Grinder, Martha (1815–1866)

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Grinder, Martha (1815–1866)

American poisoner. Born 1815; lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; hanged Jan 19, 1866; married.

While supposedly nursing her neighbor, a Mrs. Caruthers (also seen as Carothers), poisoned the woman with arsenic; confessed to the murder and the murder of Jane R. Buchanan; her demeanor on the gallows was later reported in the press to be "unexpectedly calm."