Deptford Poisoning Cases

The Deptford Poisoning Cases were a series of notorious murder cases that occurred in 1889 in Deptford, United Kingdom.

Investigators determined that at least three people were poisoned to death by Amelia Winters, possibly with the assistance of her daughter, Elizabeth Frost. The two women insured over twenty people, five of whom died in questionable circumstances. The victims included two young children who were relatives of Winters and Frost.

Winters died before going to trial. Frost was convicted of forgery for falsifying insurance documents and sent to prison for seven years.

The cases

The victims in the murder cases were Sidney Bolton, aged 11, the son of a niece living with Winters; William Sutton, the elderly father of another relative; and Elizabeth Frost, the mother-in-law of the daughter Elizabeth Frost. The doctor's certificate had given the cause of death as 'gastrodynia, diarrhoea and convulsions.'

When Joseph Winters, Amellia's husband, discovered the insurance policies, he went to the police. Investigators determined that Winters had insured the lives of 22 persons for a total of £240 with the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society. Five of these individuals had died by 1886, the society paying out for them. Winters also had 14 policies with the Prudential, which had also paid out for the same five deaths.

There had been no checks on her relationships with the insured people. On the Liverpool Victoria's insurance form for Sidney Bolton she had just written 'X' against his mother's name.

The inquest

FEMALE POISONERS AT DEPTFORD. FIVE PERSONS POISONED. A MOTHER AND HER DAUGHTER COMMITTED FOR TRIAL.

At an inquest held at the Breakspear Hotel, Brockley, in July 1889, Mrs. Amelia Winters and her daughter Elizabeth Frost (née Winters) were found guilty of wilful murder and the coroner committed them for trial at the Central Criminal Court. The deaths that led to the inquest were those of Sydney Bolton, aged 11 years and William Sutton, aged 74. Their bodies were exhumed and examined along with a third, that of Elizabeth Frost, aged 47, mother in law of the accused Elizabeth Frost. The Home Office analyst Dr. Stevenson carried out the post mortems. Mr Thomas Bond FRCS gave evidence to the inquest and testified that Sutton could well have been poisoned by arsenic and that Frost's body showed abnormal preservation which could have been caused by the presence of arsenic. Evidence of motive was presented showing that between July 1886 and February 1889 five people insured by Mrs. Winters had died and she had claimed and received payment against the policies she held for Sutton and Bolton. The newspaper report of the inquest describes the reaction of Mr. Frost when his wife was taken from the court to prison to stand trial for the murder of his mother. He was said to have been completely broken down with grief and sobbed like a child.

Mrs. Winters' death

Winters died before she could be brought to trial. However, she made a deathbed confession of guilt to her husband and daughter. No inquest was held for her death; the Doctor said it was the result of 'marasmus' — a general wasting away.'

Winters was buried in Brockley cemetery in Lewisham on 22 July 1889 in unconsecrated ground. The burial was kept secret with police present to deter demonstrations.

The trial of Elizabeth Frost

Elizabeth Frost was initially indicted for murder, but the charges were dropped. She was tried at the Old Bailey in July 1889 on charges of forging a document for the payment of money, with intent to defraud and was found guilty. Frost was sentenced to seven years' penal servitude.

Life insurance

The coroner for Surrey, Athelstan Braxton Hicks, had written a letter to The Times on 14 February 1889 listing eleven proposals for combating the dangers of child life insurance. The Deptford Poisoning Case was influential in tightening up the 1875 Friendly Societies Act.

Other victims

Investigators identified other possible poisoning victims of Winters. No charges were brought in these case.

• Benjamin Winters, the brother of Joseph Winters. Mrs. Winters had insured him for 18 guineas. In 1885, he left Greenwich Workhouse to stay at the Winters' house for a holiday. While there, Benjamin "was taken ill with diarrhaea, sickness, pains in the stomach, and similar symptoms to those described in the previous cases. Dr. McNaughten attended the man, who expired in a few days in a fit."
• William Winters, age five, Winters' grandson; she had insured him for £5. In the summer of 1886, William was brought from the hospital to stay with Winters. William died a few days later.
• Ann Bolton, an elderly woman insured by Winters for £3 10s. In November 1886, she died at Friendly Street, Deptford, after Winters had been nursing her.

A witness in the case, George Francis Dear, who had lodged with Winters, later committed suicide by hanging after finding out that Winters had insured his life with a Liverpool society for 19 guineas.