Bread and Butter Murders 06

Hoag Family Plot - Alabama Center Cemetery, Alabama, NY

SETUP: We left off last time with Henry deathly ill again, and the medicine from the doctor, not working. Two neighbors, Selah Vosburg and Mrs. Bugby, pay a call on Henry to inquire to his health. Polly was the only one home caring for her husband at the time of their visit. (Side note: I explain earlier in the story the similarities in some of the symptoms between cholera and arsenic poisoning.) 

Any quotes are exactly as they appeared in trial testimony.

And now the snippet:

 Selah recalled, “She told us about his vomiting, thirst and pain in his head. We saw Polly give him something to drink and put a wet cloth on his head. She said Henry was subject to spasms and called it Cholera Morbus. I saw nothing peculiar in Henry’s appearance, except one of his ears, which seemed black, as if blood had settled there. Don’t recollect Henry himself saying he had Cholera Morbus.”

Here is where the difference in symptoms of cholera and arsenic in the system first become evident—the pain in his head and skin discoloration was the result of arsenic poisoning. Henry himself did not tell them he had cholera morbus; it seemed as such at the beginning, but as he worsened, he knew that’s not what he had.

This is the first instance, which we know of, where there were witnesses to the fact that Polly had been alone with Henry—now was the perfect time to begin the completion of the final act. 

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BLURB:

In 1856, in the rural town of Alabama, NY one woman's family suffered from multiple unexplained deaths. The town folk grew suspicious of the now remarried Polly Frisch. An investigation commenced, bodies were exhumed, an affair—exposed. Polly would be arrested for the murders of her first husband and daughters. Her fourteen-year-old son would testify against her. If found guilty, the punishment for such a crime was the gallows. Bread & Butter is the true story of Polly Frisch who poisoned her family with arsenic and the five trials it took to convict her.

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The above excerpt is from Bread & Butter: The Murders of Polly Frisch, a book I co-authored with my friend, Ellen Bachorski in 2000. We are re-releasing it into the modern world of POD and Kindle, etc. with a new cover, fresh edits and new info. Due for release in March 2014.

Thought I'd show you the jacket cover I designed for the hardcover edition. (Got a free hardcover from LuLu, participants choice as to manuscript, for doing NaNoWriMo.) So might as well sell those too now that it's done. :)