Lydia Sherman: The Deadly Nurse Who Poisoned Her Family And Escaped Prison
Lydia Sherman, known as the "Connecticut Poisoner," killed three husbands and several children using arsenic. Discover how her crimes shocked the nation, led to life in prison, and how she briefly escaped before dying behind bars.
Jul 21, 202545.5K Shares690.4K Views
Lydia Shermanwas born Lydia Danbury on December 24, 1824, in Burlington, New Jersey. Her mother passed away when she was still an infant, and she was raised by her uncle on a farm in New Jersey. At around age 16, she began working as a tailor, and the following year she met and married Edward Struck, a widower with six children, at a Methodist church in New Brunswick (she was still only seventeen at the time).
She and Edward moved to New York City, where they had eight children together. Life took a turn when Edward lost his job as a police officer and became deeply depressed. Around 1864, Lydia poisoned him with arsenic. Soon after, tragedy struck again when six of their youngest children died under suspicious circumstances, all ruled as illness (e.g. typhoid fever) at the time.
Later, Lydia took a nursing job in Stratford, Connecticut, where she met a wealthy widower named Dennis Hurlburt. They married in 1868, and after noticing he became ill, she poisoned him. He died, and she inherited his estate. Within weeks she moved on again, marrying Horatio N. Shermanin Derby, Connecticut, who had four children. When his two youngest children died shortly after, followed by Horatio himself, suspicions finally arose. A local doctor ordered an autopsy and had all the bodies exhumed, confirming they had all been poisoned.
Life And Crimes Of Lydia Sherman
Lydia Sherman was born Lydia Danbury on December 24, 1824, in Burlington, New Jersey. She grew up on her uncle’s farm after her mother died when Lydia was just a baby. By age 16, she worked as a tailor. A year later, she married Edward Struck, a widower with six children.
In 1864, Edward lost his job and sank into a deep depression. Lydia poisoned him with arsenic. Within six weeks, three of her young children also died from poisoning. Over the next year, she poisoned her remaining children while working as a nurse. All were reported to have died of illness such as typhoid fever.
Lydia then moved to Stratford, Connecticut, in 1867 and became a housekeeper. She soon married wealthy widower Dennis Hurlburt in 1868. After he came down with unexplained sickness, Lydia poisoned him too, and inherited his estate. Eight weeks later she took a job with Horatio N. Sherman, a widower in Derby, Connecticut. They married in 1870. Shortly after, his two young children became ill and died—and then Horatio himself fell ill and died. A local doctor ordered an autopsy and found arsenic in all bodies. Authorities exhumed the earlier remains of Hurlburt and the Sherman children and confirmed they were poisoned.
Lydia was arrested in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on June 7, 1871, and returned to Connecticut to face charges for her third husband’s death. After an eight-day trial in New Haven starting April 16, 1872, a jury convicted her of second‑degree murder for killing Horatio Sherman. In January 1873, she confessed to poisoning three husbands and four children and was sentenced to life in prison.
Five years later, in 1877, Lydia escaped from prison by faking illness. She traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, and took a job with a wealthy widower. She was identified after giving two different names and was captured and returned to Wethersfield State Prison. Lydia Sherman died of cancer there on May 16, 1878.
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