In October of 1987, the friends and family of 43-year-old Patsy Bolton Wright mourned her tragic and unexpected death. Her daughter, Leslie, was shocked when she heard the news and didnt expect her mother to die so soon, since she was healthy and full of life. Eight days after Patsy’s memorial service, a routine autopsy was performed. The lab technician checked for 56,000 different foreign substances in Patsy’s blood samples. Suddenly the machine showed a violent positive reaction and within seconds, the substance was identified as strychnine. Because of its horrible side effects, strychnine poisoning is considered an unusually cruel way to die. Death by strychnine is also very rare. In the death of Patsy Wright, the Arlington, Texas, authorities faced a puzzling question as to how this dangerous poison entered Patsy’s bloodstream. The morning of Patsy’s death, a frantic phone call woke up Steve and Sally Horning, Patsys sister and brother-in-law. Patsy told her sister that she took some cold medicine and was feeling nauseous and had a hard time breathing. She then collapsed while still on the phone. Fearing for her sister’s safety, Sally and her husband drove to Patsy’s house. They tried to get in through the front door but it was locked. When they finally got in, they found Patsy passed out in her bedroom and tried to wake her up. Steve began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and noticed that a green liquid kept coming from her mouth, and Steve would spit it out on a towel while trying to resuscitate Patsy. The medics later arrived but were unable to revive Patsy and she died shortly after. At first no one suspected foul play. In her phone call, Patsy had mentioned taking cold medicine, which was later found to contain huge amounts of strychnine. Authorities ruled out product tampering or suicide. Patsy Wright seemed to have everything to live for. She had two children whom she was very close to. Patsy and her sister, Sally, were successful businesswomen. They owned 2 wax museums worth millions. Also, Patsy had just bought 3 quarter horses and planned to train them herself. Sergeant Jay Gustafson of the Arlington police began to investigate Patsy’s death as a murder. He had two clues which made him think that the killer was probably someone Patsy knew very well. First, the burglar alarm had not been set on the night she died. Second, only those close to Patsy knew she had a habit of taking nighttime cold medicine before bed. The first people Sergeant Gustafson questioned were Patsy’s sister and brother-in-law. Jay Gustafson looked for a motive. Patsy’s wealth came from the 2 wax museums she owned with Sally. Not only were the museums tourist attractions, they were also centers of social life in their respective towns. When Patsy died, the museums were inherited by Sally and her husband Steve. Steve said that they were asked questions that he thought would never be asked. Authorities felt that if Steve had poisoned Patsy, he would not have used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to try to save her, taking potentially deadly liquid into his own mouth. Steve and Sally Horning, along with other family members, voluntarily took polygraph tests. All of them passed. Patsy’s ex-husband, Robert Cox, was also questioned by Sergeant Gustafson and was asked to take a polygraph test but refused. Patsy had obtained a restraining order against Robert during their separation because she claimed he was harassing her, but Robert Cox maintained his innocence and there was no evidence to suggest he was guilty. On the night she died, it appeared that someone had been with Patsy. Next to her bed were 2 empty dinner plates on a tray. Police wondered if an unknown visitor was at her house that night and was intimate enough to know Patsy’s personal habits and to share a late-night dinner with her. The strychnine that killed Patsy was in a pure powder form, the most concentrated type of the poison available. Very few outlets sell strychnine and all sales are controlled by the federal government. Authorities hope that someone will remember a suspicious sale of strychnine around the time of Patsy’s death and will come forward. Patsy Wrights death remains unsolved over 26 years later.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 08:19:13 +0000