Caroline Grills: The Toxic Tea Lady

I am back after a rough break! And to spill the tea, do NOT drink any tea from Caroline Grills.

A comfort killer is someone who commits murder in response to an emotional need for comfort or security.
Material gain and a comfortable lifestyle are the primary motives of comfort killers.
Usually, the victims are family members and close acquaintances.
After the murder of a close friend or relative, a comfort killer will usually wait for a period of time before killing again to allow any suspicions by those in close proximity to subside.
They often use drugs or poison, and most notably arsenic, to kill their victims
Trust no one.

Sources:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/
ancestry.com.au

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, I'm Lexie, and thisis what you should know. I am
so sorry. I've been gone forso long. Believe me, it was
not expected nor planned. Firstly,there was going to be a super interesting

(00:22):
unsolved case that I was halfway throughwhen I reached out to the family for
some more information and therefore warned methat there is actually currently movement on the
investigation. So obviously, with thehope always being any unsolved cases that I
cover end up being resolved and havean answer, I obviously did not want

(00:43):
to hinder the movement of justice.So I had to scrap the case that
I was working on, which Iwas most of the way through. Sorry,
I had to start all over againwith another case, and as I
was starting to get into that,I ended up getting really sick with a
chest infection from hell. So I'vebeen out of action for quite a while.

(01:04):
So I am finally here, andI have an interesting case for you
that will cause you to pause andwonder if you really should accept a cup
of tea in some sweeties from yourgrinning grandmother figure. This is what you
should know about Caroline Grills. Carolinewas born on the nineteenth of February eighteen
ninety to George Michelson and his wifeat the time, Mary. Not A

(01:26):
lot is known about Caroline's early life, but I have found that she was
the oldest of seven children. Sadly, Caroline's mother, Mary passed away in
nineteen hundred, just two years afterthe birth of her youngest daughter, Hannah.
Years would appear to pass without incident, and on the twenty second of
April nineteen o eight, with theconsent of her father, Caroline would marry

(01:51):
Richard Grills at the Balmain South Registrar'soffice. Harold was a twenty two year
old laborer and Caroline a seventeen yearold Taylor arrests as it was listed on
their official marriage certificate. Thank goodnessfor ancestry dot com. Right, not
an ad but if they want tosponsor me by all means. The young
couple would go on to have foursons and one daughter. Sadly, not

(02:15):
all of their children would survive.Their daughter Evelyn would die around the age
of one in nineteen forty her sonWilliam would die tragically at the age of
twenty when he struck a cow onhis motorcycle, and in nineteen forty three,
her son Harold also known as Wally, passed away after contracting typhoid fever
while working as a lifeguard on MaraubaBreach, either from handling a dead body

(02:38):
or waste that had been washed ontothe beach from an adjacent sewer. This
would have been extremely difficult for Caroline, losing three of her children, but
as it tends to go, itwasn't all bad. In nineteen twenty seven,
Caroline's father would marry Christina Burns atthe age of sixty nine. This

(02:58):
would have brought some piece joined thefamily, as George had been widowed twenty
seven years earlier. This marriage wouldultimately end in the death of George,
where he then left his home toCaroline and her husband, Richard. The
catch of this inheritance was Caroline wouldhave to wait for her stepmother to pass,
as Christina had been given a lifelongtenancy in George's will. Unfortunately for

(03:22):
Caroline, Christina was holding on andliving how dare she write? As Christina
drew closer to the age of eightyfour, Caroline began to dedicate her time
to her stepmother, selflessly providing anendless supply of tea and cakes that all
had the same secret ingredient thallium.Now thallium was used at the time as

(03:44):
a rat poison, but it wasalso used by less wholesome people to extinguish
the lives of others. Thallium canaffect your nervous system, long heart,
liver, and kidney if large amountsare ingested for a short period of time.
Temporary hair loss, vomiting, anddiarrhea can also occur, and death
may result after exposure to large amountsof thallium for short periods, and thallium

