February 13, 2024

December 8, 1938: More than 700 volts of electricity burned through Anna Marie Hanh (nee~Filser)’s body as she sat in the electric chair. She was known by many names, but the most common was “Arsenic Anna.”

Born July 7, 1906, in Bavaria, a state of the German Empire, Anna Marie Filser was the youngest of 12 children, though only 7 were still living at the time of her birth. The family was well off and it looked as though Anna had a bright future—until she became pregnant at age 19 by a man who didn’t seem to exist, Dr. Max Matscheki. Ashamed, her family sent her to live with her aunt and uncle in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1929. 

Anna met her husband, Philip Hahn, and started a family with him and her son, Oskar. In 1933, Anna became a live-in “nurse.” Her first client was an elderly man named Ernst Kohler, but he passed shortly after Anna’s hire, leaving her a house in his will. 

Then it happened again.

Albert Parker died right after lending Anna $1,000. The document they signed to keep the transaction in order “disappeared” soon afterwards. 

Next was Jacob Wagner, who left $17,000 for his “niece” Anna. She gained $15,000 more after caring for George Gsellman. George Heiss survived, partially paralyzed, after taking note of house flies dropping once they drank the beer Anna served him. He never informed the police of this and let her go.

Anna’s last victim was George Obendoefer. On August 1, 1937, he died in a hotel room. Anna took $5,000 after his death. When she refused to pay for his funeral, police looked into her bank statements and then demanded an autopsy after noticing suspicious money transfers. As they waited in Cincinnati to arrest Anna, they found a lethal amount of arsenic in Obendoefer’s body. A search of Anna’s residence further revealed “enough poison to kill half of Cincinnati,” according to police investigators. 

A four week trial occurred after Anna’s arrest. She was convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to death in the electric chair. On December 8, 1938, she was the first woman in the state of Ohio to die in the chair.