Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “Arsenic Anna” Pt. 2 - Anna Marie Hahn

Episode Date: August 19, 2019

Five years into her killing spree, a team of financial detectives started to catch wind of Anna Marie Hahn’s dealings. With at least five confirmed victims by 1937, she showed no signs of stopping. Upon her arrest, police would discover a large cache of arsenic and various poisons. Sponsors! Mindhunter - Now Streaming, Only on Netflix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting. When detectives looked and searched to find any kind of evidence to find the person they were looking for, like Jack the Ripper, the Golden State Killer, the Unit Bomber. It's tedious work to find what you're looking for. So, if you're hiring, I've got news for you.

You can skip the lengthy investigation and the tiresome process of sorting through hundreds of resumes, days. Just use ZipRecruiter. Try for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers because not only does ZipRecruiter have the technology to match you with potential candidates quickly, it also just added a new feature that pushes candidates who are qualified and interested in your role to the top of the list. They can even tell you why they're interested, making it easier for you to get a sense of who they are. Cut through the standard and get to the standouts. With ZipRecruiter. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day.

And now, you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. That's ZipRecruiter. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the Lonely Hearts Killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels. But you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify. It's the commerce platform that can help you with literally everything, website design, marketing, shipping, and more. So start your business today with the best partner, Shopify, and get that. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash killers.

That's Shopify.com slash killers. From sauce to dust to nuggets, Diablo dusted crispy chicken nuggets. No, they don't come in mild. That would make like zero sense with the name. New Diablo dust and crispy chicken nuggets. Only at Taco Bell. At participating U.S. Taco Bell locations for a limited time and while supplies last. Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes discussions of murder, elder abuse, and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. It was the hottest day in July, but a cherubic, blonde, eight-year-old boy bounced eagerly through the door of his home on Coleraine Avenue. Trailed by several of his friends, Oscar was eager to show off his favorite possessions to the other boys. Oscar brought out his BB gun and collection of knives. The other boys stared in awe, knowing their mothers would scream if they saw them around such dangerous toys. But Oscar's mother was different. Like Oscar, she had a few special things she liked to show off to visitors. The silver dinnerware, the antique furniture, the pool table in the basement.

There was one item in the house that both Oscar and his mother insisted on bringing out for every guest to admire. It sat on the mantle in a place of honor. Oscar stretched to his tippy toes to reach the mantle. carefully he wrapped his little hands around an urn and lifted it down. Oscar unscrewed the urn's lid and tipped it forward, showing his friends what was inside. Ernst Cooler. He was once a respected businessman, but soon after meeting Oscar's mother, he became very sick. Now he was nothing but ash, stored in a shabby urn on Anna Marie Hans' mantle. that she inherited from him, along with everything else he owned.

Hi, I'm Greg Polson. This is serial killers, a parkast original. Every Monday, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we continue our deep dive into Anna Marie Hahn. Before becoming the first woman to die in Ohio's electric chair, she was a serial poisoner, whose murders funded her lavish lifestyle. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone.

Last week, we dug into Anna Marie Hahn's childhood in Bavaria, where she was disowned and shunned after having a child out of wedlock at the age of 18. We discussed how she immigrated to the United States by accepting a large loan from her step-uncle, which she never repaid. We also talked about her compulsive gambling and addiction she developed after betting on a winning horse on her first try. Anna Marie Hahn then promised to marry Charles Oswald, an elderly man distantly connected to her family, then bilked him out of his life savings. Meanwhile, she married another man, Philip J. Hahn.

This week, we'll delve into Anna Marie's greed-motivated poisoning spree and the victims it claimed. Finally, we'll tell you how Anna Marie Hans' life ended in the electric chair. At Parcast, we're grateful for you, our listeners. You allow us to do what we'll do what we're. we love. Let us know how we're doing. Reach out on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast and Twitter at Parcast Network. And if you enjoy today's episode, the best way to help us is to leave a five-star review wherever you're listening. It really does help. When we left 25-year-old Anna Marie Hahn in July of 1931, 73-year-old Charles Oswald had just slapped her with a breach of promise lawsuit for marrying another man while engaged to him.

He demanded the return of the stocks and cash he'd given Anna Marie plus interest. There was no way Anna Marie could afford to repay her so-called Uncle Charlie. She considered her options. She knew how much Uncle Charlie loved her. Perhaps if she slowed down the lawsuit, she could convince him to reconsider. She batted her eyes and flipped her blonde hair, then denied every. Anna Marie feigned shock at Oswald's salacious allegations and demanded a jury trial. It was a calculated move. Anna Marie knew it would take a long time to get the case into a courtroom in front of a jury of 12 of her peers.

