Mary Frances Creighton

Mary Frances Creighton (July 29, 1899 – July 16, 1936) was an American woman convicted and executed for murder by poisoning. Creighton was nicknamed "The Long Island Borgia" and the "Black-Eyed Borgia by the press, because of her use of arsenic poisoning. She was sentenced to death by electric chair. She passed out before the execution, and was executed in an unconscious state. Creighton was suspected of murdering three people for life insurance money in New Jersey in the 1920s. She had been acquitted in two of these murders and was never tried for the third. Creighton confessed to one of these murders after her arrest in the third case.

Early life Mary Frances Avery was born in Rahway, New Jersey. As a young girl, both her parents died, and she and her siblings were raised by their maternal grandparents. Growing up, she was not known to be an outstanding student and she made few friends, preferring to keep to herself.

The relationship between Creighton and her mother-in-law continued to deteriorate, with Creighton telling neighbours that her mother-in-law was a disturbed person who was talking about wanting to commit suicide.

In 1920, her mother-in-law became ill. She was admitted to hospital with fever and cramps, and subsequently died. In 1921, Creighton's father-in-law died, and in 1923, Creighton's brother Raymond also died. Raymond had named his sister the sole beneficiary of his $1,000 life insurance policy. These deaths caught the attention of the authorities, and Creighton was suspected of poisoning all three.

Creighton and her husband, John, were tried for Raymond's death in 1923, but were acquitted due to a lack of witnesses. The Anna Creighton murder trial, also in 1923, ended with Creighton being acquitted, again due to a lack of witnesses, and due to the testimony of toxicologist Alexander Gettler, who found only a trace amount of arsenic in Anna Creighton's system. John Creighton stood by his wife and protested her innocence throughout. On the day of the execution (July 16, 1936) Creighton was suffering from hysterical paralysis and was given a morphine injection. Some reports state that she was completely unconscious when the electric chair was turned on.

In media The case and Mary Frances Creighton were showcased on the true crime TV show Deadly Women (season 6, episode 4) on the episode "Matriarchs of Murder".