Marie LaFarge

Marie-Fortunée LaFarge, née Capelle (January 15, 1816 - November 7, 1852) was a Frenchwoman who was convicted of murdering her husband by arsenic poisoning in 1840. Her case became notable because it was one of the first trials to be followed by the public through daily newspaper reports as well as the first person convicted largely on direct forensic toxicological evidence. However, questions about her guilt had divided French society to the extent that it is often compared to the better-known Dreyfus affair.

Suspicions of Murder

On January 12, while the family gathered in the sickroom fearing the worst, Emma Pontier, who had such high regard for Marie, told her of Anna Brun's suspicions. Charles' mother implored him not to take another morsel of food from his wife. Further panic ensued when LaFarge's servant and gardener had bought arsenic for Marie "for the rats".

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Marie admitted this, but she made the gardener admit that she gave him the arsenic to make rat-poison paste out of it. Their fears were momentarily allayed, but the next day white residue was found at the bottom of a glass of sugar water that Marie had administered to Charles. A third doctor, René de Lespinasse, was called on January 13. He suspected poison, but by then it too late: Charles died a few hours afterwards.

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Already suspicions ran high that Marie had indeed poisoned her husband but Marie seemed unfazed. While word went about regarding this, Marie went to her notary with the will, not knowing that it was invalid. Only Emma Pontier would go near her, and already torn by doubts, told Marie that LaFarge's brother-in-law was going to the police at Brive. Then, with more devotion than sense, the young girl took possession of Marie's malachite box.

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The justice of the pace from Brive, Moran, arrived at Le Glandier on January 15. Impressed by Marie, he listened with uncertainty to the family's accusations but took possession of the soup, the sugar water and the eggnog that Anna Brun had put aside. Then the gardener revealed that Marie had given him arsenic with which to make rat-poison paste in December as well as January. Strangely, the paste could be found all over the house, untouched by the rats.

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Moran had the paste collected, his suspicions aroused. He questioned the apothecary who sold the arsenic to Marie. She had bought arsenic "for the rats" just before she sent the cake to Paris and again the day after LaFarge's return.

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Moran asked LaFarge's doctors to perform a post mortem examination on LaFarge. He had also learned of a new test for the presence of arsenic that pathologists in Paris were using. Perhaps LaFarge's doctors could apply the same test in this case? Dr. Lespinasse hastily replied that they could, embarassingly hiding their ignorance of the test and the intricacies of its procedure.

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The Marsh Test

The test that Moran was referring to was actually invented in 1836 by a Scottish chemist named James Marsh, who worked at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. Called upon to help solve a murder nearby he tried to detect arsenic using the old methods. While he was successful, the sample had decomposed and did not convince the jury of the defendant's guilt. Frustrated at this turn of events Marsh developed a glass apparatus not only to detect minute traces of arsenic but also measure its quantity. The sample is mixed with arsenic-free zinc and sulphuric acid, any arsenic present causing the production of arsine gas and hydrogen. The gas is then led through a tube where it is heated strongly, decomposing into hydrogen and arsenic vapor. When the arsenic vapor impinges on a cold surface, a mirror-like deposit of arsenic forms.

Related Topics:
1836 - Scottish - Chemist - James Marsh - Royal Arsenal - Woolwich - Zinc - Sulphuric acid - Arsine - Hydrogen

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