She could further delay by asking for continuances, objecting to jurors, feigning health crises. If the case took long enough, Uncle Charlie might simply die of old age. With a little bit of help, if necessary. if necessary. But for the time being, Anna Marie let nature take its course. Maybe she was merciful, or maybe she just didn't have time to worm her way back into Oswald's good graces long enough to kill him. She was far too busy with another emergency. Her marriage was falling apart. Philip Hahn, Anna Marie's 28-year-old husband, was unhappy. He'd given Anna Marie everything she wanted. He accepted Oscar, her six-year-old son, by another man, into his home. He'd moved the

family into a new house in a ritzie neighborhood, even though it stretched his budget to the brink. He devoted himself fully to fulfilling his wife's entrepreneurial ambitions. And now, almost two years after their wedding, what did he have to show for it? A failing business, a house he couldn't afford, and a wife who was never home. Anna Marie rarely spent time. with Philip. If she wasn't out gambling, she was taking care of wealthy old men. Anna Marie told Philip she was supplementing their income by nursing on the side, but she got pretty affectionate with her patience. Of course, Mrs. Hahn never told her husband that she wasn't really a trained nurse or that she was just looking for a fresh mark to steal from. Instead,

she began avoiding her husband entirely. Predictably, their marriage suffered. Then there was the matter of his family. According to the goodbye door, a biography by Diana Britt Franklin, Philip's mother and sister hated Anna Marie. They detected a certain heartiness in her bearing. She seemed to consider herself better than everyone else, especially her in-laws. By the beginning of 1932, Anna Marie and Philip argued almost every time they spoke. Philip had to take a job as a taxi driver to keep the family afloat. And he resented Anna Marie for making him quit his old job with Western Union. Meanwhile, Anna Marie was frustrated that her husband couldn't provide the lavish lifestyle she felt she deserved.

And the financial stress became the central argument in their marriage. Their bickering wasn't uncommon. The American Psychological Association's 2018 Stress in America survey found that 72% of all adults in the USA are plagued by financial. stress. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. The APA has only been commissioning its annual Stress in America survey since 2007, but we can infer based on other data that 1932 was an especially stressful year at the beginning of the Great Depression. According to a 2011 paper, by recent,

researchers K. Ziven, M. Pachkovsky, and S. Galia, economic downturns are associated with increased psychological distress, use of mental health facilities, and suicide. Financial stress certainly contributed to the Han family's marital problems. But even if financial stress was the reason for Anna Marie's eventual criminal activity, she wasn't an especially kind person to begin with. She had refused to repay her step-uncle for his generous loan. loan. And her gambling problem took any spare money the family might have been able to save. Her selfishness only added to the strain her husband Philip was drowning beneath.

According to what's known as the social protection hypothesis, the negative psychological effects of economic change are not evenly distributed. The more vulnerable a person already is, the more their mental health is likely to suffer in a recession. The Han family was making ends meet before the Depression, but as their finances dwindled, the economic downturn only exacerbated Phillips' depression, Anna Marie's gambling, and the ongoing discord between them. Even as 26-year-old Anna Marie's business collapsed and her marriage struggled, she refused to cut back on her gambling. In 1932, she went to the racetrack as often as three or four times a week. Sometimes she won, but more often she lost.

And the financial repercussions soon became apparent. We don't know exactly when the Hans financial situation hit rock bottom, but by the fall of 1932, they were forced to leave their college hill home. Anna Marie was on the hunt for a new living situation. She found it at the home of Ernst Cooler, a 62-year-old retired Teamster. Ernst had a three-story house on Coleraine Avenue, where he lived alone. There were two rooms available for rent at the back of his house. The rooms came with the kitchen, but that wasn't the amenity that most interested Anna Marie.

Her favorite perk was the other tenant, Dr. Arthur Voss. Besides being Ernst Cooler's own physician, Dr. Voss rented an office on the first floor of the three-story building. Ernst had throat cancer, which Dr. Voss was treating. When Anna Marie first saw Dr. Voss's prescription pad lying unattended on his desk, it seemed like a sign, and she quickly hatched a malicious plan. She convinced Philip to move into Mr. Cooler's house so they could save money. He was mystified as to how his wife could so easily let go of her college hill house after insisting they have it built to her exact specifications.

But he took heart. Money was tight and perhaps this was his wife's way of tightening her belt. Anna Marie had told Ernst that she was a trained nurse and would be happy to take care of him as he aged. In return, he kept the rent affordable and treated his newest tenant like family. From that moment forward, Anna Marie rarely left his side. In another stroke of luck, Dr. Voss never locked his office and Anna Marie took full advantage. When the doctor left each day, she would run up the phone bill calling her bookies on the doctor's phone to place bets. She also helped herself to several blank pages of Dr. Voss's prescription pad, not to mention a sample of his handwriting.

It took a little while for Anna Marie to learn how to convincingly forge the doctor's signature, but once she got the hang of it, she began writing herself prescriptions for narcotics, just a few pills at first, but soon she wrote, Soon she ramped up the doses, acquiring ludicrous quantities of drugs. The neighborhood pharmacist Stanley Roth became suspicious as Anna Marie started coming in every day to get morphine. Stanley wrote to Dr. Voss to confirm his prescriptions and, according to the goodbye door, Mr. Roth also reported Anna Marie to federal narcotics officers. But Anna Marie was always a step ahead. As Cooler's nurse, she fetched all the mail for the house. She easily intercepted Stanley Roth's letter. Smirking, Anna Marie retired to Dr. Voss's unlocked office to compose a reply.

