Anna Maria Zwanziger
Anna Maria Zwanziger | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anna Margaretha Zwanziger 7 August 1760 |
| Died | 17 September 1811 (aged 51) |
| Cause of death | Execution by beheading |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 4 |
Span of crimes | 1801–1811 |
| Country | Germany |
Anna Margaretha Zwanziger (7 August 1760 – 17 September 1811) was a German serial killer.[1] She used arsenic, which she referred to as "her truest friend".
From 1801 until 1811, Zwanziger was employed as a housekeeper at the home of several judges in Germany. She would poison her employers with arsenic, and then nurse them back to health to gain their favour.[1] She poisoned three people and attempted to poison several others[1] She killed four people, one of whom was a baby.[2]
Zwanziger was judged guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Before she was beheaded, she said it was probably a good thing she was to be executed, as she did not think she would be able to stop.[2]
Wilkie Collins referenced her in his 1880 thriller “Jezebel’s Daughter”.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Dan Norder, Wolf Vanderlinden and Paul Begg, Ripper Notes: Madmen, Myths and Magic, Inklings Press, 2004, p. 17
- ^ a b "Anna Marie Zwanziger at Serial Killer True Crime Library". Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
- 1760 births
- 1811 deaths
- 19th-century executions by Germany
- 19th-century German criminals
- Criminals from Bavaria
- Executed female serial killers
- Executed German serial killers
- Executed German women
- German female serial killers
- Poisoners
- People executed by Bavaria
- People executed by Germany by decapitation
- People from Nuremberg
- 18th-century German criminals