(04:09):
can be fatal from a dose aslow as one gram. With that in
mind, it is no surprise thatbefore the age of eighty five, Christina
passed away from poisoning, with manybelieving that she had died from natural causes,
especially since sweethold aunt Carrie was thereto take care of her with a
warm smile and a hot cup oftea. It was shortly after this that

(04:31):
Caroline and her husband moved into theirnew home and settled in, but this
comfort would be short lived, asshe began to daydream about home away from
home, a holiday house where sheand her husband could escape and unwind.
As luck would have it, aclose family friend named Angelina Thomas had declared

(04:53):
offhandedly on a number of occasions thather home in the Blue Mountains of Sydney
would belong to Caroline and Richard.Upon her death, realizing how easy it
had been the first time with Christina, Caroline saw to it that she visited
Angelina on a regular basis, alwaystaking her home baked goods and of course,

(05:15):
the thallium rat poison simply known asthorat. Sadly, just three weeks
after Christmas of nineteen forty eight,on the seventeenth of January, Angelina Thomas
passed away at the age of eightyseven, another death that no one felt
was suspicious. Caroline was thrilled withhow her life had started to go in
her sixties, two pieces of property, all at the low low cost of

(05:39):
her soul. In today's economy thatis also quite cheap. Unfortunately for Caroline
Living, the dream left her withtoo much time on her hands. Unfortunately
for Caroline Living the dream left herwith too much time on her hands,
even with a large family filled withchildren and grandchildren to keep her busy.

(06:00):
She was a caring soul, allegedly, and her favorite pastime was to care
for those around her who were sick. However, it appeared that unwell family
members were thin after the deaths ofChristina and Angelina. Bored of these peaceful
times, Caroline turned her lethal nurturingnature to her husband's brother in law,

(06:20):
John Lundgren. Tragically, he fellill and died while on holiday with the
Grills. It was soon after thatCaroline's sister in law, mary Anne Mickelum,
passed away due to a similar illness. Both mary Anne and John developed
sudden and strange cases of alopecia priorto their deaths, and mary Anne also

(06:45):
went blind. Concern spread amongst thefamilies. However, despite the chance that
the illness could be contagious, Carolinefirmly stayed by the side of each family
member as their health declined. Manyfound it so sweet that, in an
effort to nurse Mary Anne back tohealth, she spoon fed her soups and
casseroles that she had made. Astime progressed, the now widowed Eveline Lundgren,

(07:12):
wife of John Londegren, became concernedas she began to exhibit the same
symptoms as her spouse had, butluckily for her, once again, Caroline
was on hand to make Evelyne ascomfortable as possible during this difficult time.
The cups of tea Caroline brought hermust have felt so calming, especially after
her sight had failed. She eventuallybecame so unwell that her family believed she

(07:36):
too would die, and with thatconcern, rather than leave her in the
care of Caroline, she was admittedto the hospital. Once under the care
of doctors, Evelyne miraculously improved,which was a huge relief to her family.
However, during this time, Eveline'sdaughter Christine and son in law John

(07:56):
Downey were following victim to the samemystery illness and had also accepted cups of
tea and cakes from Caroline. Itwas after Christine and John had fallen ill
that eve Line returned home from thehospital and Caroline resumed her care for her.
Would you be shocked if I toldyou that around this time Australia had

(08:16):
fallen under a craze for killing withthallium, and it had been splashed all
over the news as each murder wasfound out. Due to the chronic rat
infestation problems in the overcrowded inner citiesand thallium's effectiveness as rat poison, it
was easily available over the accounter inNew South Wales, where thallium soul fate

(08:39):
was marketed as a commercial rat baitunder the brand Thule Rat in the paper.
Around the time of Caroline poisoning,those around her were the likes of
Yvonne Gladys Fletcher, a housewife andmother of two from the Inner Sydney suburb
of Newton. She was charged andtried for the murder of both her first
husband, Desmond but and her abusivesecond husband, bertrand Bluie Fletcher. There

(09:03):
was also Ruby Norton, who wastried for the murder of her daughter's fiance,
Allan Williams. Allegedly, Ruby hatedall the men in her family and
she did not want Alan as ason in law. Ultimately she was acquitted,
and Beryl Hage, who was triedfor maliciously administering thallium and endangering her

(09:24):
husband's life. Beryl confessed to buyingThole Rat from a corner shop and putting
it in her husband's tea because shewanted to and I quote give him a
headache to repay the many headaches hehad given me in violent disputes. With
these stories circulating openly, John becamesuspicious of Caroline and her alleged kindness.