She reassured the pharmacist that the prescriptions were necessary for Coolers rapidly advancing throat cancer. Then she signed it, forging Dr. Voss's signature. Stanley Roth and the federal agents dropped the case. Nobody wanted to fight with a respected doctor over a cancer patient's pain medication. So Anna Marie kept forging prescriptions. At the same time, she deepened her relationship with Ernst Cooler. She flattered his ego and told him he was like family to her. The old teamster was moved by this show of affection.

He told Anna Marie that he saw her as family too, and he was prepared to prove it. On April 22, 1933, Ernst Cooler rewrote his will, leaving his house and everything he owned to, quote, my friend Anna Marie Haan, who has befriended me and taken care of me during my latest illness. From April 29th through May 5, 1933, Anna Marie, now 26, filled a total of 10 prescriptions, totaling 246 morphine tablets,

each containing 16.2 milligrams of the drug. That's a total of nearly 4,000 milligrams. For comparison, a paper by researchers at Wright State University entitled, Managing Pain in the Dying Patient, suggested a dose of up to 60 milligrams of morphine per day for people with terminal painful illnesses and a high morphine tolerance. For people who haven't developed a tolerance for morphine, 60 milligrams might cause an overdose. Even with a high tolerance, 200 milligrams is potentially lethal. Using those numbers, Anna Marie's 4,000 milligrams of morphine were enough to kill 20 people. Or exactly one person. On May 6, 1933, the day after Anna Marie finished filling her 10 morphine

prescriptions, Ernst Cooler, died. In a moment, the aftermath of Anna Marie's first murder. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th. The powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavatheater.com,

only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right. So I can tune out travel advice that's just plain. wrong. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade.

Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Kayak, got that right. Now back to the story. On May 6th, 1933, Throat cancer patient and retired teamster Ernst Kuhler died at the age of 62, leaving everything to his tenant and supposed nurse, 26-year-old Anna Marie Hahn. Having openly filled prescriptions for more than 20 lethal doses of morphine just days before her landlord's death, Anna Marie looked awfully suspect when he died. Several people phoned the coroner's office anonymously to tell him they were sure Ernst Kuler had been poisoned.

When the coroner came to collect Ernst, Anna Marie played innocent. Of course, she was sorry that her landlord was dead, but she wasn't surprised. He had been fighting cancer. She couldn't believe anyone would accuse her of foul play. An autopsy was performed, but, according to the biography, The Goodbye Door, it found no toxins in the esophagus, so the coroner ruled that Ernst Cooler had died of throat cancer. Today, determining the level of morphine present in a deceased person's body is a high-tech process involving liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, or LCMS, for short.

This advanced technology allows scientists to identify particular biological molecules present in substances, such as blood. In 1933, on the other hand, pathologists determined a person's cause of death based mostly on physical dissection and a few simple chemical tests. Working with those rough tools, they likely missed a massive amount of morphine in Cooler's body. Anna Marie was never charged with this murder, but it's almost certain she killed Cooler, less than two weeks after he made her the sole beneficiary of his will. And not only did Anna Marie inherit Ernst Cooler's house and furnishings,

she got his ashes, too. He had no U.S. family members to claim them. Maybe she kept them because it would look suspicious not to. After all, she had been heard all over town telling people the old man was like family to her. Or maybe, like many serial killers, she liked the idea of a trophy. The house Anna Marie inherited from Ernst Cooler was worth $12,000. That's nearly $240,000 today. Anna Marie could have sold the house and had enough.

to start over, but just as her first successful bet at the racetrack turned her into a gambling addict, this lucrative first murder made Anna Marie obsessed with grifting. Suddenly, everywhere she went, she found a way to move money from someone else's pocket into her own. She used her innocent appearance to talk complete strangers into giving her small loans, then never repaid them. She bought so many checks, her bank eventually closed her account, her account. There were even a couple of suspicious fires in her new home, which brought in some insurance money. And with her sickly landlord out of the way, and her nursing duties thus curtailed, Anna Marie suddenly had more time to explore her new neighborhood. She fell in love with an area

a few blocks away, called Over the Rhine. It had been historically inhabited mostly by immigrants from Germany. Beer gardens and restaurants serving German cuisine dotted every corner. A German immigrant herself, Anna Marie felt at home there. For the next two years, she seemed relatively happy. As far as we know, her crimes during this time were limited to petty scams and illegal gambling. She enjoyed her social status in her new neighborhood, showing off her inherited antique furniture to visitors, as if she'd chosen the pieces herself. Anna Marie was well-liked by her neighbors. Her cooking not always appreciated by Americans, delighted.

fellow Germans living in Over the Rhine. And her three-story home's desirable location, high on a hill, catapulted her into the upper echelon of local society. Neighborhood boys always rushed to help her with her chores. They knew she always kept shiny pennies tucked in her pockets and handed them out generously to helpful children. She also always made more food for dinner than her own family could eat and served the neighborhood kids happily. Friends and neighbors described her as bubbly, always cheerful and kind. But as always with Anna Marie, darkness lurked beneath the surface.

