Mary Clement

Marie "Mary" Clement (February 16, 1863 – July 9, 1944), also known under several aliases, was a Luxembourgish-born American serial killer who poisoned her parents and two of her sisters at their home in Dubuque, Iowa. Although never charged in their deaths on the grounds that she was insane at the time, she was later convicted of attempting to poison her sister's family in Rose Hill, Illinois and sentenced to a year in the Joliet Prison. Annie (6), on August 1, 1880 Margarite (54), on July 24, 1884 Lena (13), on August 9, 1884 Michel (49), on March 28, 1885

Freres poisonings Two months following the burial of her father in Dubuque, Mary moved in with her sister Catherine, her husband Michel "Michael" Freres and their two children in Rose Hill. On several occasions, she cooked meals for the family, and each time, they would be overtaken by violent vomiting and spasms. Michael eventually grew suspicious of Mary, as she always refused to eat any of the soup she served.

One day, he found a pack of grayish-colored powder in his backyard, and after eating some soup in the afternoon and vomiting, he noticed a sediment in his plate that looked like the mysterious powder. Upon further examination, he found more of the substance in his wife and the children's plates. Puzzled, he brought the powder and the plates for an analysis in Evanston, with the attending physicians, Dr. Isaac Poole and Professor H. S. Corbart, revealing that the powder contained arsenic.

At her trial, Clement observed the procedure closely, but did it so unnaturally calmly and expressed nervousness so rarely, that even the press remarked how out of character it was. Despite this, with Michael Freres as the main witness and the several people who presented that there was evidence of arsenic poisoning, Mary Clement was quickly sentenced to a year in jail by the jury.

Later life and death After her release, Clement moved out to Los Angeles to work as a domestic servant for a wealthy family. According to the family members, she never talked about her past, but was known as a nice old lady who liked to wear elaborate hats. Mary Clement died at the age of 81, and was later buried at St. Henry's Church in Chicago, in the Freres family plot.