Martha Wise: The Poison Widow of Hardscrabble
Overview
Martha Wise was an American serial poisoner from the rural community of Hardscrabble, near Valley City in Medina County, Ohio. Born Martha Hasel in 1883, she became known as one of Ohio's most notorious female killers after a series of arsenic poisonings struck her own family during the winter of 1924 and 1925. Her confirmed victims were close relatives: her mother, her aunt, and her uncle. Several other family members became violently ill but survived.
Wise's crimes were especially disturbing because they unfolded inside ordinary family homes. The poison was not delivered in a sudden public attack, but quietly mixed into shared household food and drink. Family members became sick with stomach pain, vomiting, weakness, and lingering physical damage. At first, the illnesses seemed mysterious. Only after multiple relatives died, and many others suffered similar symptoms, did investigators begin to suspect that the deaths were not natural.
Background
Martha Wise grew up in Medina County, Ohio, in a farming family. As an adult, she married Albert Wise, an older farmer, and lived a difficult rural life marked by hard labor and isolation. After Albert died in 1922, Martha was left a widow with children. Around this period, she became romantically interested in a younger farmhand named Walter Johns. Her family strongly disapproved of the relationship and pressured her to end it.
The objections from her relatives appear to have enraged her. Martha's mother, Sophia Hasel, and her aunt and uncle, Lillian and Fred Gienke, were among those who criticized the relationship. After the romance ended, Martha began targeting relatives with arsenic. The poisonings were later described as revenge against family members she believed had humiliated her, controlled her, or interfered with her personal life.
Confirmed Victims
- Sophia Hasel - Martha Wise's mother. She was poisoned after Thanksgiving in 1924 and died on December 13, 1924. The poisoning occurred in the Hardscrabble and Valley City area of Medina County, Ohio.
- Lillian "Lily" Gienke - Martha Wise's aunt and the wife of Fred Gienke. She became ill after the New Year's Eve poisoning of the Gienke household and died on January 4, 1925. She was connected to the Gienke family home near Valley City, Medina County, Ohio.
- Fred Gienke - Martha Wise's uncle and the husband of Lillian Gienke. He was poisoned during the same outbreak of illness that struck his household and died on February 8, 1925. His death occurred after weeks of suffering from symptoms consistent with arsenic poisoning.
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