# Which carcinogen was used in a murder that killed the victim from cancer within months? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753 "2019-07-28T14:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/1 "2019-07-28T14:14:52Z")
I recall a while back watching one of those true crime shows wherein a murderess killed a guy (I think possibly her husband) with a carcinogenic agent, and his death happened surprisingly quickly. IIRC correctly, the guy died in 1-3 months due to cancer (rather than other poisonous effects of the substance) . The woman worked at some sort of lab and acquired “one of the most carcinogenic agents on Earth.” Does anyone remember this case or know enough about carcinogens, etc. to speculate on what the agent was? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/2 "2019-07-28T17:41:10Z")
So we all need to know exactly which agent was used so that we can also use it in an attempt to commit a perfect crime ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/3 "2019-07-28T17:46:36Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > So we all need to know exactly which agent was used so that we can also use it in an attempt to commit a perfect crime If she ended up on Killer Wives (or whatever it was), it clearly wasn’t perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/4 "2019-07-28T18:02:37Z")
There have been cases of deliberate poisonings with carcinogens, but the only fatalities I’ve heard of were due to the compounds’ short-term toxicity, not carcinogenesis (which typically takes a lot longer than 1-3 months to manifest and prove fatal). ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/5 "2019-07-28T18:20:25Z")
Are you possibly thinking of [Steven Roy Harper](http://www.thedarksideofamerica.com/harper-steven-ne.html)? He killed two members of his ex-girlfriend’s household by poisoning their drinks with [dimethylnitrosamine](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Nitrosodimethylamine), which he obtained from the cancer institute where he worked. However, [the victims died due to acute toxicity](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/10/07/rocket-fuel-poisoning/df1cdbb0-0d49-4890-a2aa-2d75a7f409f4/?utm_term=.21d1ce367dd0) of the substance rather than cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2019, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/6 "2019-07-28T20:42:41Z")
I don’t think this is possible. I don’t believe there is any cancer that kills the victim within “1-3 months”. I have heard of cases where a patient died within 1-3 months after discovery of the cancer, but always the cancer has been growing within them undetected for many months or years before that. Often, with hindsight, their doctors or relatives can recognize symptoms of the cancer that no one recognized at the time. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/7 "2019-07-29T05:54:23Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > I don’t think this is possible. I don’t believe there is any cancer that kills the victim within “1-3 months”. > > I have heard of cases where a patient died within 1-3 months after discovery of the cancer, but always the cancer has been growing within them undetected for many months or years before that. Often, with hindsight, their doctors or relatives can recognize symptoms of the cancer that no one recognized at the time. Acute leukemias (blood cancers) can develop very rapidly; some patients go from perfectly normal bloodwork to ICU or morgue within a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/8 "2019-07-29T06:18:30Z")
There was also this incredibly tragic incident, where a small amount of mercury caused death months later. > **[Karen Wetterhahn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn)** > > Karen Elizabeth Wetterhahn (October 16, 1948 – June 8, 1997), also known as Karen Wetterhahn Jennette, was an American professor of chemistry at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, who specialized in toxic metal exposure. She died of mercury poisoning at the age of 48 due to accidental exposure to the extremely toxic organic mercury compound dimethylmercury (Hg(CH3)2). Protective gloves in use at the time of the incident provided insufficient protection, and exposure to only a few drops of the c We... ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/9 "2019-07-29T12:29:37Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Acute leukemias (blood cancers) can develop very rapidly; some patients go from perfectly normal bloodwork to ICU or morgue within a couple of weeks. The issue here (or a large part of it) is the latent period between exposure to a carcinogen and development of cancer, which is more on the order of years than a few months. In the case of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example, leukemia rates started rising about 2 years later. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/10 "2019-07-29T14:11:17Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Are you possibly thinking of [Steven Roy Harper](http://www.thedarksideofamerica.com/harper-steven-ne.html)? He killed two members of his ex-girlfriend’s household by poisoning their drinks with [dimethylnitrosamine](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Nitrosodimethylamine), which he obtained from the cancer institute where he worked. However, [the victims died due to acute toxicity](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/10/07/rocket-fuel-poisoning/df1cdbb0-0d49-4890-a2aa-2d75a7f409f4/?utm_term=.21d1ce367dd0) of the substance rather than cancer. I’m thinking this has to be it, because I’ve watched all the Forensic Files, and the lemonade doping sounds familiar. Boy did I misremember a lot. I guess I remembered his death as being caused by cancer because apparently the deputy AG said it was the “first murder by cancer.” I was curious because, like others here, I thought it was unlikely that someone would die from cancer from first exposure to death in such a short period. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/11 "2019-07-29T15:14:00Z")
I have heard of something like this,. I believe it was someone at NASA. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-carcinogen-was-used-in-a-murder-that-killed-the-victim-from-cancer-within-months/837753/12 "2019-07-29T16:00:16Z")
Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was killed with polonium-210. He died of radiation poisoning, not cancer, though.