Martha Wise

Overview

Martha Wise, born Martha Hasel on April 18, 1883, in Hardscrabble, Ohio, was a notorious American poisoner and serial killer. Her chilling story unfolded in 1924, when, after the abrupt death of her husband and pressure from her family to end an affair with a new lover, Wise retaliated by poisoning seventeen of her family members. Tragically, three of them died as a result of her actions. Despite her defense team's arguments of mental illness and coercion from her lover, the case remains one of the most sensational in Ohio's criminal history.

Quick Facts

• Born: April 18, 1883, Hardscrabble, Ohio, U.S.
• Died: June 28, 1971 (aged 88), Ohio Reformatory for Women, Marysville, Ohio, U.S.
• Spouse: Albert Wise (deceased in 1922)
• Children: 5 (1 died in infancy)
• Conviction: First-degree murder
• Criminal Penalty: Life imprisonment
• Span of Crimes: 1924–1925
• Country: United States
• State: Ohio
• Killed: 3
• Injured: 14
• Weapons: Arsenic
• Date Apprehended: 1925

Early Life

Martha Wise was born into a farming family, the daughter of Wilhelm Carl Hasel and Sophia Elizabeth Gienke. She had three siblings, although records focus on two brothers, Frederick and Paul, and a sister, Emma. Martha's life took a significant turn in 1906 when she met Albert Wise, a man considerably older than her, at a local box social. They married, but the union was anything but joyful; Albert neglected to give her a wedding ring, setting a tone of disregard.

Living on a 50-acre farm, Martha quickly realized that she was expected to function as a farmhand rather than a spouse, often performing labor-intensive tasks that were traditionally assigned to men, such as plowing fields and caring for livestock, alongside mundane household duties. Their first child, Walter Austin, tragically passed away in infancy, but four others—Everett, Gertrude, Kenneth, and Lester—survived.

During this tumultuous time, Martha developed an unsettling fascination with funerals, attending them regularly regardless of her connection to the deceased. When asked about her morbid interest, she simply stated that she enjoyed them. The death of her husband in 1922 left the 40-year-old widow with four children and intensified her odd behavior. She began to cry openly at funerals, lamenting for those she had never met, which raised eyebrows in her small community.

Deaths

Martha’s story took a dark turn when she found a new companion, Walter Johns, a farmhand from a neighboring property. However, her family disapproved of the relationship, leading to its abrupt end in late 1924. Just weeks later, on Thanksgiving evening, several family members, including Martha's own mother, became gravely ill with severe stomach ailments. Although most recovered, her mother, Sophie, succumbed on December 13, 1924.

As the new year approached, the situation worsened. Lily Gienke, Martha's aunt, along with her husband, Fred, and several of their children began experiencing similar symptoms. By February 1925, both Lily and Fred were dead, contributing to a disturbing pattern of illness within the family. In total, seventeen relatives fell ill, with some suffering long-term effects, including partial paralysis.

Investigation

The investigation into the cluster of mysterious deaths began following the Gienke family tragedies. Sheriff Fred Roshon of Medina County uncovered that Martha had made numerous purchases of arsenic at a local drug store. An autopsy on Lily Gienke corroborated the presence of arsenic in her system. When questioned on March 19, 1925, Martha initially claimed she had bought the arsenic for pest control. However, the interrogation took a shocking turn when she confessed to using the poison to contaminate water buckets and coffee pots that her family consumed from.

Trial

Despite her confession, Martha Wise pleaded not guilty when faced with a grand jury on March 23, 1925. She claimed her obsession with funerals drove her to commit murder, stating that she created the very events she craved. After being indicted for first-degree murder on April 7, 1925, Martha stood trial starting on May 4, 1925. Her defense team, led by Joseph Pritchard, argued for her insanity and suggested that her former lover, Walter Johns, had coerced her into the poisonings.

However, the trial was riddled with dramatic setbacks. The suicide of her sister-in-law, Edith Hasel, who planned to testify on Martha's behalf, added an air of tragedy. Furthermore, a man named Frank Metzger recanted his testimony, admitting he had been pressured by the defense to lie about Martha’s mental state. Family members, including Martha’s own son, Lester, and several of the Gienke children, testified against her.

After only an hour of deliberation, the jury found Martha guilty of first-degree murder on May 12, 1925. Although they recommended mercy, the judge sentenced her to life imprisonment, which could only be overturned by executive clemency.

Later Life

Martha Wise was sent to the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, where she became a model prisoner. In 1962, the tides turned when Governor Michael DiSalle commuted her sentence to second-degree murder due to her good behavior, and she was paroled at the age of 79. Unfortunately, her release was short-lived: her family refused to take her in, and attempts to find her a home were thwarted by her notorious reputation. Within three days, she found herself back in prison, her parole and commutation revoked. Martha Wise died in custody at the Ohio Reformatory for Women on June 28, 1971.

In Media

Martha Wise's chilling case garnered considerable media attention. In 1930, she was featured in a series of articles in the Toledo News-Bee that profiled women paying the price for societal folly. A 1962 piece in the St. Joseph Gazette referred to her case as one of the most publicized crimes in Ohio's history, dubbing her the "poison widow of Hardscrabble" and a "poison fiend." Her story was revisited in a 2008 episode of Investigation Discovery's series Deadly Women, further cementing her legacy in the annals of true crime.

Sources

• "Unwanted Woman Back to Jail Where She Has Spent 37 years." St. Joseph Gazette, UPI, February 3, 1962.
• "The Poison Widow of Hardscrabble." New York Daily News, October 7, 2007.
• "Curse of Fate Follows Poison Fiend to Court." The Evening Independent, May 9, 1925.
• Morrow, Walter. "Weeping Martha Wise Sobs Over her Three Murders." The Toledo News-Bee, November 19, 1930.
• "Trial Waits while Victim is Buried." The Border Cities Star, May 9, 1925.
• "Arsenic for all who insulted her looks; THE BORGIA OF AMERICA." Daily Mirror, March 17, 2012.
• "Drug Store Gives Clew in Mystery of Poison Deaths." Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 15, 1925.
• "Woman Confesses Murder Of Three." Akron (O.) Beacon-Journal, March 19, 1925.
• "Pleads Not Guilty to Poisoning 17." The Border Cities Star, March 23, 1925.
• United News. "Woman Poisoned 17 to Satisfy her Love of Funerals." The Milwaukee Journal, April 8, 1925.
• "To Prove Insanity State will Call Mrs. Wise for Own Evidence." The Border Cities Star, May 7, 1925.
• "May Try Another for Poison Plot." The Evening Independent, May 15, 1925.
• "Woman Poisoner of 14 Is Found Guilty in Deaths of Three." The Columbus (O.) Daily Telegram, May 13, 1925.
• "Oldest Woman At Reformatory Dies." The Journal-Tribune, June 29, 1971.
• Directed by John Mavety, written by Paul Hawker. "Fatal Attraction." Deadly Women, Season 2, Investigation Discovery, October 16, 2008.

For more details, you can visit the original Wikipedia article here.