found in his food and also around the house. However, the jury failed to recognize that Mr. Maybrick was a chronic arsenic eater, which would explain the arsenic around the house. Indeed, Mr. Maybrick had not eaten the food made by his wife the day that he became seriously ill. Along with other instances that showed the lack of evidence against the wife, Mrs. Maybrick should have been acquitted. (Flanagin 1995)Arsenic is extremely hard to recognize and sometimes takes doctors a while to discover the reason for a patient's illness. In the case of the "unhappily married man", the doctors thought that he was afflicted with Guillain-Barr. For over a year they treated him for an illness he did not have. While he continued to worsen, they found he had hyperkeratosis, weak muscles, and white transverse lines upon his nails. (see Figure 8-A) Arsenic was finally suspected and samples of the man's hair, nails, and urine were taken to test for the poison. Arsenic was found in high concentrations in all three samples. In the hair, there was 97 mg/kg. Normal concentrations are 0.5-. 5 mg/kg. In the nails there was 150 mg/kg, while the normal amount was 4-10 mg/kg. The arsenic level in the urine sample was equally high compared with normal conditions. He was treated with intramuscular dimercaprol and eventually recovered but he was still on the recuperation agenda. The doctors were still unaware of the origin of the arsenic poisoning. Eventually though, his wife confessed to putting the deadly element in the form of an ant-killer in his meals because she wanted to end their marriage and receive custody of their child. (Navarro et al. 1996) Though arsenic was the "poison par excellence," toxicologists now know so much about it that it is unprofitable for the poisoner to use it. Indeed, most cases of arsenic poisoning nowadays stem from arsenic-tainted environments or handling substances contaminated by arsenic. (Bodin and Cheinisse 19...
