A Poisoned Blood by Philip E. Ginsburg is the astonishing true story of murder and a crazy hoax. Below is my review of the novel.
Known as Marie by her friends, she was born Audrey Marie Frazier in 1933 and grew up in Anniston, Alabama. She married her high school sweetheart, Frank Hilley, in 1951 and gave birth to their son, Michael, a year later. Marie had an eye for the finer things in life, and she rubbed elbows with several prominent families in Anniston, climbing up the small southern town’s social ladder.
Marie gave birth to a daughter, Carol Hilley, in 1960. Unfortunately, the mother and daughter weren’t much alike, and their relationship suffered as a result. In the mid-1970s, Frank was struck by a mysterious illness, which rendered him unable to work. Doctors were at a loss to explain his ailment. Doctors believed Frank had died of hepatitis, and he was buried without further inquiry. He left behind a $31,000 life insurance policy, a substantial amount of money in 1975, but Marie blew through it quickly.
While the Hilleys did their best to recover from the loss, a mysterious illness began to affect Carol in 1979. When Marie was helping Carol get ready for her senior prom, her daughter was overcome with nausea. Over the next week, she became so sick she couldn’t walk and had to be hospitalized. Authorities arrested Marie for check fraud that fall, and Carol was moved to another hospital and given a toxicology test. Detectives learned that Marie had recently taken out a $25,000 life insurance policy on Carol, which designated her as the beneficiary, according to court documents.
Two weeks after Marie’s arrest, Frank’s body was exhumed for testing. When the toxicology report came back, it revealed abnormally high arsenic levels in his body, ranging anywhere from 10 to 100 times the average amount, according to court documents. Frank’s sister, Freida Adcock, was convinced Frank had been murdered, and she went to Marie’s house to search for evidence. Inside a box in the cellar, she found a pill bottle and brought it to the police, who tested it and found it contained arsenic. Marie was soon indicted for the attempted murder of Carol, and several months later, she was charged with Frank’s poisoning, according to court documents.
Two months after her initial arrest, Marie made bail. Her defense attorney put her up in a hotel, but on Nov. 18, 1979, she went missing. Police compared the note to samples of Marie’s handwriting and found it to be a match. A manhunt ensued, but she was nowhere to be found. It seemed Marie would never answer for her crimes until January 1983, when authorities in Keene, New Hampshire began investigating a possible case of identity fraud. A woman named Teri Martin claimed she was the identical twin sister of a local woman who had recently died, Robbi Homan. Investigators, however, suspected they were the same woman and believed that Martin had something to hide.
Robbi had moved to the area from Fort Lauderdale, Florida with her husband, John Homan, in 1980. Thanks to her charm, she made fast friends and was well-liked at her job. In the summer of 1982, Robbi said she had to return to her home state of Texas to receive treatment for a rare blood disease and visit her twin sister, Teri Martin. Several months later, John received a phone call from Martin, saying his wife had died and that her body had been donated to science. Martin said her sister’s last wish was for her to meet her husband and visit her home in New Hampshire. The woman who showed up to meet John looked exactly like his dead wife, except she had dyed blonde hair and was wearing different makeup. Martin moved in with John and quickly settled into life in New Hampshire. She even visited the company where Robbi had worked, telling her manager and co-workers that Robbi had died. Suspicious, they contacted police, who began looking into the puzzling case.
Investigators brought Martin in for questioning, and she quickly revealed her true identity. John claimed he had no idea the woman he was living with was actually his dead wife, and he was further astonished to learn the truth about her past back in Alabama. Despite the evidence, John stood by Marie and continued to support her throughout the trial. Marie was found guilty on all charges in June 1983. She received a life sentence for the murder of Frank and an additional 20-year sentence for the attempted murder of Carol, according to the Associated Press. Even as a prisoner, Marie worked her charms and earned a three-day pass in late February 1987. She spent the weekend with John at a boarding house in Anniston. On the day she was supposed to return to jail, she said she was going to visit her mother’s grave. Instead, she made a run for it. Marie picked the wrong week to make her escape. Despite being in the Deep South, the weather was terrible, with frequent rain and low temperatures. A few days later, Marie was spotted crawling across the porch of a house in rural Blue Mountain, Alabama, just north of Anniston.
In my opinion, this book was very interesting, the author gave many details when explaining the story and the events that happened. The author did a great job of keeping the real-life details in the story. It was very easy to read through this book really quickly actually I would say in about a week and a half. It’s really a great and easy read if you love and are interested in true crime.
