Hi, and welcome to the H is for Homicide podcast where we talk about all things true crime ranging from sinister to psychotic stories worldwide. In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing the case of the toxic tea lady, Carrie Grills. 

Caroline Grills was a most unlikely multiple murder suspect, being a 63-year-old mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was charged with having murdered, by poison, four distant relatives, using what was then the virtually untraceable thallium. The method was not uncommon in the 1950s - the mother-in-law of prominent Balmain rugby league footballer Bobby Lulham was acquitted of poisoning him. It had made him very ill but did not kill him.

Grills was born to George Michelson and Mary (née Preiers) in Balmain, Sydney, at some point between 1888 and 1890.[1][3] She married Richard William Grills on 22 April 1908, with whom she had four sons.[3]

She first became a murder suspect in 1947 after the deaths of four family members: her 87-year-old stepmother Christine Mickelson; relatives by marriage Angelina Thomas and John Lundberg; and sister-in-law Mary Anne Mickelson. Authorities tested tea she had given to two additional family members (Christine Downey and John Downey of Redfern) on 13 April 1953, and detected the then-common household rat poison, thallium. At the time, thallium was easy to buy over the counter in New South Wales.[3] Mickelson had inherited from Grills' father a house in Gladesville, and Grills was speculated to have murdered her to inherit it.

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Information sources: Murderpedia.org: https://murderpedia.org/female.G/g/grills-caroline.htm#:~:text=Thallium%20poison%20case%20in%201953,then%20the%20virtually%20untraceable%20thallium.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Grills

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Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks and 

when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.

What you just heard is a nursery rhyme written for kids about the 1892 Borden axe murders. Rhymes from the early 18 and 1900s often have unsettling meanings behind them. But the lyrics of this specific poem unveil an extremely dark and sinister truth about one of the most famous yet forgotten cases of early-era true crime.

Today we’re going to be discussing the case of the axe murders of Lizzie Borden.

So Let’s start from the beginning of this story…

Lizzie Andrew Borden was born July 19, 1860, in Fall River Massachusetts, to Sarah Anthony Borden and Andrew Jackson Borden. Her father, who was of English and Welsh descent and grew up in very modest surroundings and struggled financially as a young man, despite being the descendant of wealthy and influential local residents. Andrew eventually prospered in the manufacture and sale of furniture and caskets and then became a successful Property Developer. He was a director of several textile mills and owned considerable commercial property; he was also president of the Union Savings Bank and a director of the Durfee Safe Deposit and Trust Co. At his death, his estate was valued at $300,000 (equivalent to $9,000,000 in 2021 and $9,630,000 in 2022). Which is definitely a lot of money

But Despite his wealth, Andrew was known for his frugality and simplicity. For instance, the Borden home lacked indoor plumbing although, at the time, it was a common accommodation for the wealthy. It was in an affluent area, but the wealthiest residents of Fall River, including Andrew's cousins, generally lived in the more fashionable neighbourhood, "The Hill", which was farther from the industrial areas of the city.

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And don’t forget We’ll see you next month with fresh cases from another continent at 11:11 pm ist. Till then goodbye!