George Obendoerfer, a 67-year-old man, met a tragic end on August 1, 1937. His death was later determined to be a murder, orchestrated by Anna Marie Hahn, a German-born American serial killer. Hahn, who had a history of poisoning elderly men for financial gain, traveled with Obendoerfer and her son to Colorado Springs, Colorado. During the trip, she poisoned him, leading to his agonizing demise.
Obendoerfer, a cobbler by profession, began experiencing severe illness while traveling by
train from Cincinnati to Colorado. Upon arrival, his condition worsened, and he ultimately succumbed to the effects of arsenic poisoning. Hahn, who had been caring for him, feigned ignorance about his identity at his deathbed, raising suspicions among authorities.
An autopsy revealed high levels of arsenic in Obendoerfer's body, prompting an investigation into his death. Authorities soon connected Hahn to a series of similar deaths involving elderly men, all of whom had been poisoned. Her motive was financial—she had been systematically targeting elderly men, gaining access to their estates or funds through fraudulent means.
Hahn was arrested and put on trial in November 1937. The trial lasted four weeks and garnered national attention. She was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The jury did not recommend mercy, sealing her fate. Hahn was executed in the electric chair on December 7, 1938, becoming the first woman to be executed in Ohio.
Her crimes were driven by a gambling addiction, which led her to seek financial gain through murder. Authorities stopped exhuming bodies after confirming arsenic poisoning in five of her victims, though it is believed she may have killed as many as 13 people. Her execution marked the end of a chilling chapter in American crime history.