Although Ernst's money had alleviated some financial pressures, the Han's marriage remained unstable. Vicious insults were often exchanged. Sometimes arguments turned physical, with Anna Marie as the primary aggressor. While his mother and stepfather bickered, young Oscar. began acting out. At school, he was accused of tying a classmate up and shooting him with a BB gun. He also began killing neighborhood cats for fun. Oscar's behavior didn't bother Anna Marie, who indulged his appalling hobby by buying him a 22-caliber rifle. Although we don't have enough

information on Oscar to be sure about this, his behaviors are potentially consistent with an attachment disorder. According to Dr. John Alston, writing for psychiatric times, These rare disorders are caused by significant disruptions in attachment to a primary caregiver at an early age. Children with attachment disorders are often superficially charming, but may display calculating devious behavior and episodes of rage. Oscar's early life was very unstable. As an infant, he was handed off from his mother to his grandmother. At age three, he watched his mother sail away to the United States, seemingly abandoning his him forever. Then, a little more than a year later, his mother returned to uproot him from his

Bavarian home, separating him from his grandmother. Then he had to move in with a brand new stepfather he had never met. All of this happened before he turned six. According to Dr. Alston, we don't yet know exactly why certain children are more affected by inconsistent caregiver relationships than others, but it may have to do with a congenital predisposition to mental illness. A child already predisposed to mood disorders, for example, would be more likely to experience severe mood disturbances following abandonment by a primary caregiver. Whether or not he inherited a predisposition to mental illness from his mother,

Oscar definitely inherited her greed. Anna Marie scammed elderly men by making them fall in love with her. Oscar brought pornographic pictures to school and sold them. Anna Marie stole from lenders. Oscar was caught steady. stealing from a bookstore. Like mother, like son. It was inconvenient for Anna Marie's social ambitions when neighborhood parents no longer wanted their sons to play with Oscar. Anna Marie began to fret about her reputation. Maybe she should

move again, she thought. As the month since Cooler's death dragged on and the money began running out, Anna Marie kept trying to get her bakery, delicatessen, Anne-Illie. gambling parlor to turn a profit. But it was still in the middle of the Great Depression. Business was bad and stayed that way. And then there was the little matter of a lawsuit from Ernst Cooler's family. They didn't appreciate his leaving everything he owned to a relative stranger. Anna Marie managed to settle that suit out of court for $4,000, which would be worth nearly $80,000 today. To get the $4,000, she had to mortgage Coolers' home

for $9,000, or more than $177,000 in today's currency. By the fall of 1935, Anna Marie, now 28 years old, was forced to sell her bakery and delicatessen, leaving both adults in the Han household unemployed. The only money coming in was from Anna Marie's fraudulent nursing work, which wasn't very lucrative. Anna Marie couldn't sustain her gambling habit or keep up with her mortgage. It seemed like the Han family might soon be in the poorhouse. Their financial situation was growing dire.

But on August 14, 1935, Anna Marie finally got some good news. Charles Oswald, her scorned fiancé, had died. Not only had his lawsuit never made it to court, he'd never gotten around to writing Anna Marie out of his will. Eager to hear what she'd inherited, she rushed to meet with Uncle Charlie's attorney. But just as quickly as her hopes were raised, they were dashed. Although Anna Marie Hahn was the primary beneficiary of Oswald's will,

he died without any money to leave her. She'd taken everything while he was alive. Now her back was truly against a wall. She needed to come up with serious cash and quick. But like usual, it didn't take long for Anna Marie to hatch a plan. In December of 1935, Anna Marie applied for a $10,000 life insurance policy on her husband, worth almost $200,000 today. Her application was denied. The insurance company didn't think the life of an unemployed telegrapher slash grocer was insurable for such a princely sum.

Around the same time, Philip became very ill with joint pain and stiffness. Philip's family chipped in to send him to a spa in Indiana, far away. from his wife. There, he soon recovered and returned home, good as new. Mysteriously, his mother, Margaret Hahn, who hated her daughter-in-law, came down with the same symptoms. Her illness started shortly after eating a box of chocolates given to her by Anna Marie. Anna Marie never admitted to poisoning her husband and mother-in-law. However, they believe she dosed them with croton oil, a potent poison, then used in small doses as a laxative. It could be purchased over the counter. A lethal dose was just a few drops. It's unclear why Anna Marie

didn't kill Philip or Margaret. Maybe she was just experimenting on her family members, testing the effects of various doses so that she'd be ready when a more profitable opportunity to kill came along. In the spring of 1936, one such possibility appeared in the form of 63-year-old, unmarried German coal dealer George Heiss. Heiss was a longtime friend of Philip's family and lived in Anna Marie's favorite neighborhood over the Rhine. Better yet, Anna Marie was clearly his type. The very first time she came to his shop for coal, he was openly flirtatious. Philip knew Anna Marie liked to flirt with old men. By this time, he didn't care. He wasn't too much of a traditionalist to file for divorce,

but he wanted as little as possible to do with his wife, especially after his recent illness. He decided to return to Western Union. Unfortunately, his old position had been filled years before. The best they could offer, Philip, was a job working nights as a file clerk, making just $10 per week, or about $186 in modern currency. It was nowhere near enough to make a dent in the Han family's living expenses, but it did get him out of the house while Anna Marie deepened her flirtation with George Heise.