(09:46):
When interviewed, John Downey said thaton the twentieth of April nineteen fifty three,
he returned home at midday and foundCaroline there with his wife and Evelyn.
At lunch, Caroline asked if shecould bring in the tea, and
it was around this time he sawher pause and put something into the cup,
of which she then brought into theroom and placed in front of Evelyne

(10:07):
and said, this is yours eva. Being concerned, John chugged his tea,
and when his mother in law haddrunk about a quarter of her tea,
he grabbed the cup and said,I'll warm your tea for you,
mum. He took her cup intothe kitchen, emptied the contents into an
old cup, and pushed it behindthe washing up dish. After lunch,

(10:28):
he emptied the contents of the oldcup into a clean jar and placed it
on the shelf in the laundry.It was shortly after John witnessed the decline
in his mother in law's health thathe took the jar of tea government Analysis's
Department, and in May he learnedthat his mother was suffering from thallium poisoning,
and was with this confirmation that thealarm was raised. It was first

(10:52):
recorded on the twelfth of May nineteenfifty three that sixty three year old serial
killer Caroline Grills was arrested with bailset at one thousand pounds with the attempted
murder of Eveline. The bail amountwas initially dropped to three hundred pounds due
to Caroline's excellent character. I thinkthat is what is most disturbing about her,
if I'm honest. She was witnessedat the court house in the first

(11:16):
instance, smiling and talking politely asif she had not killed and attempted to
do so again. It is withoutsurprise that Caroline pleaded not guilty to these
charges and had every intention on fightingthem. It appeared that the usually cruel
press had taken a softness with Carolinein the beginning, at least with article

(11:37):
titles such as woman sixty three innocentof poison charges and innocent of poisoning charges.
But that softness wouldn't last as thecase would progress, especially as the
request for bail was soon squashed andCaroline would be held in remand until June
tenth, when the coroner's inquest wouldstart. It was on that day that

(11:58):
she was charged with having feloniously administeredthallium to Christine Downey and her mother,
Eveline Blundeberg, with the intent tomurder them both, and it was with
that Caroline was remanded again until Julytwenty first. Caroline and her lawyer would
loudly and openly speak with the press, trying their hardest to prevent a guilty

(12:20):
verdict. On the ninth of Julythere was an article where Caroline was quoted
as saying, the police are goingon circumstantial evidence. It is wicked in
those circumstances for women to be keptin jail merely on circumstantial evidence. The
police may have got, but whilethey tried to play the world's smallest violin
for themselves, testing was being completeand post mortem examinations had revealed large quantities

(12:45):
of thallium in the bodies of twowomen. Unfortunately, they couldn't exhume all
five bodies, as three had beencremated at the suggestion of Caroline. It
would be a shock for many whenCaroline was granted a two thousand pound bail
after lawyer argued that her continued detentionin Long Bay Jail was seriously affecting her
health. The day this was granted, Caroline appeared in court wearing a long

(13:09):
gray dress and black coat. Itis reported that during this time she would
stare at the floor and not lookaround the room at all until bail was
granted. Once it was that sinistergrinn spread across Caroline's face. Now to
clarify, Caroline had been on bailfor three hundred pounds, was arrested on

(13:30):
additional charges of murder after the bodieswere exhumed and tested for thallium poisoning,
and was let go on bail again, but this time for two thousand pounds.
That smile would inevitably land Caroline introuble, as in the coming articles
I found on trove. She waswarned multiple times by her own lawyer not

