Episode Details

In early 20th-century Detroit, men were dying quietly inside their own homes — and no one was asking why.

In this episode of Malice in the Mitten, we examine the forgotten case of Euphemia Mondich, a woman convicted of murder after two men close to her fell mysteriously ill and died under strikingly similar circumstances. At a time when wives and caregivers were rarely suspected of violence, Mondich lived unnoticed, protected by domestic trust and social assumptions that allowed her crimes to remain hidden for years.

Through period newspaper reporting, courtroom reconstruction, and modern criminological context, this episode explores how poison, proximity, and gender bias shaped one of Michigan’s most overlooked true crime cases. More than a single story, Euphemia Mondich’s case opens a wider conversation about women who kill quietly, the limits of early forensic science, and why some crimes disappear from history altogether.

Researched, written, recorded and edited by Tracy Preston

Music created by Tracy Preston

Original artwork by Todd Preston

Sources:

Detroit Free Press. Trial Coverage and Crime Reports on Euphemia Mondich. 1919–1922. Detroit Free Press Archives.

Detroit News. Poisoning Investigation and Court Proceedings. 1921–1922. Detroit News Archives.

Michigan Department of Corrections. Historical Prison Records: Michigan State Prison (Jackson). State of Michigan.

Schechter, Harold. The A–Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Simon & Schuster, 1996.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. Behavioral Perspectives on Female Serial Offenders. FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, archival reference material.

Vronsky, Peter. Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters. Berkley Books, 2007.

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