Marie Lafarge, was born as a Capelle and came from a wealthy family and went to the best schools. Growing up, she became jealous when she saw her friends marrying rich noblemen. When she became 23 she still wasn't married and her uncle (her parents died and her aunt and uncle adopted her) set up a meeting for her and Charles Lafarge. Charles used to be a wealthy man but went into bankruptcy during the French revolution. He had lied to Marie, saying he was still a man of wealth and Marie agreed to marry him, since he still had his splendid estate. But on arrival, Marie soon discovered that the estate was in very poor condition, and rat infested. Her in-laws were slobs and she was disgusted with her new life, instead of the wealth she was promised she was faced with a pile of debt. She begged her husband to release her from this marriage and threatened to take her life. Charles begged her to stay and promised to raise money, she calmed down a bit and there relationship seemed to be getting better. He soon left for a business trip to Paris and Marie wrote him letters and sent him Christmas cake when it came to the season. He ate it and fell suddenly ill, he just thought it became spoiled in the mail and tossed the cake away. When he returned home the family doctor diagnosed him with cholera and was not suspicious when Marie asked him for a prescription of arsenic for that rats that disturbed her husband during the night. Marie then proceeded to poison Charles' tea each night with small doses of arsenic.
Charles' relatives came over to visit, including a young women by the name of Anna Brun, who was the first to be suspicious of Marie. She saw her put a strange white powder in Charles' food and drink from an elaborate malachite box, and immediately told his family of her suspicions. When Charles soon passed away his family came forward to the police, and they explained what happened during the last month of his life. The police found a paste that was believed to be the rat poison left around the house, but when tested it turned out just to be flour, water and soda. They collected soup suspected to contain the poison and ran tests and detected small amounts of arsenic. The pathologists also detected arsenic in Charles' body and the light was immediately shone on Marie. Any doubts were erased when Anna came forward with Marie's malachite box which was found to contain the arsenic used to poison Charles Lafarge. She was tried, found guilty and sentenced to life.
Charles' relatives came over to visit, including a young women by the name of Anna Brun, who was the first to be suspicious of Marie. She saw her put a strange white powder in Charles' food and drink from an elaborate malachite box, and immediately told his family of her suspicions. When Charles soon passed away his family came forward to the police, and they explained what happened during the last month of his life. The police found a paste that was believed to be the rat poison left around the house, but when tested it turned out just to be flour, water and soda. They collected soup suspected to contain the poison and ran tests and detected small amounts of arsenic. The pathologists also detected arsenic in Charles' body and the light was immediately shone on Marie. Any doubts were erased when Anna came forward with Marie's malachite box which was found to contain the arsenic used to poison Charles Lafarge. She was tried, found guilty and sentenced to life.