograph

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/280471787

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/249257539

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/69484978

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96400776

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2895015

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/99091033

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/275036074

https://www.neighbourhoodmedia.com.au/post/death-in-a-teacup

https://dictionaryofsydney.org/media/67208

https://darkstories.com.au/tag/caroline-grills/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96533590

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18283164

https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.304978805990535?__cf_chl_tk=.sV.wTn.Gy19VvLQOW_FObWDlukKR_HYhFgFgtnQQBk-1791301423-1.0.1.1-a4T7J2wmbgulPjV2SLjxc6DfmMl_VnVWNzZsB79p3T4

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peritonitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20376247

We should all hope to have the kind of family Christina Harris had. When their beloved daughter and sister, a 36-year-old mom of a 4-year-old and a 4-month-old, died unexpectedly, they wanted answers, but the answers they hoped to gain from an autopsy came in the form of more questions. The autopsy revealed an accidental overdose. This made no sense. Christina didn’t struggle with substance use disorder. It would take years before investigators would finally listen to the family and reveal what really happened.

Sources:

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/defenders/2021/12/09/weve-been-fighting-so-long-how-2-michigan-women-helped-solve-their-sisters-murder/

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/defenders/2021/11/17/michigan-man-convicted-of-murdering-wife-by-lacing-cereal-with-lethal-dose-of-heroin/

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2021/11/02/can-michigan-mothers-breast-milk-reveal-who-killed-her-husbands-trial-begins-this-week/

https://thecinemaholic.com/christina-ann-thompson-harris-murder-where-is-jason-harris-now/

https://thecinemaholic.com/christina-harris-family-now/

https://au.news.yahoo.com/judges-spray-after-man-is-jailed-for-killing-wife-with-cereal-060617247.html?guccounter=2

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/michigan-man-accused-killing-wife-spiking-her-cereal-heroin-n1047276

https://people.com/conviction-upheld-for-mich-man-who-killed-wife-by-putting-heroin-in-cereal-weeks-after-she-gave-birth-8601803

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/defenders/2021/12/09/weve-been-fighting-so-long-how-2-michigan-women-helped-solve-their-sisters-murder/

https://www.courts.michigan.gov/49d86f/siteassets/case-documents/uploads/opinions/final/coa/20240222_c359675_79_359675.opn.pdf

https://www.wnem.com/2024/02/27/appeals-court-upholds-conviction-davison-man-who-killed-wife-with-poisoned-cereal/

Murder and arson in the small Eastern Washington town of Newman Lake were rare. Neighbors looked out for each other and couldn’t have imagined that a member of their community, a single dad who was caring for two of his six children, would ever do what he was accused of, but how well do we really know our neighbors? What could drive a mild-mannered, middle-aged man to commit such a heinous act? Financial stress can cause people to do unimaginable things.Sources:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hbojAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mtAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3097%2C1925661

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=42NWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HfIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5907%2C8450

https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19990601/2963955/arson-slaying-suspect-dies-in-apparent-suicide----spokane-county-man-accused-of-strangling-son

https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19990309/2948477/did-boy-pay-deadly-price-for-fathers-debts----money-mattered-most-to-man-accused-of-killing-son-for-insurance-accusers-say

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1999/feb/13/boy-strangled-father-focus-of-probe-robert-wood/

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1999/feb/24/wood-arrested-as-suspect-in-sons-death-prosecutor/

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1999/may/14/accused-killer-charged-with-job-related-thefts/

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1999/feb/27/prosecutors-formally-charge-dad-wood-accused-of/

https://forensictales.com/a-cereal-killer/

Though the 1960s were a time of change that saw women becoming more vocal about their rights and lack thereof, access to reproductive choice was still years away. When Judy Hyams found herself unexpectedly pregnant, she turned to a family friend whom she trusted. After all, he was a doctor. Things became murky after Judy was introduced to someone who promised they could help her. Years later, a true crime show would shed light on the case but provide no new answers.

Sources:

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Judy_Hyams

https://charleyproject.org/case/judith-carole-himes

https://www.facebook.com/PIFortheMissing/posts/on-this-date-judith-carol-hyams-sometimes-spelled-himes-went-missing-on-septembe/386415725381250/

https://websleuths.com/threads/fl-judith-hyams-22-coral-gables-14-sept-1965.61731/page-2

https://mysterydelver.com/judging-judy/

https://reprorights.substack.com/p/before-roe-america-had-abortion-squads

https://bioethicstoday.org/blog/abortion-welcome-to-the-sixties/

https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=04f0b513-fc12-45fb-bbeb-86ed47d25dff

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/23/health/abortion-lessons-jane-wellness

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/03/12/the-1960s-a-decade-of-change-for-women
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/powerful-complicated-legacy-betty-friedans-feminine-mystique-180976931/