Lily Gienke, a white female from Hardscrabble, Ohio, died in late December 1924 under suspicious circumstances that would later be linked to a string of poisonings within her extended family. Although some sources list her surname as Hasel, she was more commonly known as Lily Gienke, the aunt of Martha Wise who would become the central figure in one of Ohio’s most sensational criminal cases of the era.
At the time of her death, Lily Gienke was one of several family members who fell ill with severe stomach pains following holiday gatherings. Her symptoms mirrored those of her sister-in-law, Sophie Hasel, a white female who had died earlier that month on December 13, 1924. The illnesses spread rapidly through the family, affecting Lily’s husband Fred Gienke and several of their children. Ultimately, both Lily and Fred died by February 1925, and four of their children were left partially paralyzed. In total, seventeen relatives were afflicted with similar symptoms between late 1924 and early 1925.
An investigation was launched after the unusual cluster of illnesses and deaths raised suspicions. Authorities discovered that Martha Wise, a white female aged 41 at the time, had purchased large quantities of arsenic from a local drugstore. Under questioning, she confessed to poisoning her family members by placing arsenic in water buckets and coffee pots. Wise claimed she was compelled by supernatural forces, stating that “the devil told me to do it.” She also admitted to other crimes, including arson and burglary.
Wise was arrested and indicted for the first-degree murder of her aunt, Lily Gienke. Her trial began in May 1925, and despite her defense’s claims of insanity and coercion by a former lover, she was found guilty after a brief jury deliberation. The court sentenced her to life imprisonment. Martha Wise would later become known as the “Poison Widow of Hardscrabble,” and her case remains one of the most notorious in Ohio’s criminal history.
