Not Even Her Own Children Were Safe - The EVIL Crimes of Mary Ann Cotton

[@csailer2353]

She absolutely did it. She may not have killed her first child or two but once she saw how it benefitted her, I have no doubt she killed the rest. Besides, easier to find a new potential husband if you don’t have a bunch off kids in tow.

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

Evil exists

[@comedicsociopathy]

​@@Vicus_of_Utrecht Nah, just people doing people things. Evil is a fabricated concept so the "good" people don't have to ask themselves why the "bad" people exist and it came from religion and spirituality. Nature doesn't have that concept.

[@Ped0P1gYOUTUBE]

​@@Vicus_of_UtrechtIt totally does and it looks innocent

[@rebeccaknight4579]

I agree the first one or two of her children may have been natural causes, but I think she grew to enjoy the attention she received from the losses, and started killing. The monetary rewards didn’t hurt either.

[@tracycraft2546]

It's amazing what some people will do for financial gain. And, for the most part they always get caught!!

[@Ironclockwork]

One of the most twisted things I can conceive of in the world is a parent deliberately murdering their children. Terrible woman. Terrible but fitting fate.

[@audreymuzingo933]

Bold stance. I'm surprised you haven't had a bunch of defensive replies from members and allies of the children killing community about you shaming them.

[@mimsydreams]

@@audreymuzingo933 Are you saying you hobnob with people who illegally murder their kids? Where is this community you frequent? Pehaps the authorities will have questions for you. You seem to be intimately aware of their crimes.

[@audreymuzingo933]

@@mimsydreams It was sarcasm. Yikes, you really think there is a child killing community?

[@mimsydreams]

@@audreymuzingo933 You seem to think so.

[@DawnOldham]

Given the information I have right now, I'd say it was evident she was a killer. The patterns were so predictable, unlike other families who may have had one or two people die of arsenic.

[@angelicfedora1950]

There's coincidence and then there's "coincidence wink wink". It seems safe to say that if she was found guilty of poisoning one child, chances are she's guilty of more - especially as she stated "he would go like the rest". What an evil person she was.

[@birdie1585]

Diseases capable of killing a person may have been abundant, but everyone around here died, numerous times, and she was untouched, numerous times, so far as we know. Simple probability says that either she was astonishingly lucky, or a murderer.

[@michaelsinger4638]

Pretty much. She would have had to be THE most unlucky yet also convenient woman in England at the time.

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

You both are absolutely correct.

[@mimsydreams]

It's just too much coincidence. If everyone around you is dying constantly, but you are rarely if ever sick? And you're able to quickly move on to a new husband and birth additional children, only for that next husband, your children, and the step children to immediately die within a year or two? Seems too much to keep happening repeatedly to one person. If it was the case that it was simply illnesses of the times, then I'd be curious on how many of her neighbors in those various places also died. Colleagues at work? Friends (besides the poor woman who died only after moving in)? It makes me wonder if she had any legal council who just failed to point out that "Oh, yes, the Robbinsons down the road also had all of their kids die from the same disease." I'm also super curious what she did with all of that money. She seemed to get plenty of payouts from her diseased husbands. She sold much of any belongings she had when she was ready to move on. Neighbors and community members helped her out too. No children to take care of anymore... Yet she always seemed to have no money and would re-marry to gain another income source. If she were a hardcore gambler, you'd think there would be several people who would step forward to gossip about it, once she was already in trial and shamed by the community. I wonder if she just squirelled it all away somewhere and it was found by a random lucky person, after her death.

[@janetpendlebury6808]

@@mimsydreams She probably enjoyed drinking and gambling, her solicitor in the end would have cost a fair bit as well. She probably lived well while the money lasted though.

[@Aleeeeeisha]

I will never understand people who can kill children, never-mind their own children!

[@shiloallard9790]

I can’t either they’re absolutely sick.

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

@@shiloallard9790 it's impossible to comprehend I can't even stomp out a spider Just recently I called my bother a sociopath stamping out one "you could have just captured and let it outside". Edit: Sick fvck had no remorse. None. We live among these people. And they are the majority.

[@deekthefirst]

Me too 😢❤️

[@SM-yq8tm]

And to think it happens somewhere every day!

[@janetpendlebury6808]

Toady she would have been called a sociopath. They have existed since forever.

[@whowantswaffles]

Damn she was really cranking out those kids as fast as they were 'mysteriously' dying.