The older man came over regularly to deliver coal and rarely left without sharing a beer with Anna Marie. By June, George began calling Anna Marie, my girl. She responded in kind. Over an elaborate home-cooked German dinner, Anna Marie announced to George that she had divorced Philip. George didn't ask for proof. Instead, he asked for seconds.

Anna Marie asked for something, too. Money. Starting with small loans of just $20. George couldn't say no. Not many men's age were lucky enough to have a 30-year-old, beautiful, cheerful girlfriend who cooked their favorite dishes. George gave Anna Marie the money she asked for. Within a few weeks, Anna Marie owed George Heiss more than $2,000,

or about $37,000. today. George wasn't a poor man, but neither was he wealthy. Most of the money he loaned Anna Marie wasn't his own. He was borrowing it from his employer, the Consolidated Coal Company. According to the book The Goodbye Door, the Consolidated Coal Company soon asked George about repayment. In turn, he asked Anna Marie for the money. She, of course, didn't have it. Everything that came into her pockets quickly found its way to the race store. track, never to be seen again. Under pressure and not ready to kill George, Anna Marie decided to get creative in her next sting.

In a moment, Anna Marie takes advantage of a friend to fatten her own wallet. You tell yourself, no one wants your college-era band teas, but on Deep Hop, people are searching for exactly what you've got. You once paid a small fortune for them at merch stands. Now, a teenager who calls them vintage will offer that same small fortune back. Sell them easily on Deepop. Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. Who knew your questionable music taste will be a money-making machine? Your style can make you cash.

Start selling on Deepop, where Taste recognizes taste. Now back to the story. In July of 1936, 30-year-old serial killer and con artist Anna Marie Hahn was estranged from her husband and dating a 63-year-old coal dealer, George Heise. George asked her to pay back the $2,000 he loaned her, which came mostly from his employer's coffers. Up until this point, as far as we know, Anna Marie had stolen exclusively from men. Her buxom build and bubbly personality were a hit with elderly German men, so they likely made for easy targets. Or perhaps, Anna Marie found it easy.

to take advantage of men because of the way she herself had been taken advantage of. At just 17 years old, she fell in love with a much older man. After she became pregnant, her paramour confessed that he was already married to someone else. His deceit and abandonment had made Anna Marie a pariah in her strictly Catholic hometown. Either way, after George Heiss and his company began pressuring Anna Marie to repay him, she had to think outside the box. She was still gambling regularly, believing that she'd eventually win big

and get out of her financial bind. It was at the Blade, a local casino, that Anna Marie met Julia Kreschke. Julia was a Hungarian immigrant, temporarily out of work and severely visually impaired. Julia couldn't read without magnification, which means she probably met the definition of legally blind.

A legally blind person, person sees at 20 feet what a person with unimpaired vision would see at 200 feet. Like many others before her, Julia was immediately drawn to Anna Marie's charming Bavarian accent and her cheerful tone of voice. The two women gambled together for a while, and Julia began to confide in her new friend. She confessed that she was desperate to find work by any means necessary. Anna Marie pounced. According to the book The Goodbye Door, she offered her. to find Julia a job for a $100 finder's fee, of course, nearly $2,000 today. When Julia took the bait, she became Anna Marie's new best friend and makeshift administrative assistant.

Anna Marie soon discovered that the woman would sign almost anything put in front of her. Julia couldn't read well enough to figure out what she was signing, but she trusted her friend. Anna Marie borrowed $100 from Julia, then told her to sign a receipt, for the loan. The so-called receipt was actually another check, this one, for $300. Before July was out, Anna Marie had taken Julia for $800, an amount worth almost $15,000 today. This wasn't enough to repay George Heise, but it was just enough to finally raise Julia's hackles. When she found out about the missing cash, she pressed charges. The Cincinnati police were prepared to move forward with the case,

but when it came time for the arrest, Julia abruptly backed out. She didn't want to be the reason her friend went to jail. Just like when Anna Marie reconciled with Charlie Oswald during his lawsuit, she was saved by undeserved forgiveness from her own convictum. Anna Marie thanked Julia for her show of mercy with a home-cooked meal. It featured a special delicacy definitely not on the traditional German menu, croton oil. The same poison Philip Hahn believed his wife slipped into his supper. Julia became desperately ill and was admitted to the hospital. She was drooling helplessly,

and wherever her saliva touched, blisters appeared on her skin, according to the goodbye door. It was a horrible sight, but the doctors were able to save her. After surviving that first poisoning, Julia somehow continued her friendship with Anna. Marie and continued eating her cooking. The Bavarian blonde's charm must have been considerable for her company to seem more valuable than life itself, and she still owed Julia $800. Anna Marie likely would have claimed another victim if it hadn't been for a bystander living in the same boarding house as Julia. According to the goodbye door, a man whose name was not preserved in official documents stepped in and demanded that Anna repay the $800 and leave Julie alone, or else he would go to the police.

