When Ruth Mae Urdanivia married Jose Urdanivia, a Peruvian diplomat, he life turned into a whirlwind of gentility, world travel, and state occasions. The couple had five children and seemed very happy. Then in 1957, Jose died of heart attack at age 42, and Ruth moved back to her hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania. She had trouble adjusting to life as a single working mother.
Urdanivia spent two years hoarding a prescribed barbiturate, and in October of 1959, gave it to her five children, aged four through twelve, crushed into drinks, and took a massive amount herself. She woke up three days later, tried to slash her wrists, and then turned on the gas oven. Her landlord found her and the five dead children. Urdanivia was hospitalized and charged with five counts of murder.
What drove Urdanivia to kill her children? She complained about money, the limited lifestyle she had as a widow, and the lack of help from others. Yet she had a pension from the Peruvian government she never bothered to accept, and her brother was caring for two of the children. And her story indicated she began hoarding drugs soon after her husband died. Read about Ruth Mae Urdanivia and what happened to her after the murders at Pennsylvania Oddities. -via Strange Company
Talk about a story that captivated everyone long before social media. Several years ago a woman who knew she was adopted got curious about her history and took a DNA test. She turned out to be Bradford Bishop's daughter.
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