Back then, she had mixed a lethal amount of barium chloride into a bottle of liquor and left it in the refrigerator. Fortunately, no one ever opened it. During trial, the defendant cynically claimed she had simply been robbed, while her attorneys tried without success to frame the crime as a moment of emotional breakdown.
But an independent psychiatric evaluation rejected those excuses. According to the official findings, Elizabeth Lawson was fully competent and understood exactly what she was doing. There was no serious question about her mental state.
This extraordinarily cruel crime is a stark reminder that long-held resentment can become a destructive force. It is even worse when revenge is fueled by envy, property disputes, and plain greed. By the time the sentence was handed down, the death penalty was no longer on the table.
The court sentenced Elizabeth Lawson to 15 years in a maximum-security penal colony. The verdict was read before a packed courtroom of stunned spectators. As Nick’s grieving mother later recalled, her former daughter-in-law had always said she was meant for serious scientific work.
In the quiet of a medical laboratory, Elizabeth may indeed have found the skills she was looking for. But she used them for something else entirely — the calculated murder of five people. One of her victims was even seven-month-old Maggie.
