Toxicology: Eva Rablen
“A combination of brilliant reasoning and meticulous forensic
analysis produced headlines across the United States”
By Lauren Kaufman and Beth Doerr
Background
Carroll Rablen was wounded in the war which left him deaf. When he came home, he was
married but it lasted less than a year
● Became lonely so he began writing to women from a marriage agency and Eva Young wrote back
to him
● In the letters between them, she made several dark comments
“If a man leaves me, I don’t want to see them. And I’ll make sure I can’t”
●
●
●
He wanted his wife to be able to enjoy music even though he couldn’t so he would take her to
local dances.
At these dances Eva reveled in the attentions of multiple dance partners while her husband sat
and silently watched
When and Where
Tuttletown California April 29,1929
Key Players
Eva Rablen: (suspect) Poisoned her
husbands coffee with strychnine just before
giving it to him.
Carroll Rablen: Victim (Left)
Key Players
Dr. Edward O. Heinrich:
Known as the Edison of crime detection. He
returned to chemical analysis to solve Carroll Rablen’s mysterious murder.
When Rablen’s father didn’t believe that Carroll had died of natural causes
the sheriff searched the house and underneath the stairs found a bottle of
strychnine (purchased by Mrs. Joe Williams at a local drug store aka Eva).
Heinrich re examined the corpse to find traces of the poison within the
stomach and also found traces within the cup of coffee that Carroll drank
from.
Alice Shea: Woman that Eva bumped into just before taking coffee out to
her husband. Her dress contained coffee stains which was found to have
traces of poison in it.
Evidence
● Alice Shea’s stained dress
● Bottle of poison found under the stairs (strychnine)
● Carroll’s coffee cup
● Trace of poison found in Carroll’s stomach lining
● Witness from pharmacy saying that Eva Rablen purchased the poison (She
used an alias, “Mrs. Williams”)
Techniques Used
Evidence analyzed by Henrich● Stomach contents - Henrich was able to isolate the strychnine
● Poison bottle - strychnine traces
● Coffee cup- strychnine traces
● Carroll Rablen’s clothing
● Rablens car- strychnine traces (in the upholstery)
Handwriting
● Henrich studied the signature Eva Rablen left when purchasing the strychnine
● After a week, Henrich proved that the signature “Mrs. Joe Williams” was a forged signature
made by eva Rablen
Spilled Coffee
●
●
On her way to Carroll, Eva bumped into another woman on the dance floor and spilled a little
coffee
Analyzed the dress with the coffee stain - found to have traces on strychnine on it
Outcome
Upon hearing Dr. Henrich was involved in the case, Eva Rablen pleaded
guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole on June 10, 1929
Worked Cited
http://murderpedia.org/female.R/r/rablen-eva.htm (background information)
http://www.jcs-group.com/enigma/enforcement/detection.html (how Eva killed Carroll and Henrich’s findings)
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTgWxOyRTwS5jnCjKl_wxegl1wr9HvSU3FrlhB7J6UtR_wFl8eneA
(Picture of strychnine)