Rebecca Copin (born Rebecca Cobb 1796 in Kanawha, Virginia – 1881 in Kanawha) is known for attempting to poison her husband, John Copin, with

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...

. In addition, according to John Copin's petition for

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

in 1835, she also scalded him with boiling water, threatened to shoot him, and beat him with his own

crutch A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. History Crutc ...

es when his leg was broken. While arsenic poisoning was known as a common way for wives to kill husbands in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the early to mid 1800s, Rebecca Copin's case is one of the earliest documented cases of attempted murder by a wife of her husband using arsenic in the United States, and also an early documented case of domestic violence in the legal system of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. While the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England du ...

found that Rebecca Copin had indeed tried to murder John Copin, John Copin's petition for divorce was not granted. The jury also did not address any of the factors that may have led Rebecca Copin to attempt to murder John Copin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copin, Rebecca Poisoners 1796 births 1881 deaths People from Wood County, West Virginia