Real Life Crimes Involving Poison Project

You will be researching an actual crime where a person intentionally poisoned another person. The format of the project may be completed in one of the following ways: a newspaper article or news report. It must contain the following information:

Poison Info:

  • Type of poison- : household or environmental poisons, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, or food
  • Level of toxicity- (how much will make one sick? How much is lethal? What unit is measured?)
  • “Chemistry” of the poison—element? Compound? Formula or symbol; state of matter
  • Other uses of the poison
  • Effects or symptoms on the body-- what does this chemical do to the body? How does it interfere with the body?
  • Detection- how does science trace the chemical? How do you get a diagnosis of this poison?
  • Lasting effects of possible treatments

Case info:

  • Describe the story in detail- what happened and why?
  • Give the who? Where? When?
  • How were the perpetrators caught?
  • What forensic evidence was used including toxicology reports

References:

  • Must have FIVE sources

Poison Cases

1. Julia Lynn Turner 18. Jane Toppan

2. Ronald Clark O’Bryan (AKA The Candyman) 19. Joann Curley

3. James Keown (Gatorade Murder)

4. Mary Ann Cotton 20. Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski

5. Kristin Rossum 21. Anna Hahn

6. Amy Archer Gilligan 22. Cordelia Botkin

7. Audrey Marie Hilley

8. Harold Shipman

9. William Palmer

10. Graham Young

11. Dr. Edward William Pritchard

12. Dr. Michael Joseph Swango

13. Dr. William Sybers

14. Jim Jones

15. Heaven’s Gate

16. Viktor Yushchenko

17. Charles Cullen

Pick your Poison Rubric

Any Project Received After the Due Date Will Have 10% Deducted From Their Grade Each Day It IS Late.

Item needed in article / Possible points / Points Earned
Type of poison
(household or environmental poisons, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, or food) / 5 pts
Level of toxicity- (How much will make one sick? How much is lethal? What unit is measured?) / 10 pts
“Chemistry” of the poison—element? Compound? Formula or symbol; state of matter / 10 pts
Other uses of the poison / 5 pts
Effects or symptoms on the body-- what does this chemical do to the body? How does it interfere with the body? / 10pts
Detection- how does science trace the chemical? How do you get a diagnosis of this poison? / 10pts
Lasting effects of possible treatments / 10 pts
Describe the story in detail- what happened and why? / 10 pts
How were the perpetrators caught? / 10 pts
What forensic evidence was used including toxicology reports / 10 pts
Creativity- pictures, interest facts such as statistics added / 5 pts
Work sited page / 5 pts
Total / 100 pts