Marie Clement

Serial Killer

Marie "Mary" Clement: The Dubuque Family Poisonings

Background

Marie Clément, better known in American records as Mary Clement, was a Luxembourg-born woman whose name became associated with a disturbing series of deaths inside her own family during the 1880s. She was born on February 16, 1863, in Harlange, Luxembourg, to Michel Clement and Margarite Deville Clement. Historical newspapers spelled her surname in numerous ways, including Kleman, Klemann, Klaman, Clayman, and Clemens, which has sometimes made accounts of the case difficult to follow. The Clement family immigrated to the United States around 1871 and settled in Dubuque, Iowa. By 1880 they were living at 1533 Maple Street. Marie grew up with several sisters, including Catherine, Lena, and Annie. She was described in contemporary reports as a relatively young and physically frail woman who suffered from medical problems affecting the movement of her legs and feet. Between 1880 and 1885, four members of Marie's immediate family died under circumstances that later attracted suspicion. At the time, however, the deaths were attributed to illnesses or other medical causes. It was only after Marie was accused of poisoning another branch of her family in Illinois that authorities and newspapers began looking backward at the deaths in Dubuque.

The Death of Annie Clement

The first suspicious death occurred while Marie was still a teenager. Her youngest sister, Annie Clement, died in Dubuque on August 1, 1880. Annie was only five years old, although contemporary accounts commonly described her as six because she was approaching her sixth birthday. Dubuque death records attributed Annie's death to convulsions, which were believed at the time to have been caused by eating too much before going to bed. Nothing in the original record identified Marie as responsible. Years later, after the other deaths in the family and the Illinois poisoning case, Annie's sudden death became part of the suspected pattern surrounding Marie. ...

Confirmed Victims: (5)

Isabelle Fournier , Date of Death: 1887-06-03

Mary Clement - Wikipedia