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Criminalia

Humans have always committed crimes. What can we learn from the criminals and crimes of the past, and have humans gotten better or worse over time? 

Georgiana Fane: “The High Society Stalker”

Criminalia

  • 1.4K views
  • about 4 years ago
  • 33:04

Georgiana Fane (1801-1874) was an English heiress, most famously known for being featured in a portrait as a peasant girl (painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence). She also gained a reputation for her harassing pursuits of the Duke of Wellington. From what once was a secretive love affair, Georgiana’s later threats and angry letters turned out to be more than the Duke bargained for.

Arsenic and ... Arsenic: Criminalia's Season 1 Final Episode

Criminalia

  • 1.5K views
  • about 4 years ago
  • 33:08

Holly and Maria were curious if poisoners and their crimes would look different with a little distance on the timeline, and even whether any of the perpetrators would emerge as sympathetic characters. And in season 1 they found out, YES. On both counts.

Amy Archer-Gilligan: Sometimes Predators Look Like Pious Grandmas

Criminalia

  • 1.6K views
  • about 4 years ago
  • 31:08

Amy Archer-Gilligan was the proprietress of The Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids, in Windsor, Conn., one of the first nursing homes in the U.S. But she may have been responsible for the intentional deaths of as many as 48 residents.

Bertha Gifford: Angel of Mercy or Good Samaritan?

Criminalia

  • 2K views
  • over 4 years ago
  • 25:28

Bertha Gifford was well-known throughout her community for her cooking skills and her compassion. She acted in the role of nurse for her sick family and neighbors, and was eventually accused of murdering with arsenic a total of 17 people in her care. But what's most interesting about Bertha is that she also became one of America's first female serial killers.

La Voisin: Poisoner-for-Hire and Provider of Alleged Sorcery

Criminalia

  • 1.3K views
  • over 4 years ago
  • 27:57

Catherine Monvoisin, known as "La Voisin," was accused of witchcraft, found guilty, and executed in 1680 when she was about 40 years old. She practiced medicine, specifically midwifery, and performed abortions which were illegal in France at that time. But she was known as the local fortune teller, and was a commissioned poisoner, said to help women trapped in abusive marriages.

Marie Besnard: Good Lady of Loudun or Undertaker's Best Friend?

Criminalia

  • 1.3K views
  • over 4 years ago
  • 33:46

The most interesting thing about Marie Besnard might not be that she was accused of poisoning about a dozen people. It's that she got away with it -- and got wealthier with each murder.

Giulia Tofana: World's Most Dangerous Apothecary

Criminalia

  • 1.9K views
  • over 4 years ago
  • 29:17

Giulia Tofana was an Italian apothecary known for her beauty, her secrecy and her poisonous proclivities. If the numbers are all to be believed, she may be the most successful serial killer you’ve never heard of.