(13:52):
to smile or laugh while evidence wasbeing presented. The twelfth of August was
an interesting day for the West asit started with Detective Sergeant Ferguson taking the
stand. During this time, hewould present the following evidence, starting with
how traces of thallium had been foundin a cup from which had been presented

(14:13):
to Eveline by Caroline. Police hadgiven the government analyst two oyster bottles,
one containing oyster water, an envelopecontaining some of Evelyne's hair, and biscuits,
oysters and chocolate said to have beengiven to Eveline at the Sydney Hospital
by Caroline. The examination of theoysters had proven negative. However, the

(14:33):
tea had contained thallium. He proceededto explain that when he interviewed Caroline on
the eleventh of May, he expressedhis belief that thallium had been administered to
Eveline and Christine, and stated thatwhen he further questioned Caroline about carrying cups
of tea into the lundberghbe on thetwentieth of April, she had said,

(14:54):
and I quote, I might havesometimes, but only when Chrissy asked me
to. Detective Sergean Ferguson also saidhe had told Caroline Jack Downey alleges,
you walked into the kitchen, tookone cup of tea and walked to the
door, where he saw you placeyour right hand in your pocket. You
then placed the tea before Eveline.It was during this that the detective continued

(15:16):
to explain to the court how Jackhad taken the cup of tea from Evelyne,
claiming to want to warm it upfor her. Next was doctor Farah,
who would provide further damning evidence thatthe grinning Granny Caroline was in fact
guilty of murder. Doctor Farres said, from knowledge of medical history of Evelyne
Lundberg an inspection of the Government Analysis'scertificate, Evelyne's illness was consistent with heavy

(15:39):
metal poisoning, such as thallium.This was followed by the testimony of Evelyne's
GP, doctor Gabriel Stephen Naggi.According to his recollection, on the seventeenth
of April nineteen fifty two, Evelinehad complained of sudden loss of vision that
had been impacting her since nineteen fiftyone. This had been preceded by her
hair falling out during June of thesame year. Evelyne also complained of cramp

(16:03):
like pains in her legs, whichoccurred in December. In doctor Naggie's opinion,
her condition at the time was consistentwith thallium poisoning. With this suspicion,
doctor Naggie confirmed that he visited herhome to see whether poison had been
accidentally injected. A triple checked therelevant article to ensure that it didn't say
ingested, as it does tend toshow a little typed up section, but

(16:26):
no, even in the actual articlethat had been photocopied, it says injected.
Didn't realize people in the nineteen fiftieswere just injecting themselves or Willie Nellie.
When he visited Evelyne's home, hehad found an empty thule rat container
in her home, but it hadevidently not been used for some time.
On the eighth of May, heattended Evelyn's home for a consultation and found

(16:48):
her in a semichromatose condition, havingconvulsions. He had arranged for her admission
into the Sydney Hospital, where shewas discharged from on the sixth of June
nineteen fifty two. Doctor Naggie explainedhow he believed there was enough evidence to
show that she was suffering from thalliumpoisoning during that period. He saw her
again on the third of August andstated that her condition was satisfactory except that

(17:11):
she was now totally blind and thecause of blindness could be heavy metal poisoning.
And then on the twenty ninth ofApril nineteen fifty three, he had
seen Evelyne with her daughter Christine atthe Sydney Hospital out patience department. He
had been told her hair was fallingout again. He had then ordered urine
specimens to be submitted. Then itwas the turn of Jack Downey, son

(17:33):
in law of Evelyn. While onthe stand, Jack was quoted as saying
the following, I was suspicious ofher aunt. Carrie passed from the dining
room to the lounge, where herright hand went across the front of her
body in the direction of her lefthand. She put her right hand straight
back into her right hand pocket.Jack would continue to say how he saw
his mother in law drinking from onecup shortly after Caroline came back and rinsed