[@censusgary]

Arsenic was used as a medicine throughout the 19th century, and could be purchased in pharmacies (“chemists’ shops,” as the British call them) without a doctor’s prescription. It was also a popular rodent poison and insecticide, so if anyone asked why you were buying arsenic, you could just say you had a rat problem.

[@joyspettigue2855]

Very true

[@belindaturner6670]

She definitely poisoned all of them. All of the deceased had the same symptoms in different dwellings across years.

[@Sorchia56]

Pure evil, she was. Well done, Hangman! Your presentation of the case of Mary Anne is by far the best I’ve seen. Very thorough and detailed. Brilliant work, sir.

[@tanishahogan9396]

He "decided not to dwell on the matter"? What kind of parent says that? Also, this woman was horrible...truly evil! She became freakishly bold to kill everyone that close together.

[@blk5124]

I know! I was bowled over hearing he didn't let it bother him but when it came down to money, he drew the line. WHAT?!!!

[@janetpendlebury6808]

@@blk5124 In those days it was not unusual for children to die, he would have had no proof of his suspicions. But he had proof of her selling his stuff etc so had a legit reason to get rid of her.

[@blk5124]

@@janetpendlebury6808 That is true but if someone actually thought a person committed murder . . . would you stay? I wouldn't be able to stay. To keep having relations with them . . . .to have a kid with them . . . 😱

[@comedicsociopathy]

​​​@@blk5124 Those times weren't as romantic as people pretend they were. They had no contraceptives and were obviously not smart enough to just have less sex and with a bunch of kids, many weren't devastated when a few died. Less mouths to feed. From a modern, pampered point of view where everyone pretends reproducing like every other animal is some kind of beautiful miracle, it seems heartless but I understand where they were coming from. As a widower, he now had less to worry about. And marriage meant safety which is crucial in dire financial times. So what you would do is absolutely irrelevant since you weren't alive back then and very obviously never experienced hardships and society's pressure. Modern people are such arrogant fucks lol

[@blk5124]

@@comedicsociopathy you may suffer from some of the arrogance you speak of in assuming to know anything about me. I have not lived anything even close to a pampered life. Quite the opposite actually. I know, firsthand, about neglect, physical abuse, psychological terror, and starvation. It was my entire childhood but it's no excuse for repeating such behaviors or tolerating evil. I know the difference between right and wrong even if people aren't dropping dead of diseases all around me. Making excuses for the day and age in which people live is disgusting. Murder is never right. And as far as having kids, you want people to love their kids. That's what makes the world a better place. Neglectful parents is what leads to the existence of murderers (mass shooters easily comes to mind). Let's care about all people throughout all times. Turning a blind eye never makes anything better. Making excuses never makes anything better.

[@nono86753]

If arsenic was present in their surroundings, why was she never affected by it? She is obviously guilty of those crimes

[@reemm6270]

This!!!

[@jenford7078]

I think by her having death follow her in many different households and following through several marriages that she was for profit and clearing her plate of dependents serial killer. What a just ending to an unjust life.

[@JennyLynn0001]

I watched this on murder maps... and it literally broke my heart when they showed the scene of her stepson just looking so helpless and hopeless after his father was poisoned... and then that witch poisoned and killed him too. Awful.

[@JohnGaltShadow]

And her saying right in front of him that the Cottons were all sickly and that the boy would not be long and would go like all the rest of them.

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

@@JohnGaltShadow 😞

[@alphooey]

I love Murder Maps

[@MightyMezzo]

Learned about this from the drama “Dark Angel” starring Joanne Froggatt as Mary Ann. Bit of a whiplash after seeing her play the loving and selfless Anna in “Downton Abbey.”

[@LittleMissLounge]

It was pretty good. Got most of the facts right. You're right, though. It was an interesting casting choice.

[@sonjasmith3897]

The defense was that they inhaled chemicals in the wallpaper, and that's how they got arsenic poisoning. Then, why didn't she get sick and die? Why did that one boy have arsenic in his stomach? Did he suffer from pica, and ate the wallpaper?

[@Charlotte66666]

This woman was horrendous, thank you for more fascinating content Paul ❤

[@joannerothque1548]

She was definitely guilty of murdering all of them. If it was the wallpaper, why did she not get sick as well.

[@auntielaura5]

Count me in the “she’s a murderer” camp - too many deaths followed much the same pattern for it to be coincidence. I’m rather surprised that the author suggested that she might be innocent. It’s quite possible that some of the deaths were natural, for all the reasons he mentioned, but I can’t believe they all were.

