Caroline Grills
| Caroline Grills | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Caroline Mickelson 1890[1] New South Wales, Australia[1] |
| Died | 6 October 1960 (aged 69–70)[1] |
| Cause of death | Peritonitis from ruptured gastric ulcer |
| Other names | Aunt Thally |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 4 |
Span of killings | 1947–1953 |
| Country | Australia |
| State(s) | New South Wales[1][2] |
Date apprehended | April 1953 |
Caroline Grills, born Caroline Mickelson (1890 – October 1960), was an Australian serial killer.
Grills became a suspect in 1947 after the deaths of four family members: her 87-year-old stepmother Christine Mickelson; relatives by marriage Angelina Thomas and John Lundberg; and sister in law Mary Anne Mickelson. Authorities tested tea she had given to two additional family members (Christine Downey and John Downey) on 13 April 1953, and detected the poison thallium.
Grills appeared in court charged with four murders and three attempted murders (the third being Eveline Lundberg, Christine Downey's mother) in October 1953. She was convicted on 15 October 1953 and sentenced to death, but her sentence was later changed to life in prison. She became affectionately known as "Aunt Thally" to other inmates of Sydney's Long Bay prison. In October 1960, she was rushed to the hospital where she died from peritonitis[1] from a ruptured gastric ulcer.
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Garton, Stephen Grills, Caroline (1888–1960 in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, ANU 1996. Accessed 28 April 2012.
- ↑ "Murder, tried and true". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 February 2003. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
- Hidden Evidence: Forty true crimes and how forensic science helped solve them by David Owen (Firefly Books, September 2000).
- Murder! 25 True Australian Crimes by Vivien Encel & Alan Sharpe