Giulia Tofana (with Women and Crime)

Serial Killers

Spotify Studios

True Crime, History, Education

4.6 • 30.3K Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

An Italian woman living in Rome during the 17th century sold black-market poison to women who wanted to escape their marriages. She packaged the liquid in glass vials and used labels that claimed it was a healing ointment. It was said to be slow-acting, tasteless, odorless, and completely undetectable. Warnings claimed just four to six drops were “sufficient enough to destroy a man.” But with the right dosage, aspiring widows could prolong their husband’s suffering — long enough for them to, say, get their affairs in order. Is Giulia Tofana history’s most prolific killer? Vanessa is joined by the hosts of the podcast Women & Crime, Doctors Meghan Sacks and Amy Shlosberg. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Due to the nature of this case, listener discretion is advised.
0:05.0	This episode includes discussions of murder, torture, and domestic violence.
0:10.0	Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen.
0:14.0	When comparing the world's most notorious killers, one metric usually comes up.
0:25.0	Victim count.
0:27.0	I don't enjoy the idea of turning real people, real victims,
0:31.0	into the equivalent of sports stats.
0:33.6	But that doesn't change the fact that it's been happening for centuries.
0:37.6	So for the purposes of this episode,
0:39.6	let's take a look at some famous names and their numbers. Ed Gein had two known victims. Jeffrey
0:47.2	Dahmer had 17. John Wayne Gacy had 33, 28 of whom have been identified. Ted Bundy is a little tricky to nail down.
0:57.2	He had at least 30 known victims, but some researchers believe he killed more than a hundred people.
1:04.4	An inquiry found that Harold Shipman killed at least 215 and as many as 260.
1:12.3	But Pedro Lopez usually tops most lists. He was convicted of 110 murders and
1:19.4	is suspected of killing more than 300 people, mostly women. His whereabouts are unknown to this day.
1:28.0	Then there's Julia Tofana, a woman born in 17th century Italy. If the legends are true, she killed around 600 people. More specifically, 600 men.
1:45.3	I'm Vanessa Richardson, and this is Serial Killers, a Spotify podcast.
1:50.1	You can find us here every Monday.
1:52.4	Be sure to check us out on Instagram at Serial Killer's Podcast.
1:56.2	We'd love to hear from you.
1:57.6	If you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts.
2:01.3	Today I'm joined by the hosts of women and crime.
	...

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