(17:59):
the cups. It would be ninedays after his mother in law had drunk
some tea from a cup brought byCaroline, her hair would start to fall
out again. As many stories wouldcome out, one came from jean as
may Lane, daughter of Mary AnnMichaelam. She told the court that Caroline
had told her that eve Line hadlost her hair and gone blind, just

(18:22):
like her own mother. When shequestioned her and said, don't you think
that's strange. She was met withCaroline's dismissive attitude. Caroline was quoted as
saying, no, they all golike that. When Jean stated that she
felt like she should go visit eveLine, Caroline told her not to,
allegedly saying she will remind you toomuch of your mother. And it was
with that Caroline Grills lost the rightto her bail. In an odd twist,

(18:47):
the reason for Evelyne's attempted murder cameto light in an article published on
the thirteenth of August nineteen fifty three. And when I tell you it is
wild, poor boy, I wasa little bit shocked, to say the
lead. While Caroline had killed twopeople previously for houses, Evelyne had been
poisoned for her clothes. I'll letyou soak that in for a moment.

(19:08):
It was some time before Christmas innineteen fifty one that Caroline said to her
dear friend Evelyne that she had dreamtthat she had died and left all her
clothes to her. Evelyne probably foundthis thought to be kind of amusing and
replied by saying, you're the onlyone they fit, so you'll get them.
Now. Remember Evelyne survived this nightmareand was on the stand at some

(19:30):
point explaining how things went from herperspective, and she was quoted as saying,
Caroline went inside to get water.No one asked for it, and
I don't know how many cups shebrought out because I couldn't see them.
I just took the cup and drankthe water. I'm supposed to drink plenty
of water, so it didn't reallymake much difference. She recalled that Caroline

(19:52):
had spoke to her while handing herthe cup, but she couldn't remember the
actual words. Evelyne added that shedidn't remember being taken to the Sydney Hall
Hospital by Detective Sergeant Ferguson and DetectiveKrahey on the date of Caroline's arrest because
she was unconscious. Christine would nextexplain her recollection, saying that Caroline would
often bring food stuffs and stay forlunch every Monday. On the day of

(20:14):
the poisoning itself, she was cuttinga sandwich in her kitchen with her back
to the table where the cups oftea were. Caroline then said, I
will take the teas in for you. She then took one cup of tea
directly out to Eveline and then returnedfor the other three cups. The days
after that, Eveline's hair began fallingout. But Christine's suspicion of Caroline went
back to nineteen fifty two, whenshe had become ill from being poisoned.

(20:40):
Christine would go on to explain thatone Sunday toward the end of March or
in early April, before the AprilTea poisoning, Caroline had brought a jam
roll, a jar of ginger,and some pikelets to her home. She
had told Caroline she was going outto her brother's place and would take the
food there. Allegedly, Caroline said, don't take the jam role. That's

(21:02):
for your mother. I made itmyself. When asked by Sergeant Hamilton what
eventually happened to the jam roll,Christine said, I opened it up and
then put it in the dirt tin. Now to explain that, for those
who have no idea what that is, it's a food scrap spin. Effectively,
they just would have reused a largetin for this purpose back in the
day. It was around this timethat the press had turned against Caroline and

(21:25):
started digging as deep as they couldfor real dirt, and they did not
pull any punchers. They published chunksof the interview Caroline had with the police
and besties. It did not lookgood at all. My favorite part was
when Caroline was asked what Angelina Thomasdied from. Sia replied old age.
She was eighty seven. Caroline wasthen asked if she had offered any of

(21:49):
Angelina's clothing too one Isabelle Jones.Caroline had replied yes. I told her
she could go and take whatever shewanted out of the house, except for
the hand sewing machine. Now Iknow it does go that way. After
the death of someone, items getsplit up amongst people, and some items
even end up in secondhand stores.During the early nineteen fifties, this would

(22:11):
have been common practice because everyone wasfinancially drained from World War Two, even
more so here because Angelina Thomas wasmurdered in nineteen forty eight. But the
reason it doesn't sound so good isbecause I know what she did something about
it just feels ikey. Later inthe coronial in quest, a woman by

