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Florence Peters
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So, today's episode is close to home for me - literally. While I've spent nearly all my lockdown time at my partner's apartment in Middleton, our story is set in Westport - a tiny town between the north side of Madison and Waunakee. The apartment I'm in the middle of moving out of just so happens to be there on Westport Road.
Florence Peters and her husband John farmed together in the late 1930s. Their marriage wasn't in great shape. While John hadn't cheated, Florence had engaged in multiple affairs. So, when 23-year-old farmhand Edward Harvey came along in 1938, it didn't take long for the 38-year-old Florence to fall for him.
By July of that year, Florence had also grown tired of John. He was oblivious to the affair, but was cramping the couple's style. She sent Harvey out to the barn to grab some arsenic, something they had around for pest control. He was excited and ready to have Florence all to himself, and picked up the poison without saying a word.
While John was out milking the cows, Florence mixed him a drink. He fell ill that night and was confined to the bed. Meanwhile, Florence tried to play concerned wife. She was there to nurse him back to health, helping him with whatever he needed. One day, he asked her to fix him up a drink to help him feel better. She couldn't help but mix some more arsenic into milk. He got sicker and there were concerns from the townsfolk, especially the police.
See, as much as John hadn't noticed the affair, neither Florence nor Harvey were being discrete at all about their feelings for each other. Police brought Henry in for questioning, but he wasn't cooperative at all. He was released, despite being charged with resisting arrest, if he left the state.
Meanwhile, John had gotten so sick that he was moved to a hospital in Madison. Florence and her children moved to an apartment at 1335 Rutledge Street in Madison to be closer to John. That's only two blocks in from Lake Monona in what is now a pretty on-demand neighborhood. Harvey moved in with them secretly... or not so secretly.
By the end of September, the home was raided and both Florence & Harvey were arrested for committing 'lewd and lascivious' behavior for living together. Harvey explained that the two were engaged to be married once Florence divorced John. Nonetheless, the two were being held in jail.
In the meantime, John's family recalled a similar illness of someone in the community just a few years before. Henry Kessenich fell ill in 1930 in a similar manner. John's family asked the police to revisit the investigation and they performed an exhumation. The state toxicologist at the time, Dr. F.L. Kozelka, indeed found arsenic in the victim's hair roots and tissues.
Henry's wife had apparently wanted a divorce as she had fallen in love with a younger farmhand, but Henry had refused. As fall came on, the wife had gotten poison from the barn and put a small amount in Henry's tea. Within two days, he fell incredibly ill and began vomiting. Henry died quickly thereafter, and his death was attributed to pneumonia. Doctors were interested in doing an autopsy, but the widow didn't want it so they passed. While people in the community clearly were suspicious, there was no further investigation. The wife collected $1000 in life insurance, which would be just over $15k today.
In case you hadn't guessed, this was clearly Florence. Three years after his death, she married John Peters. Betw
