Roberta Elder

Serial Killer

Roberta Elder: Atlanta's "Mrs. Bluebeard"

Overview

Roberta Elder was an Atlanta, Georgia, woman whom police suspected of being responsible for a long series of poisonings involving husbands, children, stepchildren and other people who lived in or passed through her household. Atlanta investigators called her "Mrs. Bluebeard" after they began examining a remarkable succession of deaths surrounding her. The investigation ultimately stretched backward more than a decade, although Elder was criminally convicted for only one killing: the arsenic poisoning of her husband, Reverend William M. Elder. The case became public in 1952 after Reverend Elder's death prompted a physician to question what appeared at first to be another natural death in a household already marked by tragedy. Toxicological testing revealed arsenic in his body. Investigators then reconsidered earlier deaths, particularly those of two of the minister's daughters, Annie Pearl Elder and Fannie Mae Elder. When their remains were exhumed, arsenic was detected, turning what had once been recorded as illnesses such as pneumonia into suspected homicides.

A Pattern of Deaths

The suspicious deaths associated with Elder were unusual because so many of the victims were members of her own extended family or people living under the same roof. Several had originally been certified as dying from pneumonia, influenza, food poisoning, respiratory illness or other apparently natural causes. Investigators later noted that symptoms of arsenic poisoning could resemble some of those illnesses, particularly severe gastrointestinal sickness and progressive weakness. Police traced the suspicious pattern back to the 1930s. They also learned that Elder had obtained life-insurance coverage on a number of people who later died, often naming herself as beneficiary. Insurance was therefore considered a possible financial motive. Nevertheless, the evidence surrounding many of the earlier deaths remained circumstantial, and authorities were never able to prove in court that Elder murdered every person whose death became part of their investigation. ...

Confirmed Victims: (1)

Reverend William Elder Age: (47), Date of Death: August 21, 1952

Suspected Victims:

Willie Mae Thurmond Elder , Date of Death: 1931-04-13

Lillie or Lizzie Lou Thurmond

John Woodward Age: (36), Date of Death: 1939-12-04

James Willie Thurmond Age: (13), Date of Death: 1939-06-26

Jimmie Lee Crane Hunter Age: (2), Date of Death: 1943-12-10

Gloria Evans Age: (3), Date of Death: 1944-12-26

Callie Brown Age: (60), Date of Death: 1945-06-17

James Garfield Crane Age: (47), Date of Death: 1947-07-21

Willie Mae Elder Age: (26), Date of Death: 1950-01-29

Annie Pearl Age: (9), Date of Death: 1951-01-11

Fannie Mae Age: (15), Date of Death: 1951-03-23

Nora Scott Harris Age: (93), Date of Death: 1951-12-22

Roberta Elder: The Case of a Black Woman Serial Killer - AAIHS