(22:33):
the name of Alice Hurry was broughtto the stand as she had been attempting
to help care for Angelina. Alicewould testify that in her last days,
Angelina's lips were so very dry,and she would often request to have them
moistened. Being the late nineteen forties, I don't think they had chapstick,
so I am unsure of what theywould have done or if they would have
just given her some oil. Itwould make sense if maybe they put some

(22:56):
oil on her lips, don't I. Alice also dated that Angelina was thirsty
all the time. Shortly before herdeath, Caroline gave Alice a prescription for
Angelina. She brought the medicine backwhen Caroline or Mary Anne were there,
but a few days later she sawthe bottle on Angelina's bedside table still looking
full. When Angelina passed away,Alice went to find some flowers to leave

(23:18):
with her body. However, shewas shocked by what she saw. Upon
her return. The undertaker had removedher body, and Caroline and her husband
Richard were and I quote, pullingthe bed to pieces. Alice did clarify
that she saw nothing sinister in theiractions and expected she would have done the
same after death different times. Iguess. Next on the stand was longtime

(23:41):
neighbor Helena Schonbeck. Helena said thaton one occasion she set a rat trap
for Angelina using a piece of metersbait, as Angelina was nervous of the
poison and feared that one of herchickens would eat it by mistake. This
only grew the suspicions of the courtas more than one empty bottle of thule
rat had been seen her home aroundthe time of her death. Isabel Jones,

(24:03):
who had been offered the items fromAngelina's home post her death, also
made a statement. As she wasa neighbor and close friend to Angelina.
Isabelle had told the court that Angelinahad advised her of a tin under her
bed containing thirty pounds to be usedin case of illness, and at Angelina's
request, Isabelle told Caroline of this. Isabelle also told the court how she

(24:26):
had made a dressing gown for Angelinasome months before she had died. Two
days before her death, Caroline hadshown her the dressing gown and asked if
she would like to have it.She declined understandably, I honestly can't even
begin to imagine what would have gonethrough her mind when she was first asked.
But this was so outrageous at thetime that many people used this as

(24:48):
a main point of contention in anyof the articles, and it was a
main point during the later court case. Finally, Isabel told of her last
visit to Angelina before her death.She gave her some water, but had
to hold her head up before shecould drink. Angelina was blind at this
point, but said she recognized hervoice. Quoting what Isabel said directly while

(25:11):
on the stand, She said shethen whispered, I am going home.
During mid August, the inquest continuedon, starting with a thallium tragedy that
had occurred in Granada, where fourteenchildren had died from poisoning, and how
at the time Caroline commented on thetragedy, seeming to be heartbroken for the
loss of life, a stark contrastto her grinning and laughing during court.

(25:34):
In a strange moment, after thepublic had entered the court room, a
woman ran across to Caroline, whosechair was just in front of the public
barrier, put her arms around herneck and kissed her on the cheek.
It was witnessed that she had saidto Caroline, good morning, dear,
and good luck. How are youCaroline smiled, patted the woman's hand and

(25:55):
said she was well. The womanleft Caroline and hurried to get a seat
in the rapidly filling benches. Anotherwoman younger than the first then ran across
and also kissed Caroline, who smiledand said she felt fine. I guess
many people wouldn't want to believe thatthis stoutly built woman with a permanent grin
on her face would be capable ofmurdering four family members and attempting to murder

(26:18):
a further four. Reporters would continueto point out how Caroline seemed to show
no remorse and was completely unmoved bythe allegations. In one report, they
would go on to describe her aswell preserved and freshly complexioned at sixty three.
They would comment that her fair hairis almost free from gray, and
her hazel eyes light up when shesmiles. These almost sound like love notes,

(26:41):
showing infatuation for this murderer. Theywould explain how, at the height
of four foot ten, her feetwouldn't touch the ground when she sat behind
her lawyer to read directly from onearticle. In her folded hands, she
clutches a gay floral scarf which sheaffects to foil the press photographers. Each

