Rebecca Copin (born Rebecca Cobb 1796 in
Kanawha, Virginia – 1881 in Kanawha) is known for attempting to
poison
Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
her
husband
A husband is a male in a marital relationship, who may also be referred to as a spouse. The rights and obligations of a husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between societies and cultures, ...
, John Copin, with
arsenic.
In addition, according to John Copin's petition for
divorce in 1835,
she also scalded him with boiling water, threatened to shoot him, and beat him with his own
crutches when his leg was broken.
While arsenic poisoning was known as a common way for wives to kill husbands in
England in the early to mid 1800s,
Rebecca Copin's case is one of the earliest documented cases of
attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions.
Canada
Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...
by a wife of her husband using arsenic in the United States, and also an early documented case of
domestic violence
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
in the legal system of the
United States.
While the
jury found that Rebecca Copin had indeed tried to murder John Copin, John Copin's petition for divorce was not granted.
The jury also did not address any of the factors that may have led Rebecca Copin to attempt to murder John Copin.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copin, Rebecca
Poisoners
1796 births
1881 deaths
People from Wood County, West Virginia