On September 19th, Marie Hilley rushed to the university of Alabama hospital in Birmingham. Her 19 year old daughter Carol Hilley was very sick. For the past 5 months, she suffered severe vomiting, stomach cramps, a failing nervous system and paralysis on the legs. Her hands became clod an nearly useless.
Marie a widow who daunted on her only daughter was frantic to find a cure for Carol’s great illness. After months of shuttling Carol from doctor to doctor , Marie was at the end of her rope. Doctors told her that Carol might have a virus or some other condition but she yet to get a clear diagnosis about what was crippling her daughter. Carol illness was taking its toll on Marie wealth.
On Carol’s first day on university hospital, a plain clothes police officer came looking for Marie. He asked her if he could speak to her in private. Carol’s mounting medical bills were wrecking habit on Marie’s finances. A bank and a furniture store in nearby Anniston filled a complait against her for passing bad cheques! The officer served Marie with an arrest warrant he was taking her to jail.
Not wanting to alarm her daughter, Marie made up a story about why she had to leave. Carol had no knowledge about her mum arrest. The next day when Carol couldnt reach her mother, she called her aunt Frida who came to see her and tell her about Marie.
Frida had news for the doctors too, expressing her concern about Marie’s care of Carol. She said that Marie move Carol from hospital to hospital before the young woman could be fully diagnosed. She also claimed to have witnessed Marie giving Carol shots. She feared Marie desperate attempts to heal her daughter were only making her more ill. This possibility made Carol’s doctors to rethink his diagnosis. Perhaps her illness was caused by a toxin? Rather than a virus! He realized her symptoms were consistent with heavy metal poisoning. Most commonly arsenic. Often called the great imitator, arsenic routinely escapes early diagnosis masquerading as food poisoning or the flue. The misjudgment could be fatal but once its suspected, long term arsenic poisoning is easy to diagnose.
Carol’s fingernails displayed the broad white lines called Mees lines that signaled the presence of arsenic in the bloodstream for longer than six weeks. Following up on this crucial discovery, nails and hair samples were sent to the lab. The samples are carefully weighed before they are put to what’s called a digesting flask. Nitric and sulphury acid are mixed with the sample and heated.
The digested sample is then ready to be analyzed. Early reading showed high levels of the poison in Carol samples but it would take weeks to get a more detailed results, because arsenic is found in nature and its a common ingredient in pesticides the exposer could have been accidental but not everyone believed that! While the samples were being tested, Anniston police received a letter from Marie’s brother. He believed that her sister Marie Hilley may have killed her husband 4 years and was now poisoning her daughter.
Carol explained within a month, she did endured two hospitals stays. She enjoyed a brief recovery until her illness took up for the turn for the worst. She told the police that the change occurred after she moved from her mothers house to her own apartment. Although Carol looked forward to live on her own, Marie practically moved in with her from the very first day keeping house doing the most of the cooking. Within days she felt seriously ill suffering from nausea and severe cramps. Marie rushed her to hospital where she stayed for a week but when doctors offered no quick solution, Marie abruptly moved carol to another hospital. Carol recall on September she was in the hospital her mother gave her two orange pills and two injections. Marie told her daughter that it would ease the paralysis on her legs but still her illness progressed. Marie behavior prompted police to request a police file on her the police knew she had been a victim of a series of strange events ever since her husband died. The police hoped the files might have revealed some pattern.
Marie collected substantial insurance claims for damage to her house, her daughters car and her husband Frank death. Marie was the beneficiary but the policy had lapsed. According to the insurance company Marie had made several desperate attempts to have it reinstated but every of her cheques bounced.
Following up on the letter sent by her brother, the police received a copy of Frank medical records. Frank and Marie Hilley appeared to be an average couple. They were married for 25 years and raised two children Mike and Carol. As her kids were growing up Marie maintained an active social life. Frank enjoyed the hard work of breadwinner, active, healthy and rarely missing a day at work. But one evening Frank came home with an upsetting stomach. He stayed home most of the next week. Marie attended to him around the clock. But frank condition worsened rapidly and withing a matter of days, he was dead. At the time the circumstances were considered tragic but not criminal and even now it seemed inconceivable that a woman could be cold blooded enough to poison her own family. Marie didn’t just fit the mold of murderer but in plain site Frank Hilley symptoms suggested a classic case of arsenic poisoning. To be sure the police had to exhume frank’s body, it would be easier with Maries permission. She was still in custody for writing bad cheques. She denied any involvement in her husband’s death and granted the exhumation and autopsy.
While the police collected hair and samples from Frank Hilley remains, the results from Carol testing came back from the lab. The analysis showed abnormal levels or arsenic along her length of her hair demonstrating longterm exposure to the poison. The hair closest to carol’s scrap had 35 times the amount of arsenic than the outer part revealing she had received recent high doses. Her mother Marie Hilley was still the prime suspect of slow and painful poison to her daughter all now what was remaining was the proof. It wasn’t long in coming.
On the following month of October on 8th, police received a letter from carol’s aunt Frida along with a prescription bottle containing a clear liquid. The note said she found Maries bottle in her jewelry box. The bottle was sent for analysis and a half hour later the lab confirmed the bottle contained Arsenic.
A similar file was taken from Maries purse when she was first arrested for a cheque bouncing. It appeared empty but the lab suspected it might hold some residue. They rinse it with distilled water the tested the water and once again they found arsenic! Marie was served another warrant charging her for wanting to poison her daughter Carol. Additional warrants were served for passing more bad cheques.
Marie was indicted for first degree murder. She received life plus 20 years for attempting to poison her daughter but she only windup serving only a fraction of that time. After 3 years manipulated the warden into trusting her and when it was time for her to return, it was clear that Marie Hilley had escaped! But her gateway didn’t last, a week later she was discovered apparently trying to break into a house. Her clothes were soaked and she suffered a massive heart attack and died that evening. Marie Hiley was buried next to her husband Frank, the man she poisoned to death.