When one considers the bizarre outcome, this case is one of the most remarkable cases of a probable female serial killer.
***
FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 4): Mrs. Jessie Higbee, a neatly dressed and prepossessing young country woman,
was placed in jail last evening. Against her name on the slate was written the
common-place charge of lunacy, but behind that is the accusation of a crime so
horrible as to he almost incredible.
The unnatural mother is accused of poisoning four of her
children was arsenic. One at a tune they died from the same fearful drug, but
not until the last little life had been taken was suspicion aroused.
She next made a futile attempt on her own life with the same
poison. Since then she has attempted to kill her husband. She is undoubtedly a
mad woman, however, and this fact is the only thing that relieves the horror of
her awful deeds.
Until the past three months there were no signs of mental
failing on the part of the mother, and until an examination of the bodies,
which took place here yesterday, she was thought to be perfectly sane, her
strange actions in the past having been attributed to grief over the first
child’s death.
The unfortunate woman is a native of this city, hut since
her marriage had been living on a plantation in Meade county. Her husband is
well known and is one of the most prominent farmers in that section. No
definite cause has been assigned for the strange and unnatural crimes. Until
the death of the first child she was remarkable for her devotion and care of
her little ones.
The first murder was committed on the evening of October 14,
and the others followed at intervals of two weeks. During the illness of each
child the mother showed a stolid indifference which her friends and physician
construed as grief. Each murder was carefully planned and summarily executed.
Though every child was attacked with the same symptoms and died with the same
cramps which accompany arsenic poisoning, the suspicion of no one was aroused
until after the death of the fourth child, when the mother attempted her own
life.
The woman is twenty-three years of age, and was the mother
of five children, the oldest of which was eight years of age. It was only for
the sake of the fifth child, and in order to save its life from the inhuman
mother, that the husband told his suspicions and suggested a post mortem
examination of the children. It was then for the first time learned that they
were the victims of their mother’s work, and that while pretending to nurse
them delicacies before sending them to bed, she was in reality arranging for
their death.
On the night of October 14, Mr. Higbee was awakened by the
shrieks of the youngest child, not quite a year old. A physician was procured,
and every effort made to relieve its suffering. The attempt was useless,
however, and after thirty hours’ illness the first victim died. Its death was
attributed by the physician who saw it when dying, to cerebral trouble. On
October 2, another child, two years old, died after thirty hours’ illness. In
this case, as in the former, the symptoms were confined to the nervous system,
without much nausea and with no intestinal irritation.
The cause of this death was pronounced as cerebro-spinal
meningitis.
On November 13 the third child died. This victim was two
years older than the second, and was arrested in very much the same way. Owing
to the extreme thirst, the vomiting and purging which attended this death, the
physicians were thrown off their guard, and it was also attributed to
cerebro-spinal meningitis.
During the illness, sufferings and deaths of each of these
victims, Mrs. Higbee moved about the sick rooms, fulfilling the physicians’
instructions and administering the medicines at the right time without showing
any signs of grief, or betraying herself as the author of their deaths. Her
manner more than anything else threw the husband and physicians off their
guard, and quieted any suspicion which may have been aroused.
After the death of the third child her actions were strange,
but this was attributed to her suppressed grief. She seldom spoke, and moved
about the house with a rat-like stillness.
On December 8, the day before the oldest child and the last
victim was taken ill, Mrs. Higbee expressed herself as very anxious about the
child’s health, and asked her husband if he thought the patient looked well. He
replied that he thought she was looking unusually well, and prayed she would
not suffer the fate of the other children. At this the mother replied that no
one could tell when they were going to die, and that she had a presentiment
that they all would be dead inside of two weeks. The next morning before
Hallie, the oldest child, started to school, Mrs. Higbee told her not to bother
about her lunch for school, as she would arrange it herself. While the rest of
the family were out of the room she buttered several biscuits, and when the
child came in, had them wrapped up in a napkin. The mother kissed the child
good-bye, and told her to come home a soon as school was over. During the
morning, while the child was absent Mrs. Higbee called her husband, and again
began asking about the absent child’s health. He attempted to reassure her, but
she was not to be comforted, and several times was heard to say to him that she
was certain the child would die as the others had.
The first intimation which Mr. Higbee had that his wife was
murdering his children was the fact that is was scarcely an hour after she had
ceased talking about the child at school when the little one returned,
suffering from cramps, as the other victims had been attacked. In two hours she
relapsed into unconsciousness, and remained so until death. The husband then
told his fears to the attending physician, and requested him to make a post-mortem
examination. This, however, was so bitterly opposed by the mother that the
matter was dropped. She became indignant when she learned what was intended,
and threatened to kill any one who would attempt it.
“I will be dead very soon myself,” she said to her husband,
“and they cut me up if they choose, but no one shall cut my children.”
Her grief was, apparently, so real that husband’s suspicions
were, for a time, allayed.
Two days after Mrs. Higbee was found in a spasmodic
condition and suffering from pains similar to those which her children had had.
Dr. Pusey, who was present at the time, diagnosed her case and discovered that
she was suffering from the same poisonous effects which the children had done.
He then felt assured that after attempting the life of her husband and killing
four of her children, she was making an effort to take her own life.
Mr. Higbee, after a time remembered that three months
previous he had bought a box of “rough on rats,” but had not seen it since he
had brought it home. He remembered having asked his wife if she had seen it,
and she said that she had taken it from the dining-room, where he had left it,
and put it in his tool chest, it could not be found there, and the point was
not pressed.
