She was preceded by Francesca La Sarda, who was executed for having trafficked in illegal lethal poison the year prior.
The case attracted a lot of attention and the investigation was conducted on the orders of Fernando Afán de Ribera.
The case is first mentioned in the Compendio di diversi successi in Palermo dall’anno 1632 by Baldassare Zamparrone (1581–1648).
The contemporary diarist Gaetano Alessis described in Notizie piacevoli e curiose ossia aneddoti…, in which he claimed that the poison Aqua Tofana was invented by her and named after her.
Thofania d'Adamo are known in history as the alleged mother of the famous poisoner Giulia Tofana.