[@solerso68]

Well he suggested Giles De Retz and Elizabeth Bathpory's reputations "may have been politically motivated" which seems absurd,. De Retz had loaned the French King a lot of money but so what ? Its not as if he was going to foreclose . And Bathory was "politically" invisible. In an age of war between the Ottoman and Austria Hungary she was a non entity who wouldn't be remembered at all except for her gruesome hobby. . but we live in the very age of revision.

[@nisar8009]

She did it! How could anyone believe differently. That many people don’t drop around a person without them succumbing as well.

[@52memor]

Love your vids . I worked in HMP Lewes and got to know another person from the North East working there. His claim to fame was his Great Grandmother was that little girl Mary Ann Cotton gave birth to. in prison. He was a very nice chap .... but who knows what lies underneath. He left the prison service to become an undertaker.

[@addie_is_me]

I was going to say that probably nothing lies underneath, but then you said he became an undertaker. Maybe it was a family business, or all he could find at first. 🤷🏻‍♀ Lol

[@valkyriehutton4556]

I love your historical context when telling these stories.

[@Alonnah-78]

Thank you Mr Paul, this cold Friday just warmed up ❤❤

[@censusgary]

For what it’s worth, Mary Ann Cotton was born on Halloween, October 31, 1832.

[@wendyrichards7458]

You covered this really well .I have long wondered about Mary Ann Cotton and just what she did or did not do .With so many illness's being common and having similar symptoms to arsenic poisoning and arsenic itself being in such common use ,it wouldn't be surprising if poisonings were both missed and mistakenly diagnosed .I expect many a murderer got away with it and some innocent people were hanged because someone had arsenic in their wallpaper ,ingested it in cough sweets ,took it in medicine etc and it was found in their system when they had died of natural causes .As for Mary Ann ,who really knows ? Perhaps she was a serial murderess ,perhaps she was a typhoid carrier (like Typhoid Mary ) perhaps she was just very unlucky or ..most likely I think ,she killed some and others died from disease . There is no escaping the fact that almost every death seemed to benefit her ,either financially or by removing an inconvenience .

[@sharonmorris6668]

Paul, I've been catching up on all your Well, I Never episodes and enjoying them very much. Your charming, low key delivery (with looks that sometimes say a lot) make the stories especially good.

[@Natasha6090]

Was really hoping you would do a video of Mary Ann cotton. Heard so much about her

[@galvaceci6498]

I believe she murdered everyone that would benefit her, what a horrible person!!! The plagues were a convincing argument on her behalf. There's no way you can be that unlucky.

[@earlrobinsoncrewse82]

Love your content , you set the bar high. Keep up the good work, I truly enjoy your videos

[@Admiral.Buttercup]

Well done, as always. Thank you!

[@Celtopia]

Thank you for your indepth dissection of such a famously unexplained horrendous crimes,....

[@PumaLyn]

Friday 11 p.m. Perfect for bedtime. Thank you. 😊

[@yourgodismean4526]

GUILTY!! A fascinating deep dive into another deeply empathy-challenged criminal. Maybe serial killers are more common now, but greed is eternal.

[@RealSweetTom]

I lost count how many children she had. But I'd love to know what happened to the surviving child.

[@TheTristanmarcus]

Ooh, I like it when you do earlier centuries - brilliant stuff ❤🎉😊

[@penneycason9269]

I found this familiar. “Dark Angel “ tv series with Joanne Frogget portraying the role.

[@kimberlypatton205]

Money and greed holds a powerful grip on some people.. it’s still on of the main motives for murder in many forms. I feel like she started poisoning and found it to be any easy and foolproof method towards her ends at the time , but I wonder if any proof she purchased it were found? I think her guilty, and even worse - someone who is able to turn off their conscience so easily is truly evil.

[@addie_is_me]

Not just no conscience, but like you say, "evil," is just chilling.

[@jeepsthetimebandit]

Did anyone watch the TV series with Joanne Frogatt as MaryAnn? It was really good.

[@karinac.3378]

Thank you for the video🎉 have a wonderful weekend and take care❤

[@AxeRedrum]

It's 11am here.... Now I have to decide, wait until dark 🌑 or watch it now. 😣❤😂🇺🇲

[@flowertrue]

"Oh, I believe in coincidences. Coincidences happen all the time. I simply don't trust coincidences." -- Garak

[@cmtippens9209]

Like a few others who commented, I also saw the show "Dark Angel" with Joanne Froggatt as Mary Ann Cotton. (Quite the departure from sweet, helpful Anna on Downton Abbey 😮) I think this video gave more facts; the drama had to consolidate some info, no doubt, to make it more manageable to keep viewers interested. Thank you

[@francislarv3012]

Well I never saw a case quite so “ Well I Never “ as this one. Yes Victorian wall paper notoriously often contained some arsenic. But not that much

[@peggynaughton9145]

Just what I wanted for my birthday - a new Well, I Never video! ❤

[@WellINever]

Happy Birthday, Peggy! 🎂😀

[@peggynaughton9145]

​@@WellINeverThank you!