Dr. Pusey, of this city, who was well acquainted with the
family was called for consultation. Mrs. Higbee and the remaining child were
sent with Mrs. Higbee’s mother to this city, where they have been since. Dr.
Pusey, Dr. Greenby, of West Point, Dr. J. C. Lewis, of Tiptop, and several
other physicians then made a post mortem examination of the two last children
who had died. Their stomachs were found to be congested, but presented no
points of ulceration. The unusual engagement of the brain and the spinal chord
would have left the physicians in doubt but for the analysis which was
completed in this city yesterday by Prof. James Lewis Howe. This analysis
showed that a very large quantity of arsenic was in the tissues, and in every
part of the body which was analyzed.
When the husband was informed that his suspicions were
corroboration his grief was pitiable. He then told that he and his wife had not
live happily together for the past six months, and feared that her death was
the outcome of her unhappiness. Dr. Pusey, who is regarded as an expert on the
subject of insanity, had a careful review of the case and examined the
condition of the mother. He pronounced it an unmistakable case of puerperal
insanity, brought out by too rigid child breeding and continuous nursing. Her
mental condition was aggravated by loneliness and remorse. From the first she
showed an insane jealousy of her husband and upbraided him for faithlessness.
Nothing he could say had the slightest effect upon her, and she stood firm in
the belief that he wished to get a divorce.
Mr. Higbee left last evening for his home in Meade county in
order not to be present at his wife’s arrest, which was decided upon as soon as
it was conclusively proven that she was the cause of her children’s death.
When taken into custody, Mrs Higbee showed the same
indifference which had characterized her actions from first to last. She walked
into her cell composed, and quiet. When asked the names of her three youngest
children, she said she has forgotten them and preferred not to speak of them.
The only remaining child is a girl six years of age, with
light hair and blue eyes. She cried bitterly and clung to her mother when the
latter was placed in the patrol wagon and driven to jail. Dr. Pusey says that
in all his experience he had never come across a case so paradoxical and
baffling. There is no doubt about her being insane, but if would be a difficult
thing for any one who is not a specialist to imagine her so. I have never
seen a similar case, or a more horrible or
pathetic one.”
[“Poisoned. - Horrible and Almost Incredible Story of
Insanity and Death. - Four Children of Mrs. Jesse Higbee Killed By Their Insane
Mother - Destroying Her Little Ones She Attempts to Kill Herself and Husband. -
The Crime Committed With Such Cunning At to Baffle Unsuspecting Physicians. -
The Murderess In Jail.” The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.), Dec. 19, 1890,
p. 7]
***
FULL
TEXT (Article 2 of 4): Louisville. Jan. 1. – The inquest in the case of the
death of the four children of Jesse Higbee, at Muldraugh, near this city was
concluded Tuesday [Dec. 30, 1890]. The verdict is that the mother, Mrs. Julia
Higbee, poisoned the children and is insane. Alfred Higbee, a relative,
testified that he believed the mother poisoned the children; he did not believe
her insane, and he thought she intended to kill the rest of the family.
[“An
Insane Murderess.” The Evening Bulletin (Maysville, Ky.), Jan. 1, 1891, p. 4]
***
***
FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 4): Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Higbee did
not go to Meade county after Mrs. Higbee’s dismissal in the Circuit Court last
Monday, but they say they will make their home in Louisville. They are living
with Mr. Higbee’s mother, at Seventh and Oak streets, and Mr. Higbee will go
into some kind of business here. He still maintains his wife's innocence of the
charges against her, and declares that she is any thing but an insane woman.
[“The Higbees Still Here.” The Courier-Journal (Louisville,
Ky.), Jan. 7, 1891, p. 6]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 4 of 4): Mrs. Higbee, the Meade county
woman who poisoned her five children, has been declared insane and taken to
the anchorage asylum.
[Untitled, Semi-Weekly Interior Journal (Stanford, Ky.),
Jan. 27, 1891, p. 2]
***
[Source of portrait used in article header: “Of Minds
Diseased,” The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Ut.), Feb. 10, 1891, p. 7]
***
Chronology:
Dec. 7?, 1890 – Mr. Higbee notifies attending doctor of his
suspicions
Dec. 18, 1890 – Julia Higbee arrested; charged with
“lunacy.”
Dec. 28, 1891 – inquest at Muldraugh reported as “continuing”
Dec.
30, 1890 – inquest at Muldraugh in the case of the death of the four children
concludes Dec. 30. The verdict is that the mother, Mrs. Julia Higbee, poisoned
the children and is insane.
Feb. 16, 1891 – Meade Circuit Court hearing.
Jan. 5 – hearing in Louisville before Judge Jackson.
Jan. 6 – Judge Jackson orders Mrs. Higbee’s release; rejects
lunacy charge; judge notes need to face possible charged in Meade county
Jan. 22, 1891 – Meade county jury concludes with a verdict
of “insanity.”
Jan. 27, 1891 – Mrs. Higbee sent to Anchorage Asylum.
(reported on Jan. 27)
Feb. 16, 1891 – Meade County grand jury hearing.
[Note: Louisville is in Jefferson county; the Higbee
plantation was in Meade county.]
Deaths:
Oct. 14 – Jessie Higbee, son, 1-year-old.
Oct. 2 – Maud Higbee, daughter, 2-years-old.
Nov. 13 – Eillie Higbee, daughter, 4-years-old.
Dec. 7 – Hallie Higbee, daughter.
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[2290-12/28/20]
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