Lavinia Fisher ( English Lavinia Fisher ; 1793 - February 18, 1820) - an American criminal, known as the first woman - a serial killer in the United States [1] . Together with her husband, John Fisher was sentenced to death.
| Lavinia Fisher | |
|---|---|
| Lavinia fisher | |
| Date of Birth | 1793 |
| Place of Birth | Charleston , South Carolina , USA |
| Date of death | February 18, 1820 |
| Place of death | Charleston , South Carolina , USA |
| Citizenship |  USA |
| Occupation | |
Content
Crimes
Lavinia Fisher is associated with many legends. According to one of them, she and her husband kept a hotel called Six Mile Wayfarer House [2] , located six miles from the town of Charleston in South Carolina , and attacked the guests. From time to time, the police received information about the disappearance of visitors to the hotel, but for the time being, the police did not pay attention to this. According to one version, Lavinia invited the guest to dinner, asked if he had any money, and then treated to tea, in which poison was mixed. After some time, John Fisher came into the guest's room to check if the victim had died, and if necessary, to finish it off.
According to another version, tea only euthanized a man for several hours [2] . When he fell asleep, the owners pressed the lever and the bed fell over into the basement. Once, a man named John People asked for a bed at the hotel. Lavinia said that there were no free rooms, but invited the guest to relax and have tea. John did not like tea, but in order not to offend the hostess while she was watching, he poured the drink into a flower pot. After much interrogation, Lavinia informed the guest that there were still available rooms, and he went to bed. But since the mistress's behavior seemed suspicious to John, he did not lie down in bed, but settled in a chair by the door. In the middle of the night he woke up, hearing a noise from a rolling bed, and jumped out the window. People went to Charleston and reported all the authorities.
Lavinia Fisher was hanged in 1820 for robbery , which at that time was punishable by death . She was a member of a large gang of robbers, whose refuge was the home of the Fisher spouses. Moreover, whether their home was a hotel is unknown.
Judgment and Execution
Lavinia Fisher was held in Charleston, South Carolina Prison before execution. At that time, a married woman could not be executed in South Carolina. According to legend, when Lavinia said this in court, the judge replied that her husband would be executed before her and then she would become a widow, and accordingly, nothing could prevent her hanging. Lavinia decided that someone would want to marry her right at the place of execution, and therefore, going to the scaffold, put on a wedding dress [3] . When the criminal realized that she could not escape death, she told the crowd: “If any of you have a message for the devil, I will pass it on” - and I jumped into the scaffold hatch [3] .
At the moment, it is believed that the first woman hanged in the United States was , who was executed in 1865, but Lavinia Fisher was hanged 45 years before.
Lavinia Fisher was buried in a scoop near the Old City prison.
Notes
- ↑ Petro, Pamela. Sitting Up With the Dead: A Storied Journey Through the American South . - New York : Arcade Books, 2002. - P. 205. - ISBN 1-55970-612-0 .
- ↑ 1 2 Mendoza, Patrick. Extraordinary people in extraordinary times: heroes, sheroes, and villains: [] . - Libraries Unlimited, 1999. - P. 93–96. - ISBN 1563086115 .
- ↑ 1 2 Hendrix, Pat. Murder and Mayhem in the Holy City: [] / Pat Hendrix, Toni Hendrix, Heather Spires ... [and others. ] . - The History Press, 2006. - P. 27. - ISBN 1596291621 .