A respected Baptist Preacher from Atlanta, Georgia suddenly fell ill and died in 1952. The coroner examined his body to confirm the cause of death as the attending that was present when he died refused to sign off a death certificate.

The coroner’s report stated that the Reverend’s skin “looked ruddy,” (presenting with brick red coloured mucosa, due to severe haemorrhage), and the rest of his body was gaunt and emaciated. Even though the two signs were pointing to the most likely culprit, pneumonia, the attending and the coroner were suspicious that the Reverend may have been killed by something more deadly, poison.

Compounding the coroner’s concerns, he remembered that this was not the first time that deceased individuals presented with these signs in his office. As a matter of fact, these individuals were members of the Reverend’s o ...