The Chocolate Poisoner: Cordelia Botkin, Victorian Obsession, and the Era of the Female Poison Panic

In this darkly fascinating episode of The Strange History Podcast, we unravel the true story of Cordelia Botkin, the infamous Victorian-era poisoner whose mailed box of chocolates triggered national panic and forever changed how society viewed women, poison, and domestic danger. From Cordelia’s quiet upbringing and scandal-shadowed marriages to her secret affair, calculated revenge, and sensational 1899 trial, this episode explores how arsenic became the weapon of fear—and how newspapers fueled a moral hysteria known as the Era of the Female Poisoner Panic. Featuring verbatim Victorian newspaper language, courtroom drama, cultural context, and the strange psychology behind poison crimes, this episode dives deep into one of history’s most unsettling true crime cases, where murder arrived politely, gift-wrapped, and undetected until it was far too late.

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