Baba Anujka

Ana di Pištonja, (Also known as Anna Pistova, and nicknamed by the media the Banat Witch, She allegedly became a misanthropist at age 20 after being seduced by a young Austrian military officer; she contracted syphilis from him before he left her broken-hearted.) After that, she sought seclusion and started to show interest in medicine and chemistry. She spoke five languages. She later married a landowner named Pistov or di Pištonja with whom she had 11 children, only one of whom survived to adulthood. She produced medicines and mixtures which would make soldiers ill enough to escape military service, or "love potions". She sold the so-called "magic water" mostly to married women; they would give the concoction to their husbands, who would usually die after about eight days. When told about a marriage problem, Anujka would ask her client, "How heavy is that problem?", which meant, "What does he weigh?" She was then able to calculate the dose needed. Anujka's victims were usually men, typically young and healthy. Her clients claimed at her trial that they did not know that her "magic water" contained poison, but that they believed that she had some kind of supernatural powers to kill people using magic. Anujka's potions killed between 50 Stana was a previous client and Anujka had provided her with herbal medicines on other occasions. Stana gave the mixture to her husband Lazar Ludoški, and he fell ill and died after a few days. The authorities exhumed the bodies of the victims for autopsies performed at the University of Belgrade.

The trial began in June 1929 at the District Court in Pančevo, and the hearings took place on 18 and 19 June. The trial continued on 1 July when results were available from chemical testing of samples found in Anujka's house, at which time the prosecutor and defence attorneys gave closing statements. The prosecutor sought the death penalty for all defendants except Sturza, who was a minor at the time of the murder and for whom he sought a prison sentence.

Sofija and Sima Momirov defended themselves at the trial. They claimed that they did not know that the "magic water" contained poison; they believed that it was just water and that the death came as a result of Anujka's supernatural powers. Stana Momirov claimed that she only wanted the magic water to heal her husband from alcoholism and that she was not aware that it would kill him. During the trial, Anujka constantly denied charges, claiming that she never sold any magic water and that the whole case against her was fabricated by Ljubina Milankov, who wanted to blame Anujka for her own crimes. Sturza defended herself, claiming that she was still a child at the time of the murder and that she was not aware that the water would kill her grandfather; but Sofija testified that Sturza was well aware of the whole plot.

The verdict was delivered on 6 July 1929. Anujka was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the role of accomplice in both murders.

Appeal Both the prosecutor and the defendants appealed the verdict to the Appellate Court in Novi Sad, and that trial took place on 29 and 30 November 1929. The prosecutor demanded capital punishment for all defendants. After some cross-examination, Sima and Sofija Momirov admitted that they knew about the poison from the start, but all defendants stood by their previous statements otherwise. and Stana and Sofija Momirov were re-sentenced to life in prison. Sima Momirov's sentence was increased from 15 years to life, and Ljubina Milankov's sentence was increased from 8 to 10 years. Sturza and Stojić were again acquitted.

Anujka then appealed to the Court of cassation in Novi Sad. The trial at the Court of cassation was held on 5 March 1930, and the court upheld Anujka's sentence.

Sentence Anujka spent her sentence in the women's prison in Požarevac. She was visited there in May 1934 by a group of law students and journalists. She was held in the prison hospital at that time.

She was released from prison in 1936 due to old age, after spending 8 years there. When visited by journalists after her release, Anujka maintained innocence and denied participating in poisonings. She died two years later in her house in Vladimirovac, on 1 September 1938, at the age of 100.