"I hold out no hope of mercy for you on earth!"

So said the Chief Justice Darley about this woman, Louisa Collins:

Image from the State Records of New South Wales:

Name: Louisa Collins
Born: 1849
Native Place: Scone, New South Wales
Gaol: Darlinghurst
Photo: No. 4335 Page 84; Jul 1888
Series: NRS2138 [3/6050]
Microfilm: 5103

Search the index to the gaol photographs here, see the image on Flickr here.

 

Dubbed "The Lucretia Borgia of Botany", she poisoned both of her husbands for the insurance money.  She was hanged by the neck until dead.

It took four trials to convict her, though.

 

ADDED (12August, 2009): And here is a macabre report from the Brisbane Courier newspaper of Wednesday 9 January 1889 of the previous day's execution of Collins.

And more historic newspaper articles about the case via this search term.

Comments

[Anthea Brown]

Nice post, the links to the extra info really help to flesh out her story.

[Bob Meade]

Thanks Anthea. See the new link I just added above for a newspaper report of the execution. Found the report using the National Library of Australia's Australian Newspapers search facility.

http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

[lynne jordan]

Wow! Thanks! I'm gonna be up all night reading your blog. Must stop and go to bed. It's 4:20Am here in Chicago USA oy!