To demonstrate that he meant this threat, the man told not only Anna Marie's husband, Philip, but also her in-laws about her behavior. Although they didn't turn her in, Philip Hahn decided to stay away from his wife entirely from then on. Now estranged from her husband and still unemployed, Anna Marie felt the financial strain of her newfound independence. Although, against all odds, she did somehow manage to lay her hands on $800 to repay Julia. Julia took the money and returned to Hungary. She would live for the rest of her life with a physical disability due to the lasting damage from the Croton oil poisoning.

But Anna Marie had no time to feel guilt for having disabled her friend. Julia's departure had left her with a real problem. She liked George. She didn't really want to have to. to kill him, but her scheme to pay him back had failed spectacularly. In October of 1936, Anna Marie visited Stanley Roth to purchase oxalic acid and bicarbonate of mercury. Both are strong poisons, though they had ordinary household uses at the time. You might remember that Stanley Roth is the same pharmacist who previously called federal agents on Anna

Marie when she purchased huge quantities of morphine. Going back to a pharmacist already suspicious of her, this time for two serious poisons seems like a pretty risky choice. Which is probably why she did it. According to Scott Bond, Ph.D., and author of the book, Why We Love Serial Killers, astonishingly blatant conduct is common in serial killers, but that doesn't mean they're trying to get caught. More likely it means they're ratcheting up the risk level of their activities in order to stimulate a greater level of their activities. in order to stimulate a greater level of excitement. Killers may also become arrogant and delusional after a long period of successful criminal activity,

believing they cannot be caught. Anna Marie definitely didn't want to be caught. After all, she refunded a victim when it became clear she had no other alternatives. But she was certainly arrogant. If anyone questioned her about her frequent associations with sick old men, she'd scold them for.

criticizing a saintly nurse like herself who cared so deeply about the elderly. Anna Marie even started wearing a nurse's uniform when she visited her patients. Stanley Roth sold Anna Marie the poisons. Then she headed straight for George Heise's house and cooked him a meal of veal chops with spinach. Whether Anna Marie intended to draw out the kill or just didn't understand how to dose her poisons, we'll never know. But that first poisoned meal didn't kill George, nor did the second or the third. Instead, his health slowly declined. By the end of October 1936, Heist couldn't even get out of bed. He could barely keep his food down and suffered from terrible diarrhea. He knew he was being poisoned. But like Anna Marie's other victims,

he couldn't bring himself to be the one to send her to prison. Instead of contacting the police, he just broke off their romance. But if Anna Marie thought she had expunged her debt by showing George what she was capable of, she soon learned otherwise. Shortly after the breakup, he again demanded his $2,000. With a sinking feeling,

Anna Marie realized she would really have to pay or she'd never be rid of him. Anna Marie headed to the Blade Casino again, with rich old men on her mind. She found what she found what she was. was looking for in Albert J. Palmer, a 72-year-old retiree. He was a gentle, kind Frenchman. Anna Marie befriended him immediately. Out of all her victims, Anna Marie seemed to feel the most genuinely about Albert. In their written correspondence, she addressed him as, my dear sweet daddy. She regarded

him as a father figure, a kind one, not like her own father. As with Heise, Cooler, and Oswald, Anna Marie started off by asking for small amounts of money. She flirted, then begged for a little loan. Pretty soon, the amount she asked for was $2,000, exactly what she owed Heise's employer. Palmer made the loan, but only $900 ever reached the consolidated coal company. Anna Marie kept the rest, probably gambling it away. On Valentine's Day in 1937, Anna Marie gave Albert Paul. a handwritten card containing a poem.

According to the goodbye door, it read, The friends that we cherish as finest and truest aren't always the oldest, nor are they the newest. They're the friends who've stood by when we need them sincerely, and that's why I cherish our friendship so dearly. Valentine's Day was perhaps the last happy day of this relationship. By the end of February, Palmer was violently ill. His stomach bothered him constantly.

And he was furious with Anna Marie, not because he realized she was poisoning him, but because he found out their relationship wasn't her first May-December romance. After hearing about other old men in her past, Albert Palmer laid down the law. He wanted an exclusive commitment from Anna Marie, lasting for the rest of his life,

or else she would have to repay the two, $2,000 loan immediately. But a few weeks later, on March 26, 1937, Albert Palmer had a heart attack and died in his bed. It's possible that 72-year-old Albert really did have a convenient heart attack, but Anna Marie had been cooking for him regularly for months by this time, and he was complaining of violent stomach pains. Considering Anna Marie's history, it's likely Albert was a lot of. another victim. Anna Marie was getting into a rhythm now. She actually canvassed the neighborhood for her