[@fay-amieaspen6046]

Hope you had a nice birthday.

[@peggynaughton9145]

@@fay-amieaspen6046 I did. Thank you for the kind wishes.

[@addie_is_me]

Hope you had a great birthday!!

[@ironside9803]

I live in low moorsley where she was born and raised, believe it or not around here. Very few people actually know who she is,

[@breebarry4422]

How did James not notice shit missing, better yet shrug at his childrens' deaths.

[@terrymitchell2533]

I do enjoy your videos. My goodness they are really eye openers 👍🥂

[@rwisti11301962]

The one guy that lost all of his children but wasnt concerned until it was about money being gone... reminds me of my ex-husband 😢 (not that my children died, mind you, he was never concerned about them)

[@Julie-me8hk]

You put into perspective the saying. " The good old days."

[@elizabethring1452]

I am currently reading a History of Childhood by Lloyd DeMause. What is quite extraordinary is that in Europe - infanticide was very common until the early twentieth century. The value of children was extraordinarily low. The lower they were in the class system - the less value was placed on their lives. In the absence of any form of systemic support or safety net - they were frequently considered a burden on the family resources. With no contraception and abortion being of high risk - infanticide was often the 'easiest' option.

[@alice45-fgd-456drt]

In most of the world, this is still the case today, maybe the most notable example being the US. It's not a coincidence that military recruiters show up at poor schools, hoping to catch some cannon fodder.

[@lisabelle7553]

Whenever it's a female serial killer, it amazes me how many people are unwilling to accept that women can do this even though throughout history, cruelty and murder were not exclusive to one sex or another. Men kill women more but women kill children more. Fact.

[@Oats-yi5sf]

I enjoy this channel. Interesting and educational. Some of his stories doesn't make me think well I never. I think "Holy Shit!! Really!!" Keep up the good work. I'll be here watching at same bat time and same bat channel

[@tadcastertory1087]

Yeah, I'm not buying the unlucky Mary Anne story. Disease was common, but that mnany deaths was impossible, even in those days.

[@maric820]

Well, I never! MARY ANN!

[@mauricedavis2160]

Mary moves quickly, I'm pretty sure the amount of dead people in her wake can attest to that!!!🙏😢⚖️🤔❣️

[@leslielinnabary1227]

Thank you for your time. Research,narration,and production. Fantastic!

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you ..

[@Unicorgo]

Mary-Ann could have been unlucky but no one is THAT unlucky. She just pushed it too far, became bold and absolutely relentless with cancelling people around her for profit. Undefendable case

[@murphychurch8251]

James: "I'm kind of suspicious that you probably killed all my children, but taking my money is where I really draw the line!" 🤦‍♀️

[@bbraswe2]

None of us escape our mothers, really.

[@addie_is_me]

Most of us make better escapes from our parents than her kids.

[@VidGirl88]

Mary, Mary, quite contrary.

[@Flamsterette]

Thanks for the upload, Paul. I remember this evil woman.

[@Johbub]

Been waiting for you to cover Mary Ann Cotton. Quite a story indeed

[@melodyszadkowski5256]

Without access to all the evidence, I still suspect that she committed most or all of the murders. It seems more than a coincidence that so many in her life died the same way, resulting in insurance payouts in most cases, and the deaths did not occur in the same house or town. The wallpaper as a source of the arsenic is a questionable excuse, seeing that Charles' autopsy found arsenic in his stomach contents. I thought at first it might be Munchausen by proxy but it doesn't seem likely. Not all the deaths garnered a wave of sympathy for her, though she often profited financially. It all seems so pat. It would be nice if they had autopsy reports on the others.

[@mistyblues6762]

Thanks for another interesting video!

[@colindeer9657]

A sinister tale as usual. Many thanks Paul

[@Bigbudgood]

What ! Leeches not working,unheard of !!

[@susanbackus157]

Guilty of most, I believe.

[@blk5124]

What is so wrong with living a normal life? I'll never understand people like this.

[@kellydalstok8900]

Their brains are wired differently.

