TY - JOUR T1 - Arsenic, Familicide, and Female Physiology in Nineteenth-Century America JF - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online JO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law SP - 384 LP - 392 DO - 10.29158/JAAPL.003927-20 VL - 48 IS - 3 AU - Kenneth J. Weiss Y1 - 2020/09/01 UR - http://jaapl.org/content/48/3/384.abstract N2 - Sarah Jane Whiteling was accused of fatally poisoning her husband and two children in Philadelphia in 1888. The case prompted public outrage over the appearance that Ms. Whiteling's motive was to collect life insurance. It was evident, however, that she was disturbed, raising a question of culpability. Dr. Alice Bennett, the first female physician in charge of an asylum, provided the defense with expert testimony on the defendant's mental state. Dr. Bennett, who had little forensic but much clinical experience, proposed a physiological theory of insanity among women with reproduction-related derangements. At that time, cultural ideas about “female poisoners” colored popular and journalistic perceptions of Ms. Whiteling. Familicide was considered unconscionable because a mother's duty was to nurture and protect her family. When Ms. Whiteling was convicted and sentenced to death, Dr. Bennett undertook a campaign for commutation. Her unsuccessful efforts to reduce culpability were followed by Ms. Whiteling's hanging in 1889, the first execution of a woman in Philadelphia since colonial times. This article recounts the Whiteling case, Dr. Bennett's involvement in it, and how it relates to what is known about familicide. It is argued here that Dr. Bennett was a pioneer in applying medical expert testimony to effect individualized mitigation. ER -