next victim, knocking on doors and asking if any old men lived nearby. She must have made a strange picture in her Sunday best, accompanied by 12-year-old Oscar in a suit, asking for old men as casually as if she was asking to borrow a cup of sugar. But the tactic worked. On May 13, 1937, she was introduced to Jacob Wagner, a 78-year-old widower and retired gardener. Anna Marie would later claim that Jacob came to her with the claim that he thought they were related. This contradicts the recollection of Jacob's neighbor, Elizabeth Colby, as reported in the goodbye door. Colby recalled in great detail Anna Marie's first visit to Jacob when she claimed she was looking for him regarding an inheritance in his native Germany. Although it didn't take Wagner long to realize that

he wasn't related to Anna Marie. By the time he figured it out, he was smitten. Anna Marie began visiting Jacob Wagner at home as his nurse. But as usual, the victim thought of her as a girlfriend. Within two and a half weeks, Anna Marie executed an elaborate scheme to steal Jacob Wagner's bank book and the $4,831 he had in the bank. That's about $86,000 today. Anna Marie borrowed the bankbook, saying she wanted to buy a few things for him to better care for him. As collateral, she left her own bankbook, with deposit slips in the back that showed she had nearly $15,000 in her account. Of course, they were forged. Her account had a zero balance.

But in the moment, it looked as though Anna Marie had more money than Jacob, and therefore no incentive to steal his bankbook. In good faith, he let her have it. Of course, Jacob was quick to figure out he'd been had. Once he realized the deposit slips were forged, and when Anna Marie didn't immediately return the bank book to his home. Not only did he report the theft to his bank, he told all of his friends at his favorite pub. Mysteriously, Anna Marie found the missing bank book

the moment she caught wind of the police investigation. She laughed at Jacob, telling him he must have been confused. She'd just misplaced it. Either Wagner believed her or the 78-year-old just wasn't willing to give up a 31-year-old girlfriend over theft. They reconciled. Jacob Wagner even invited Anna Marie over to his apartment to cook dinner for him. On the 1st of June, 1937, he suddenly doubled over in agony and found blood in his stool. By June 3rd, Wagner was dead.

after lying in agony in a hospital bed for hours. Fist clenched so tightly he couldn't reach out to grip a comforting hand. In his last moments, he screamed for water, but couldn't open his mouth to drink. Anna Marie calmly returned to Wagner's apartment. There, she tried forging a will, leaving herself everything, but she was unable to get it witnessed properly. Not only did Anna Marie fail to profit from poisoning Wagner, she drew suspicion when he died so soon after he'd publicly accused her of theft.

But it didn't stop her from killing again. 67-year-old George G. G. G. G. Salman was a retired farmer and railroad employee living on a monthly $25 pension and his meager savings. That's about $450 today, abject poverty by any standard. He had nothing much to contribute to Anna Marie's debts or her gambling hobby, though she'd did get $100 out of a savings account after mentioning she would love to marry him. On July 6, 1937, Anna Marie killed Gazellman by feeding him meat laced with enough arsenic to kill a dozen people. She spent $50 of Gisellman's $100 on a payment to consolidated coal and the rest on herself. Then it was time to find a richer man to kill. A visit to the local

cobbler looked like just the ticket. 67-year-old Johann Georg Obendorfer repaired Anna Marie's broken high-heeled shoes. Before the job was done, he was inviting her inside to chat in German. One visit turned into several, and several turned into talks of marriage. According to the book, The Penalty is Death, U.S. newspaper coverage of women's executions. Anna Marie mentioned casually. that she had been wanting to travel to Colorado Springs. Johan eagerly piped up that he had the same idea.

So it was settled. They'd go together along with Oscar. Obendorfer told friends he had a new sweetheart who owned an $18,000 cattle ranch in Colorado and that if he liked it after visiting, they'd get married and live there forever. Since she was such a rich woman, of course he didn't want her to think he was after her money.

He withdrew $350, worth over $6,000 today from his bank and gave it to Anna Marie for his share of the travel expenses. On July 20, the trip began. By July 21st, Obendorfer was feeling quite ill. When they arrived in Colorado, on July 23rd, he was hardly well enough to leave his room at Denver's Midland Hotel. By June 29th, hotel employees were complaining about the stench from the old man's room. The hotel proprietor Louis Straub barged in and saw Johan looking half dead, unable to move, and covered in his own feces. He insisted that Anna Marie take the old man to the hospital. Instead, she took him on a train to Colorado Springs. There, Anna Marie checked into the park hotel and, for good measure, stole two diamond rings from the proprietors. The next day, she stripped Johann of his identification and his bank book.

She then dropped him off at Beth L. Hospital as an indigent, telling the nurses that he had no money and she didn't know him. By 6.30 p.m. on Sunday, August 1st. Johan was dead. But again, Anne-Marie had failed to score a payday out of one of her victims. Her attempt to withdraw $1,000 using his bank book was unsuccessful. After a suspicious banker refused to wire the money to Denver without confirming Johan was there. Anna Marie headed back to Cincinnati, frustrated and poorer than she'd come, save for the two diamond rings. She decided to get rid of Opendorfer's travel bag by checking it in at the train station, intending to leave it there forever. Inside it was the poison she used to kill him. Anna Marie returned to Cincinnati on August 9, 1937, with Oscar in tow, intending to look for another victim.

