Lydia Sherman (December 24, 1824 – May 16, 1878), née Danbury, also known as The Derby Poisoner, was an American

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

. She poisoned eight children in her care (six of which were her own) and her three husbands and was convicted of second-degree murder in 1872. Five years into her sentence, she escaped under the pretext of being sick and got a job as housekeeper to a rich widower in Providence. She was caught and imprisoned again before dying in

Wethersfield State Prison Wethersfield State Prison was the second state prison in the state of Connecticut. Used between 1827 and 1963, it was later demolished and the site turned into a park on the banks of the Connecticut River. History Connecticut opened the Wethers ...

on May 16, 1878 from cancer.

Life and crimes

Lydia Danbury was orphaned as a child and raised by her uncle, the farmer John Claygay. At age 16, she worked as a tailor and met her first husband, Edward Struck, at age 17 through the Methodist church. They moved to New York City. After her husband became depressed after losing work, Lydia Struck poisoned him with

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, bu ...

in 1864. Six weeks later, she poisoned three of her young children in the same manner and two more children in 1865. Their death certificates listed "typhoid fever" as the cause of death. Meanwhile, Lydia Struck worked as a nurse and married her second husband, the widower Dennis Hurlburt, in 1868. After noticing her husband's declining health, she poisoned him with arsenic. She married Horatio Sherman in 1870 and killed him in May 1871.

Notes and references

1824 births 1878 deaths 19th-century American criminals 19th-century American women American female serial killers American murderers of children Criminals from New Jersey Filicides in New York (state) Mariticides People from Burlington, New Jersey Place of death missing Poisoners Serial killers who died in prison custody {{NJ-stub

Life and crimes

See also

Notes and references