A tombstone accused him by name - carved in stone before he was even caught

A tombstone accused him by name - carved in stone before he was even caught The marker in Boone County read "Poisoned by his wife and Dr. Cream," carved by neighbors while the named man continued to practice medicine and kill for nearly a decade-how can a community's certainty be so absolute when the law failed to hold him? What happened between that stone and his freedom would send him back across the Atlantic and into a fate tied to his own compulsion. In this episode, you will hear the life and crimes of Thomas Neill Cream, from his Glasgow birth and McGill medical degree to a string of suspicious deaths in Canada, Chicago, and Illinois, and the extraordinary sequence that led to his commuted sentence and departure for England-what detail in the final third makes the whole story feel inevitable? Person: Thomas Neill Cream Date of birth: May 27, 1850 Location of prison release: Joliet Penitentiary, July 1891 Event: Exhumation revealing strychnine in Daniel Stott Sentence served: 10 years of a life sentence - The grave marker in Boone County explicitly named "Dr. Cream" and accused him of poisoning before his conviction. - Cream received his medical degree from McGill University in 1876 at age 25. - Flora Brooks married Cream and he left for London the morning after their wedding in 1876; she died in 1877. - Between August and December 1880, two women (Mary Anne Faulkner and "Miss Stack") died in connection with his abortion practice in Chicago. - Governor Joseph Fifer commuted Cream's life sentence in July 1891 after Cream had served ten years, and Cream sailed to Liverpool on October 1, 1891. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].