A closer look
In 17th-century Italy, divorce was highly illegal, but conveniently, sudden widowhood was merely unfortunate. Giulia Tofana became the underground savior of trapped, abused wives by brewing Aqua Tofana, a completely tasteless and untraceable arsenic poison. To ensure total secrecy, she brilliantly packaged the deadly concoction in glass vials featuring the painted face of Saint Nicholas of Bari, making it look like normal holy water on a woman's vanity. By the time the oblivious Roman authorities finally caught onto the scam, Giulia had orchestrated one of the most prolific serial killing streaks in history.