(27:02):
time she enters the courtroom, shewears a scarf around her hat and adjusts
it again when leaving. She hasenjoyed her forays and skirmishes with the eager
cameraman, and once when she reachedthe courtroom, leaving a trail of rueful
photographers outside, she gasped, laughing, it's the fun of the world.
At each adjournment, missus Grills hasheld a levee with friends and relatives who

(27:26):
pack into the small courtroom. Theylaugh and joke with Aunt Carrie. Even
on Thursday, when the coroner refusedto renew her bail, Missus Grills servoi
fare did not leave her. Theyreally do speak of her like she is
some kind of celebrity, being cheekywith pepperazzi. But I feel they may
have briefly forgot that this woman,no matter how small or charming she is,

(27:49):
is a vicious murderer, a comfortkiller. What does a comfort killer,
you ask, Well, it issomeone who will kill for the sake
of money and wealth. In Caroline'speace, Let's remember it also included clothing
for some strange reason. It wasreported in late August that jean the daughter

(28:10):
of mary Anne, had been coldto testify again. Caroline had told the
court that her sister in law hadsaid, don't let those girls come near
me. They're trying to kill me. Jeanne had told the court that she
was suspicious but not prejudiced against Caroline, and that when Caroline had told her
that her mother had not very muchlonger to live, she had consulted the

(28:30):
family doctor, doctor Bolton, whosaid it was not likely. However,
shockingly, mary Anne passed away atthe predicted date that Caroline had given.
Jean also added that she had seenCaroline wearing some of her mother's clothing,
which she never paid her or hersister for. To put it bluntly,
Caroline not only poisoned mary Anne,but she also effectively did a subtle gloat

(28:55):
for her work on that by predictingthe date of death and then stole a
dead woman's During the court session,Caroline was told that she was going to
be charged with the attempted murder ofher niece Christine. Her response was to
tell them that she didn't care tothe further horror that this To further the
horror that was this case, Carolinewould make up excuses and scenarios and try

(29:17):
to shift Blaine as we already heard. As we have already heard, Caroline
claims it was illness and age killingthose around her. As for Jack Downey,
she would go on to accuse himof being a cat killer and that
John Downey poisoned himself. And thenon the twelfth of August nineteen fifty three,
the coronial inquest was complete and Carolinewas charged with murder. The coroner

(29:41):
said, on the evidence before mein this matter, I find that Christina
Louise Adelaide Michelson died on November thirty, nineteen forty seven, at Saint Margaret's
Private Hospital, Gladsville, from poisoningby thallium feloniously and maliciously administered to her
by Caroline Grif And I further findthat Caroline Grills did feloniously and maliciously murdered

(30:03):
the said Christina Louisa Adelaide Michelson.She was then transferred from Long Bay Jail
to Katoomba Police Station Seals, whereshe was to wait out the week before
the trial would start. While inKatoomba, it was found that the death
of Angelina Thomas was the result ofthallium, and her death would be added
to Caroline's trial. Caroline would continueto protest her innocence and her husband would

(30:26):
stand right by her side the entiretime. The first day of trial started
as a circus. Half an hourbefore the doors opened for the public,
a long queue of people stood outsidethe court waiting to witness the trial themselves.
Caroline entered the court by the sidedoor under police escort. She walked
smiling to the dock and turned toface Justice Brereton, and when the indictment

(30:52):
was read, she answered not guiltyin a clear, firm voice. And
so the trial began. And Iwill only tell you the highlights, as
it's all going to be much ofthe same of the information that was brought
up during the inquest. Crown ProsecutorMister Rooney told Justice Brereton that if he
pressed for a motive for the poisoningsin Redfern, he would say Caroline Grills

(31:15):
had become a practiced and habitual poisoner. Possibly she was getting a psychological lift
and sense of power from administering poisonand watching its effects. While their evidence
for motive for most poisonings were weak. As stated by Justice Breton. The
press printed their opinion while the trialwas in its third day that it was