[@blk5124]

@@kellydalstok8900 I always wonder if it is more nature or more nurture (or the lack thereof). I think it varies case to case. Nonetheless, it is hard to get a handle on all that lead to such atrocities.

[@dominiquenyilas4293]

Thank you

[@billyhardin925]

Another great story! Thanks for posting!

[@tat1790]

What on earth was she wasting all that money on. She had some serious addiction, so yes I do think she murdered many people.

[@laura6796]

Wow, she was a monster. How incredibly sad.

[@fernandmathurin2720]

Im a little late hope everyone is fine😅 listening fro saint lucia on a cloudy day

[@NatalieHobson-ww2mx]

Another enjoyable video Paul!👍👏I hope you are well, and Happy belated birthday to you sir! I hope you had a lovely day xxx 👍💜🍾🥂🎈🎁🎉🎂

[@beverlynorris557]

Yikes!

[@acaciablossom558]

We all know. Her children were collateral. The men she married and murdered served their purpose. She was a sociopath. No feeling, no empathy. Only serve self.

[@jpendowski7503]

What an awful story, killing husbands for money and children for convenience. May God deal with her properly.

[@elainethomas9737]

Dang...homegirl was cold hearted. I think I saw her story on Deadly Women.

[@donnadunlop7853]

Thankyou Paul 💛💛

[@YuBeace]

Thanks again for the proper captions on this one ❤ Altough as somebody with many mentally ill friends, I do want to remind you to always do a double take whether you want to use “psychotic” as a descriptor. Psychosis is a tragic state of mind, and many victims of psychosis are more likely to *get* hurt than to hurt others. Many people equate “psychotic” with “adverse to human morals”, but this is simply not true, so try to reflect on whether the use of “psychotic” describes the real deal, or just promotes dangerous impressions on the psychotic state of mind. Most people who willingly kill others, especially those who do so on a regular basis, do not actually suffer from psychosis. This Mary Ann, she clearly knew what she was doing as well. Perfectly aware of her surroundings and how everything would work for her.

[@vermilliongecko]

Well said. Cotton was almost certainly psychopathic, but not psychotic.

[@janettemccubbin8246]

It would be interesting to know what happened to the child she gave birth before her death.

[@TippyPuddles]

She probably went to an orphanage and if not adopted out, I'm sure she died young.

[@lindasiegel895]

You always make a NY subject interesting. 😊

[@rosemartasgaminghoard]

Well she wouldnt have been the first (or indeed last) woman to off either her own children or her new husbands children from a previous marriage in order to collect money or gain the attention and or sympathy of her peers.

[@billcampbell5810]

I alway enjoy your videos thanks for them my friend you always make my day i love true crimr

[@Oni-Ryu8]

Cheers fella she was as toxic as they come

[@thurayya8905]

Mary's own words to the effect that her children or spouses were in the way of her getting what she wanted seem to brand her as a killer.

[@alphooey]

I lost count of the children she had that were mentioned.

[@billcampbell5810]

keep uploading more thanks

[@beckylou89]

Another great video - I really like how you set the scene for these crime videos! I think she probably killed many of the people involved - if arsenic poisoning from wallpaper, or death though rife disease, you imagine that she should have become very ill too, no?

[@Silhouette7950]

I feel like anyone who would try to put a child in a workhouse is certainly capable of being a serial killer.

[@bsmuffin]

Please do a video on Robert Maudsley. :)

[@Sierra-Golf-19]

To say that arsenic was present in the environment is true, it was commonly used in dyes and paint. However for so many people around her dying in so many different locations, why did Mary herself who must have also been exposed to the arsenic rich environment not suffer the same fate as her obvious victims?.

[@1339LARS]

Great!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@carolinemarley8426]

I actually live half a mile from West Auckland..everyone in the little town knows this story.

[@Marc_von_Hoffrichter]

Thanks Paul, cheers cobber.

[@annwilliams6438]

One of her first kids possibly got into some rat poison that she had left lying around - she was then paid out a life insurance policy, and after that she was ‘onto a good thing’ (a way to make money while getting ‘troublesome’ family members out of the way). She probably also helped along any of her husbands that were already ill and not making enough money for her. The kids would have been easy to kill being under the same roof and her control

[@lauraholmes2402]

I wonder if the first ones were purely for the insurance money, but then she realised how easy it was to eliminate people that were in her way or could be used as a means to an end. Such a cruel, cold woman.

[@CaderasKitchen]

Ooooo i live in bishop aukland durham . Fab on the wicked history

[@Missjulie1975]

She may have quickened the deaths along!

[@colindeer9657]

Happy birthday Paul.