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From Autopsy 5: Dead Men Do Tell Tales |
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The Robert Curley Case
In 1991, while overseeing a chemistry lab renovation at Wilkes University, contractor Robert Curley fell ill and died. The cause of death was determined to be poisoning by thallium, a lead-like chemical that is almost impossible to obtain. Eventually, thallium was traced to a thermos bottle Curley brought to work, and Curley's wife and daughter also tested positive for thallium.
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For three years, little progress was made in the case; eventually, Dr. Michael Baden was brought in and Curley's body was exhumed. Toxicologist Dr. Frederic Reiders analyzed sections of Curley's hair (pictured right); and determined that Curley had been poisoned over a long period of time, even before his job at the lab.
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It was determined that the the only person with the opportunity to poison Curley was his wife Joanne (seen upper left in police custody), who confessed to the crime to avoid a trial and a possible death sentence. Joanne admitted using old rat poison containing thallium to poison her husband, and further confessed to poisoning herself and her daughter to throw investigators off the trail. Her motive? Three hundred thousand dollars in insurance money, a sum that was far exceeded by the $1.2 million she received just two days before Curley died -- awarded for the death of her first husband!
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