(31:37):
only expected to last a week,and they were not wrong. Weak evidence
of mootive really did not impede thecourse of justice for this case. Towards
the end of the trial, JusticeBreton read George Michelson's will and if you
have forgotten already, that's okay George'sCaroline's father. Justice Brereton said the effect
was that if Missus Christina Michelson andno longer lived. Justice Barretton said that

(32:02):
if Missus Christina Michelson lived longer thanher husband, the property would go to
Caroline, subjects to allowing the widowto live in the Michelson's house at Gladsville.
If Christina died first, the propertywent directly to Caroline after George died.
In any case, nothing could happenuntil George Michelson died. Christina had

(32:24):
been complaining of sore knees, achinghands, and failing sight. Her hair
had also fallen out. Missus Carr, close friend of Christina, had said
Caroline often looked after her, preparingand cooking lunch for her Caroline also told
her that Christina had been pulling outher own hair, saying, you know

(32:45):
she is getting silly. Caroline saidto her Grandma resolved, she will not
recover, and also added that shethought cremation was a better option. Missus
Carr told the court, I thoughtshe should be buried with her mother,
and she was. Caroline clapped backand as quota, saying, you don't
know this, missus Carr, butI do. I don't want to cause

(33:07):
trouble. But she had a daughterto one of Missiles Michelson's sons, and
she thought that the daughter should havegot grandfather's cottage, which we are living
in now. I don't see whyshe should get that. Grandfather didn't marry
until he was seventy six, andthere are four of us girls who should
have got it. Caroline would continueto give her highly sanitized testimony in her

(33:30):
own defense, claiming how she wouldnever hurt anyone. When asked about dol
rant, she explained she had noidea that the popular rat poison contained thallium,
and that any food she prepared waseaten by everyone, including herself,
so if she had poisoned it,she too would have fallen ill. On
the fifteenth of October nineteen fifty three, the jury was excused to deliberate the

(33:52):
verdict of the case. They tooka total of twelve minutes before returning with
a guilty verdict. When Caroline returnedto the dock to await the decision,
she stood nervously, swallowing and tappingthe rails with her fingers. When she
heard the verdict, she shrugged hershoulders and gave a wrise smile. She

(34:14):
then threw her head back and smiledbroadly. Justice Brenton was then quoted as
saying the following, the jury hasfound you guilty of administering poison to missus
Londeberg with the intent to murder.The evidence discloses that under the guise of
friendship and loving kindness, but apparentlymotiveless malignanty, you administered poison to her,

(34:37):
contemning her at least to a lifeof blindness and possibly death. I
direct that sentence of death to berecorded. Caroline turned to the police standing
outside the dock and said, isthat all this bitch really did not care
at all? Sentenced to death andall she could say is that all Caroline

(34:58):
appealed and while this was missed bythe Court of Criminal Appeal, her sentence
was commuted to life imprisonment. Sheserved her sentence at the State Reformatory for
Women for the next six and ahalf years, where she became affectionately dubbed
by other inmates as Aunt Dally.In nineteen sixty Caroline died. She was
rushed to Prince Henry Hospital and laterdied of peritonitis. Perrotonitis is something I

(35:24):
had to google. It is aninflammation of the abdominal lining that surrounds your
internal organs that is usually caused eitherby a separate infection, an injury,
or internal leakage. She was crematedwith Anglican rights, attended by her husband
and surviving children. And on thatnote, that's all I have for you

(35:46):
today. Thank you all so somuch for being so patient for this episode.
I really do appreciate it. Hopefullythere will be no more delays and
we can all move on from this. There will be relevant pictures on Facebook
and Instagram at What You Should KnowAustralia. If you want to request episodes
or just reach out, please contactme through my social media or you can

(36:07):
email me at whiskapodat gmail dot com. That is w y s K A
p O d at gmail dot com. If you can like, subscribe and
hit the bell icon and rugby tacklethat five star blotton. But until next
time, stay safe and stay hydrated, Ma