Mary Cowan

Serial Killer

Mary Cowan: The "Borgia of Maine"

Overview

Mary A. Cowan, born Mary A. Knight in Plymouth, Maine, in 1863, became one of the most notorious suspected poisoners in nineteenth-century New England. Newspapers eventually called her the "Borgia of Maine," comparing her to the legendary reputation of the Renaissance Borgia family for poisoning. Between 1884 and 1894, three of Cowan's children, two of her husbands, and a stepson died under circumstances that later drew intense suspicion. Her third husband also became seriously ill but survived. Although later accounts routinely describe Cowan as a serial killer responsible for six deaths, an important distinction remains: she was prosecuted and convicted for only one murder, that of her eight-year-old stepson, Willis Cowan. The other five deaths were retrospectively attributed to or strongly suspected of involving her, but they were never proved against her in court.

Early Life and Marriage to Willis Bean

Mary was born Mary A. Knight on March 8, 1863, in Plymouth, Maine. As a young woman she married Willis W. Bean, a farmer from nearby Dixmont. The couple had three daughters, generally identified in later accounts as Gracie or Grace, Alice, and Mabel Bean. Willis reportedly hoped to become a physician, and Mary was said to have shared an interest in studying medicine. Their limited finances made that ambition difficult, and contemporary accounts later suggested that the responsibilities of raising three small children were viewed as another obstacle to their plans. The succession of deaths that would eventually make Mary notorious began among those children. At the time, however, there was no criminal case against her. Rural Maine communities in the 1880s had far fewer forensic resources than would exist later, childhood mortality was significantly higher, and deaths that might attract immediate investigation today could pass without an autopsy or toxicological examination. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Gracie Bean , Date of Death: 1884

Mary Cowan - Wikipedia