Marie Lafarge (1816–1852)

Marie-Fortunée Lafarge, née Capelle, was born in Paris, the daughter of a French army officer. In 1839, she married Charles Larfarge, but the union was unhappy. The following year, she was put on trial for killing him by arsenic poisoning. Her trial became one of the first to be followed by the public through daily newspaper reports, and questions about her guilt vigorously divided French society of the day. She is thought to be the first person convicted mainly on direct forensic toxicological evidence. Marie wrote and published her memoirs while in prison. In 1852, she was released by order of the Emperor Napoleon III due to illness. She died shortly afterwards, protesting her innocence to the last.