Sarah Jane Robinson (née Tennant; May 26, 1838 – January 3, 1906), known as The Boston Borgia, was an Irish-born American serial killer who poisoned her family members and other people from 1881 to 1886,[1] with the help of her accomplices Thomas R. Smith and Dr. Charles C.
[2] She was initially sentenced to death for the poisoning of her brother-in-law,[3] but the verdict was later changed to life imprisonment,[4] with Robinson dying behind bars.
[1] From 1881 and 1886, several members of the Robinson family passed away from mysterious illnesses, all with similar symptoms such as excruciating stomach pain and vomiting.
Mr. Sleeper, the Robinson's landlord, was nursed by Sarah Jane during his illness, and died of what, at the time, was deemed heart disease.
Already the deaths of Robinson's eldest daughter Elizabeth (24) and her nephew Thomas Freeman (7) had caused suspicion and were under investigation, but the breaking point came when her son, William, was taken sick with the previous symptoms.
[6] Using this knowledge, Dr. White preserved parts of William's stomach for later analysis at Harvard College, which revealed large quantities of arsenic.
[11] Before the trial started, a noelle prosequi was entered by Attorney General A. J. Waterman, dismissing the charges against Thomas Smith and Charles Beers.
Although the Governor's Council allegedly was against such a decision,[3] they later decided to indeed commute the sentence to life in prison, much to the surprise of both the press and the citizens of Boston.