But on August 10th, she was arrested, not for murder, but for grand larceny. After killing at least five people, Anna Marie's downfall was two diamond rings casually swipe from an hotelier. Perhaps she took them out of frustration at not gaining more from her latest murder. The proprietors reported the missing rings immediately, as well as the name and description of the peculiar guest they suspected of pilfering them. As police questioned Anna Marie, they also began asking about Obendorfer. The Othelier had reported his debilitated state upon check-in when they reported the stolen rings. At first, Anna Marie denied even knowing him. She was, by turns, indignant and weepy, sometimes charming, sometimes righteously angry.

Ironically, it might have been her dramatic performance under police interrogation that led her conviction for murder. As Anna Marie was being questioned about her grand larceny charge, a Cincinnati homicide detective, George W. Shaddle, walked by and noticed her flair for the dramatic. He asked her name and was surprised to recognize it. Detective Shaddle had been investigating the death of Jacob Wagner since June, after suspicious neighbors alerted police to his sudden decline and death. The name Anna Marie Hahn had come up as a possible suspect. While Anna Marie was in Colorado with her final victim, Jacob Vogder was exhumed and autopsied.

The examination proved he had been poisoned. None of the detectives had ever seen a serial murder investigation move so fast. Within days, George Heiss, now using a wheelchair, thanks to Anna Marie's cooking, came forward and told the police he was willing to testify against her. From arrest to commencement of trial, the whole investigation, The investigation took just two months and a day. On October 11th, an unusual jury of 11 women and one man was impaneled to try Anna Marie Hahn for the murder of Jacob Wagner.

The press swarmed. The Chicago Tribune dubbed Anna Marie, arsenic Anna, and breathlessly covered not just the evidence in her trial, but her elegant dresses, demure appearance, even her slim ankles. Most damning for Anna Marie was the evidence recovered from her purse. Two salt shakers, both containing white grains of arsenic. A person might have a legitimate reason to buy arsenic, but nobody, save for a cereal poisoner, would carry it around in salt shakers,

especially not with a child in her home. Another dramatic moment came when George Heiss, in his wheelchair, was called to testify. He pointed a shaking finger at Anne. Anna Marie and intoned, you did this. Anna Marie had been careless in her last several murders. Now, the evidence was all laid out in front of the jury. The organs of her exhumed victim, the receipts from her many purchases at Roth's drugs,

and yes, the two stolen rings. By November 5th, the trial was over. On November 6th, the jury came back with a guilty verdict. Anna Marie was sentenced to die in the electric chair. Anna Marie was denied every avenue of appeal. The Ohio Supreme Court wouldn't take her case. The governor, Martin L. Davy, refused to grant clemency, a blow that, according to the book,

The Farer Death, executing women in Ohio, caused Anna Marie to collapse, sobbing in her cell. She howled, Oh, God, I didn't think he'd do that to me. On December 7, 1938, Anna Marie Hahn was removed from her cell and escorted to the death chamber. There, she begged for mercy to no avail. E. E. Easterly wrote in the Ogdensburg Journal that Anna Marie pleaded, Can't anyone do something? Isn't there anybody who will help me?

In Anna Marie's final moments, she begged the attending priest, Father John A. Sullivan, to stand close to her. as they pulled the lever. Arsenic Anna's last words were the Lord's Prayer, which Father Sullivan prayed along with her. He fell silent as 1,950 volts of electricity ran through Anna's body and ended her life. Though she died afraid and miserable, begging for mercy, her death was far less painful than those experienced by her victims.

Anna Marie left behind a detailed confession letter, which her lawyers promptly sold to the highest bidding newspaper and movie studio. She wrote, I do not try to excuse myself for my actions. They were not me at all. I have made peace with God. And someday he will explain to me what caused my mind to become so warped to do these things. It all seems like a terrible dream.

She maintained in her letter that she didn't kill Jacob Volub. for money, even though she tried to forge a will leaving herself everything he owned. It seems like even in her final hours, as she faced death, Anna Marie couldn't understand herself well enough to take responsibility for her actions. But for the few surviving friends and relatives of her victims, at least the letter of confession brought a little solace by confirming that the guilty party had indeed been the one punished. And certainly, the elderly men of Over the Rhine rested a little easier after Arsenic Anna had been put to rest.

Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. We'll be back Monday with a new episode. You can find more episodes of serial killers as well as all of podcasts, other shows on Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Several of you have asked how to help the show. And if you enjoy the show, the best way to help is to leave a five-star review. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast and Twitter at Parkast Network. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week.

Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler. It's a production of Cutler Media and is part of the Parcast Network. It is produced by Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Paul Liebeskind, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro and Paul Mahler. Additional production assistance by Freddie Beckley and Maggie Edmire. Cereal Killers is written by Yellow. in a war and stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify.

They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing, to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and all birds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash special offer.

Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors, where the terrain is unforgiving, the evidence is scarce, and the truth gets buried under brush and silence. I've seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping bag, and there was a full of blood. Somebody somewhere knows something. I'm Jordan Sillers. Season two is out now with new episodes every Thursday. day listen on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts