THE DEVOTED WIFE WHO POISONED 3 HUSBANDS | Diagnosis: Unknown | TRUE MEDICAL MYSTERY

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[00:00:11]in North Carolina. A man succumbs to a mysterious illness. [music] >> I was scared. I wasn't ready to lose my dad yet.

[00:00:20]>> The violent and terrifying symptoms come on without any warning, leaving the man fighting for his life. We were just trying [music] to keep him alive to try to figure out what was going on.

[00:00:33]>> What was slowly taking his life? Doctors fear the killer is hiding in plain sight. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] >> November 1988.

[00:01:11]Reverend Dwight Moore and his fianceé Blanch Taylor are to be married in a few weeks.

[00:01:16]>> September. Well, what else do we have to do? I >> But something is terribly wrong with the reverend. Honey, >> it hits him suddenly and is unlike anything he's experienced before.

[00:01:29]>> Please pull over. You're scaring me.

[00:01:31]>> No, you don't look okay.

[00:01:32]>> A bout of nausea and dizziness comes on hard and fast.

[00:01:36]>> You don't look too good.

[00:01:38]>> No, you don't look okay.

[00:01:40]>> His vision blurs.

[00:01:42]>> No, that's enough.

[00:01:44]>> Searing pain steals his breath. The sick am.

[00:01:49]>> A wave of vicious nausea clenches his stomach.

[00:01:58]>> Something is and Reverend Moore vomits blood.

[00:02:13]We got to get you. Come on. We got to get you.

[00:02:19]Blanch rushes her fiance to the emergency room at Alamance County Hospital.

[00:02:26]>> I need a doctor.

[00:02:28]>> Get the doctor right away, please.

[00:02:38]>> The pain by this time was just so intense. I can't just don't know how one could suffer more intense pain than the cramps and nausea that went along with that.

[00:02:53]>> Reverend Moore's daughter remembers getting the call.

[00:02:58]>> We were just worried about him and that we just needed to find out what the problem was so we could get him better.

[00:03:11]Doctors notice disturbing symptoms.

[00:03:14]>> My name is Dr. Gart.

[00:03:15]>> The minister seems incoherent, pale, and weak.

[00:03:20]>> And his stomach is distending at an alarming rate.

[00:03:25]>> I hear it hurts. They had determined that through some tests that he had a block a blockage with his intestines.

[00:03:35]>> Doctors need to perform surgery immediately.

[00:03:40]>> The mass in Reverend Moore's bowel is the size of a fist.

[00:03:45]>> Naturally, when you hear the word mass, it's frightening.

[00:03:50]>> The our first uh reaction was, well, it must be cancel. You know, when you hear the word mass, But the outcome of [music] the surgery baffles the doctors.

[00:04:04]>> They said, you know, that [music] they went through all of his, you know, all of the intestines that there was nothing there, [music] no blockage at all.

[00:04:13]>> When we got the word from the doctors that they didn't find anything, I thought that was kind of strange and it was just kind of left open-ended.

[00:04:22]They didn't really have a cause for why he got sick.

[00:04:26]Incredibly, whatever was causing the reverend's illness simply vanished.

[00:04:33]>> How could such a large mass suddenly disappear?

[00:04:37]>> No, it deteriorated.

[00:04:38]>> And if it isn't cancer, what is making Reverend Moore so ill?

[00:04:43]>> Let me see your eyes. Open up.

[00:04:45]>> I had no rationale for it. I had been a healthy person. [music] >> I'd never experienced anything like this. So, it was was simply a total mystery.

[00:05:00]>> After the surgery, Moore's condition improves and his appetite returns.

[00:05:06]>> Blanch's home-cooked meals are a welcome relief after the hospital's bland food.

[00:05:12]>> Yes, he got better.

[00:05:14]>> Almost back to normal.

[00:05:16]>> Coming through.

[00:05:17]>> Hold on.

[00:05:18]>> But the mystery of his unusual illness is only just beginning.

[00:05:22]Three weeks later, Reverend Moore's symptoms return.

[00:05:28]>> Another X-ray indicates a patchwork of tumors, again, blocking the intestinal tract.

[00:05:34]He is rushed back to surgery.

[00:05:38]>> And he hadn't fully recovered from the last surgery. I don't know exactly how long it had been, but it had not been long enough that he should go under the knife again.

[00:05:50]They had said that it would just be routine surgery here again half hour to 45 minutes. And we were waiting in the waiting room, all of us together. And it had been maybe an hour to an hour and a half, and none of the surgeons had come out to talk to us at all.

[00:06:08]A half hour or so after that, the doctors did come and said that it was very strange that when they went to do the surgery that they had been through, you know, [music] basically all of his intestines and that they couldn't find the blockage that it was gone all of the sudden and that that was strange and that they didn't understand. [music] >> We didn't know what was going on, why he was ill. Um, and but we were just concerned that he was going to make it through.

[00:06:41]>> For the second time in less than a month, something was invading Reverend Moore's intestines.

[00:06:47][music] What could cause these debilitating symptoms only to suddenly disappear?

[00:06:55]Is this a strange new illness that doctors don't recognize? Is there something they are overlooking? times.

[00:07:03]>> After the trauma of two major surgeries, Reverend Moore is so ill he is unable to care for himself, and doctors still don't know what is attacking his body.

[00:07:14]After Dwight's second surgery, it was decided that he would come [music] up here and stay and recuperate.

[00:07:23]>> He was very weak and and still under the doctor's care really. So he knew that he had to have some help.

[00:07:34]>> Blanch wanted him to go on back home and let her take care of him.

[00:07:39]But he did not want to do that because it him being a minister and them not being married, it would not look right.

[00:07:47]So he came to stay with us.

[00:07:51]The separation strains the reverend's relationship with Blanch.

[00:07:56]>> For that 3-w weekek period that I was there, Blanch never called me.

[00:08:02]>> Hi there.

[00:08:03]>> But Blanch may have had good reason.

[00:08:04]>> What are you doing? [music] >> She had recently suffered a deep loss when her previous boyfriend died from a serious illness.

[00:08:14]>> She did tell me that it was just a friendship that had uh endured for a good number of years.

[00:08:20]Yeah.

[00:08:23]>> And shortly after we began [music] talking to each other, uh, Raymond Reed became ill and was hospitalized.

[00:08:33]The Reverend also knew the man and felt the loss, but Blanch was devastated by [music] his death.

[00:08:41]>> Perhaps she fears that bad luck is following her. Yes, this isn't too.

[00:08:47]>> After several weeks at his sister's home, Reverend Moore's [music] health was improving.

[00:08:51]>> Here you go, honey.

[00:08:54]>> He had not gained his weight back, but he was eating well and getting around well and feeling well.

[00:09:03]So, we thought everything was all right then.

[00:09:07]So, he went back home shortly after the first of the year.

[00:09:14]Reverend Moore's health slowly continues to improve and soon the happy couple is reunited.

[00:09:26]>> Around the middle of February, things seem to be back on a pretty even keel.

[00:09:32]>> So, we began again to speak of to talk about getting married.

[00:09:42]But everything is not all right. The mysterious symptoms return once again.

[00:09:49]>> 4 months later, Reverend Moore is rushed to North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.

[00:09:57]I receive a telephone call from Blanch very late and she says that he's quite ill and that I need to come to Chapel Hill Memorial Hospital and that I needed to come rather quickly.

[00:10:15]Dr. Jonathan Cer, a third-year resident in internal medicine, inherits the puzzling case.

[00:10:21]We went back and looked at the notes from Alamance County and it was perplexing to us that he had been healthy up until the fall of that previous year that he then had a long period in the winter where he did reasonably well and now again came back in the spring with the same type of problem.

[00:10:42]>> Is Reverend Moore's mysterious illness tied to the seasons >> or is something more sinister slowly killing him? right here.

[00:10:52]>> For months, the case has mystified doctors. Now, one thing is clear.

[00:11:00]>> They must solve the mystery and fast or Reverend Moore may die.

[00:11:09]>> In May 1989, Reverend Dwight Moore is rushed to North Carolina Memorial Hospital with a mysterious illness doctors are unable to identify. I this is terrible.

[00:11:20]>> I called a girlfriend of mine who's a nurse and had her call down to Chapel Hill Memorial >> and she immediately called me back and said, "You need to leave now." That it was that bad.

[00:11:36]>> For the past 7 months, Moore has suffered a series of unexplained attacks. Mysterious and sudden bouts of nausea and vomiting have racked his body and threatened his life. need to see you, please.

[00:11:49]>> As doctors search for the cause of the mysterious illness, his wife, Blanch, has remained faithfully by his side.

[00:11:58]>> The two had only been married for a month when the attacks resumed.

[00:12:04]>> He was sick but stable when he first arrived. At the time, he was talking. He could walk. He could eat. When Dwight was in Chapel Hill, I had a lot of confidence in the doctors down there.

[00:12:16]And I felt like they was going to get to the bottom of what it was because he had always been so healthy. I couldn't imagine why he would suddenly develop this condition that nobody could fix.

[00:12:31]>> Dr. George Sanders takes a full medical history.

[00:12:35]He said that he kept on having bouts of nausea that would wind him up in the emergency room.

[00:12:44]>> Moore explained that his condition had improved steadily throughout the winter.

[00:12:50]By spring, he'd resumed duties as minister of his local church.

[00:12:57]He had also felt healthy enough to visit his son in New Jersey.

[00:13:03]It was Doug Moore's first visit with his new stepmother.

[00:13:07]Hi.

[00:13:08]>> She was a very energetic, bubbly person.

[00:13:11]Uh, I thought she was going to be really good for dad.

[00:13:16]He's always [music] been kind of more sedate, lowkey. I thought this is pretty interesting. They're kind of different personality, so this would be good for dad. Kind of, you know, energize him some.

[00:13:28]But days later, the strange symptoms returned.

[00:13:33]>> We returned home.

[00:13:36]The next day, uh, I began working in the yard, feeling great.

[00:13:43]>> Lunch.

[00:13:45]>> And within hours, I became, I think, as sick as I had ever been. It was very brief period after eating lunch that I became sick.

[00:13:56]call to me.

[00:13:58]>> Oh.

[00:13:59]>> So, our biggest frustration was one not knowing what was wrong with Reverend Moore. Uh, two was going back and looking at his evaluation and knowing that that's exactly what we would have done.

[00:14:11]>> Are negative, urine is negative.

[00:14:13]>> And so, at that point in time, it became difficult to figure out what we could add or do differently that wasn't done previously that could help figure out what was wrong with him.

[00:14:26]What is attacking Reverend Moore's body so viciously?

[00:14:31]>> He was obviously septic. All the symptoms suggested infection [music] widespread in the bloodstream called sepsis.

[00:14:42]When people get infection, it's caused by a bacterium that's in the bloodstream and we do not know about it. Now there are times when uh you have sepsis that has uh been caused by some other process such as chemotherapy causing the white cell count to go low and then the person comes in with infection but we had no source and we did not know what caused this sepsis.

[00:15:13]>> Doctors are perplexed. What is triggering this raging infection?

[00:15:18]We got blood cultures, urine cultures, and we put him on uh several different antibiotics to cover whatever that infection would be.

[00:15:29]>> They also keep close watch on his blood pressure and respiration, which had fluctuated during previous hospital stays.

[00:15:37]>> He was becoming more and more frustrated with events over time as he would get sick for these long periods uh and then get better for no reason. uh and no one had told the family or given him a good explanation as to what was going on. And so we didn't want to have that happen again here if we could help it.

[00:15:57]>> The only [music] thing Reverend Moore can count on to boost his spirits are the daily visits from his new wife, Blanch.

[00:16:04]>> Hello there.

[00:16:05]>> Guess that I've brought you.

[00:16:08]>> Oh, >> Blanch was very helpful, kind, considerate. [music] Every time we went was went at the hospital, she was there.

[00:16:20]>> Dwight Moore's son drives down from New Jersey to be near his father.

[00:16:25]>> We were all sort of together in the waiting room just puzzled as to what is going on here? Why is he so sick?

[00:16:35]>> My brother's a chemist.

[00:16:37]>> Let's see if we talk about Mr. Moore.

[00:16:40]he was able to talk to the doctors and understand more of what they were saying and then kind of coming back and translating for us and letting us know.

[00:16:49]>> The doctors were just monitoring all of his vitals and they were concerned that the vitals weren't where they should be and uh they were doing what they could just to maintain his vital signs. really >> there was never any discussion between the two of us what would happen if dad died. That was not it was just not a discussion. It was not [music] something that we that we even talked about because it was it was not going to happen.

[00:17:22]>> But the unthinkable is becoming undeniably real. Reverend Moore is fighting for his life and no one seems to know what is killing him.

[00:17:32]Later during the day, he got mentally confused. His blood pressure started dropping. He was starting to fill up his lungs with fluid and his blood pressure was precariously low.

[00:17:48]Both of those problems can lead to death.

[00:17:51]>> I need to get the doctor.

[00:17:52]>> Call somebody.

[00:17:53]>> We need somebody in here. Please come and help us.

[00:17:56]>> Why had Reverend War [music] suddenly taken a turn for the worse? The attack seems to come out of nowhere.

[00:18:04]>> We didn't know what was wrong with Dwight.

[00:18:08]>> It seemed like the doctors hadn't been able to find out at that point and he just [music] kept getting a little worse and a little worse.

[00:18:16]>> We're going to have to shock 200 jewels.

[00:18:18]>> 200 jewels. Come on. Hurry up. Go ahead.

[00:18:20]>> We're very worried. We did not know what was going on. And we did not have a good feel for why he had been nauseous and vomiting before. Then he gets very ill.

[00:18:32]It was perplexing.

[00:18:33]>> Shock.

[00:18:34]>> What the doctors don't know as they fight to save Reverend Moore's life is that the cause of his mysterious illness lurks in the hospital, waiting to attack him again.

[00:18:49]>> Help. We need somebody. For months, a strange and unrelenting illness has been plaguing North Carolina Minister Dwight Moore.

[00:18:59]In May 1989, his vital signs plummet.

[00:19:04]>> He got sick so fast he could have died at any moment.

[00:19:09]>> Mystified, doctors raced to revive his flagging heartbeat.

[00:19:12]>> The shock of 300 clears.

[00:19:18]We were just trying to keep him alive to try to figure out what was going on.

[00:19:24]>> Okay, looks like we got a a sinus rhythm.

[00:19:27]>> This time doctors catch a break. Normal sinus rhythm returns.

[00:19:32]>> Set of vitals. Let's get some labs on this guy.

[00:19:33]>> Usually when this happens, when the blood pressure falls like that, it's a symptom of infection widespread in the bloodstream called sepsis.

[00:19:43]>> Okay.

[00:19:44]>> His male status went down. If you're when your mental status goes down, you're apt to regurgitate your stomach contents and it goes into your lung to protect the airway. We had to put him on a ventilator >> on this side.

[00:20:00]>> Well, when when we saw him in the ICU, I had never seen anybody look so bad in my life. I had never seen anybody on the ventilator.

[00:20:11]He couldn't talk, of course. All right.

[00:20:13]>> He was [music] barely conscious.

[00:20:17]All right.

[00:20:19]>> We're only allowed to see him for 15 minutes or so at a time every hour.

[00:20:27]They were short and sweet and you got to hold his hand and you got to tell him how much you loved him and that everything was going to be okay.

[00:20:38]The reverend was stable, but with no understanding of what was causing the illness, things could [music] turn worse at any moment.

[00:20:47]>> It was difficult not knowing really what was going on and not feeling like the doctors were getting anywhere in determining why he was so ill.

[00:21:03]Doctors could find no internal cause of the symptoms.

[00:21:09]>> We were pretty convinced that he was being exposed [music] to something. Uh we weren't 100% sure at that point in time what it was. We came up with some general ideas as to possible things like insecticides or organo phosphates that he might be exposed to.

[00:21:28]Now desperate, [music] the doctors turned to the reverend's wife, Blanch, for help.

[00:21:34]>> Mostly, we were interested in some sort of seasonal exposure, planting or something like that that would occur in the fall and the spring because it was um pretty interesting to us that he'd had this long duration, 3 or 4 months in the winter where he'd had no problems.

[00:21:48]>> I mean, >> Blanch tells the doctors her husband loved working in the yard.

[00:21:52]>> Wait a minute. You know what? [music] He apparently gardened a lot because he a lot had a lot of pesticides.

[00:22:00]>> That could have been a a logical explanation cuz my father's always he grew up on a farm. I mean, that was always kind of a hobby to have a garden in the backyard.

[00:22:13]So, yeah, that and and to have a very nice lawn. He's always had a very nice lawn.

[00:22:19]During his last afternoon at the parsonage, Reverend Moore had been outside spraying dandelions.

[00:22:25]>> Lunch is ready.

[00:22:27]>> All right.

[00:22:29]>> He had gone out and sprayed many plants and he came in and he sat down and he ate lunch.

[00:22:36]>> Oh, this is perfect. It's going to hit the spot.

[00:22:40]>> And then a few minutes later, he started having nausea and vomiting.

[00:22:46]Many pesticides contain heavy [music] metals which can be toxic.

[00:22:52]>> Perhaps they could be the cause of the reverend symptoms.

[00:22:54]>> Take a look at his palms, too. That goes along with diagnosis.

[00:22:58]>> In fact, the Reverend has a series of small pits in his [music] palms.

[00:23:03]>> These can be indicative of heavy metal poisoning.

[00:23:07]>> Dr. Schrody and other members of the team thought that we should get a heavy metal screen.

[00:23:15]uh and see if there was any um exposure in terms of lead, arsenic or mercury exposure and also to they asked me to call the toxicologists at Chapel Hill and discuss the case with him.

[00:23:34]>> Is he using [music] any kind of protection whenever he >> finally they have a strong lead?

[00:23:38]>> I mean, not that I know of.

[00:23:39]>> Try to figure out what >> could Reverend Moore be inadvertently poisoning himself?

[00:23:44]>> Okay. Okay.

[00:23:45]>> The toxicologist told us that there were a large number of chemical compounds that were used in North Carolina uh to specifically kill certain types of pests or on lawns as fertilizer.

[00:24:00]We asked Blanch, his wife, initially to bring in all of the chemicals and other solvents and compounds that they had in the house to verify that he was not accidentally poisoning himself at home.

[00:24:15]Doctors plan to compare chemical levels in his blood with those products found at the house.

[00:24:22]>> You still sat right there?

[00:24:24]>> 72%.

[00:24:25]>> Where's the other piece?

[00:24:26]>> But the clock is ticking. It will take several days for the results of his tox screen to come back from the lab. Days the reverend might not have.

[00:24:37]>> Whether he was going to live through this infection wasn't clear.

[00:24:42]uh he was quite ill and so he needed a significant amount of support during that time.

[00:24:48]>> Eventually, Moore's respiration improves. Doctors take him off the ventilator.

[00:24:55]>> Then Blanch offers another important clue.

[00:25:00]>> At that point, she started telling the doctors about >> that he had been eating a lot of grapes.

[00:25:09]And that was long about the time that there had been some poison grapes.

[00:25:15]And she suggested that it might come from the grapes he ate.

[00:25:23]The FDA had recently banned the sale of all fruit coming from Chile after detecting cyanide on grapes exported from the South American country.

[00:25:34]The tainted grapes were found to be an unusual though isolated incident.

[00:25:41]>> [music] >> But was it?

[00:25:46]>> Two more days pass and the tox screen results are still not in.

[00:25:52]>> The waiting was the most stressful sitting in the in the [music] waiting room and not knowing.

[00:26:01]I was scared. I mean [music] at that point I was really scared and worried.

[00:26:07]Then on May 13th, >> blood [music] cultures came back positive for staff orius.

[00:26:15]Staff orius can cause low blood pressure, [music] low urine output, and all the signs and symptoms of sepsis.

[00:26:25]We then thought we knew what was going on. [music] Dr. >> The bacterial infection is very common and can come from a variety of sources.

[00:26:34]>> [music] >> It could explain the mysterious symptoms.

[00:26:37]But as doctors were about to learn, the cause of Reverend Moore's [music] disease was anything but common.

[00:26:46]>> And then I get a phone call. Uh, and it's the toxicology lab.

[00:26:52]>> The doctors are stunned by the shocking results. [music] In an instant, the ward is on alert >> and we shut down the unit. Nobody in, nobody out.

[00:27:07]>> Everybody, how y'all doing?

[00:27:09]>> Dr. Sanders.

[00:27:11]>> Something is terribly wrong with Reverend Moore. Do >> you mind if I just take a look?

[00:27:16]>> There is no time to lose if they hope to protect him from a potential killer.

[00:27:24]to see.

[00:27:25]>> Doctors think they've identified [music] the vicious disease threatening the life of a North Carolina minister.

[00:27:31]>> Anything [music] new?

[00:27:32]>> Just take a look at these.

[00:27:33]>> A toxicological screen comes back.

[00:27:35]>> Surprised we didn't notice that before >> with terrifying results.

[00:27:40][music] >> Take a look at his palm too.

[00:27:43]>> We brought the family in to tell them [music] talk to his wife, some of his children, and his sister.

[00:27:52]Good afternoon. How's everybody doing?

[00:27:55]Did >> y'all have news?

[00:27:56]>> Yeah, man. Excellent.

[00:27:57]>> The doctor then [music] said, "I have now something to tell you."

[00:28:03]And he said that he had the highest levels of arsenic that have ever been seen.

[00:28:12]>> Doctors suspect the reverend fell ill after being poisoned by a deadly agent, arsenic.

[00:28:19]I mean, I remember going, "What are you talking about? Arsenic?"

[00:28:24]>> We believe that was the cause of all of his problems starting from the fall of the prior year to his problems at the current time.

[00:28:32]>> We were all just bewildered.

[00:28:34]>> Person go.

[00:28:35]>> Everybody wanted to know how, why, how it happened, and nobody had any answers at that point.

[00:28:46]>> All right. What's going on? The strange symptoms plaguing the minister finally make sense. [music] >> Mysterious illness. His stomach's distended.

[00:28:53]>> But how did he get such high levels?

[00:28:57]>> It was a a perfect case of arsenic poisoning and that he had infection.

[00:29:05]Whenever you get arsenic uh poisoning, your immune system is decreased and so you get susceptibility to infection.

[00:29:14]multiple bouts of nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain.

[00:29:19]And then he had on his hands something called arynical pits.

[00:29:26]He had little pits in the palm of his hands which were classic for arsenic.

[00:29:35]>> In X-rays, arsenic appears opaque, showing up as a lump in the stomach or GI tract.

[00:29:43]But arsenic is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. When surgeons looked inside, the so-called tumors had disappeared.

[00:29:52]The levels of arsenic that he had were higher than any scene by the laboratory that did these tests in the United States.

[00:30:00]>> I believe afterwards they said that there was that they had found enough arsenic in the system to kill a horse.

[00:30:06]We were stunned partly at the level of arsenic in him and partly because our toxicologist had been right in identifying arsenic as a possible cause.

[00:30:19]>> The lab reruns the talk screen. Sure, they had made a mistake.

[00:30:24]>> The results are identical.

[00:30:27]>> Knowing some chemistry, [music] knowing that arsenic is not highly abundant uh element in the in the environment. um you know the only way to get significant concentrations of arsenic is for it to be given to you. And we said well that it that's one way of getting arent but we're going to check everything and we'd like to get all those pesticides in that that uh he was using and they brought in 20 bottles.

[00:30:58]>> Toxicologists examine each and every one of the bottles found around Reverend Moore's home. but come up with something very [music] strange.

[00:31:08]>> We checked every single bottle for arsenic. There was no arsenic in in those samples.

[00:31:14]>> The lab told us that there really was no way for this person to get that level of arsenic unless he was purposefully being administered arsenic um by someone.

[00:31:27]We didn't have a specific person or persons in mind who were doing this, but it was pretty apparent that this was probably being done over a long period of time since the fall. Uh, and that someone had access to Reverend Moore and was able to give him arsenic. Although who that was, we weren't sure.

[00:31:45]>> Dr. Farley 390.

[00:31:49]>> Dr. Sanders and Dr. Cerot alert security and hospital administrators. Okay. And results. [music] When they hospital realized that he had been intentionally poisoned, they re reacted very quickly.

[00:32:07]Had sitters round the clock. Nobody could go into that room uh without the sitter there because she sat there all day and all night. He was not to have specific contact with either friends or family members until we could determine who was poisoning him.

[00:32:29]>> And Blanch was was disturbed about that there's things we need to discuss and we have no privacy.

[00:32:40]>> Need to get back to get you to talk.

[00:32:42]>> Doctors soon call in the authorities.

[00:32:45]>> Hi.

[00:32:45]>> Hi, Mrs. Moore. I'd like to ask you a couple questions if I may.

[00:32:48]>> The state bureau of investigation showed up [music] >> very shortly after the doctors had told us >> I'd like to find out some things about >> and they started questioning and my husband's rather busy at church. So >> we were all just like you know how why you know what could dad have gotten into?

[00:33:08]>> It was obviously total shock in that kind of situation. Acquaintances are the immediate suspects, somebody who has relationship with you.

[00:33:20]>> The authorities told us that given the amount of arsenic in Reverend Moore, that really only somebody very close to him, like his wife, could be administering those types of doses to him. Yet, when we looked, uh, he seemed to have a wonderful relationship. He had just been married to Blanch. Uh, no one in the family or outside the family seemed to think there was a problem in the marriage.

[00:33:45]>> In attempted murder cases, the spouse is always the first suspect. But Blanch seems an unlikely murderer, and detectives find nothing suspicious in her behavior and no obvious motive for the crime.

[00:34:02]>> She has lovingly cared for the reverend throughout his illness.

[00:34:07]I didn't feel like Blanch was looking for somebody who needed a lot of money.

[00:34:13]>> I mean, obviously a minister doesn't make a whole lot of money. They, you know, there was a parsonage that they lived in and she seemed very comfortable to live in that parsonage next to the church. It's not like she wanted to go out and have dad buy her some great big lavish house or some expensive car or, you know, anything like that. She didn't she just seemed down to earth.

[00:34:40]>> I'm just kind of curious. Um, do you think there's >> But if the person with the most access [music] to the reverend isn't poisoning him, >> who could it be?

[00:34:48]>> Animosity or a grudge towards your husband?

[00:34:50]>> Police turned to Blanch for some suggestions.

[00:34:55]She felt that a prior girlfriend who' had a relationship with Reverend Moore before he got married to Blanch may have reasons after he got married uh to want to harm him and [music] that we should contact her in Virginia to find this out.

[00:35:11]>> The wouldbe killer had to be someone who was close to the reverend over a period of time.

[00:35:17]>> I really don't think it's a good relationship.

[00:35:19]>> Really? Do you feel like >> Blanch expresses concern about a member of the family?

[00:35:23]>> Father in any way, >> Doug Moore, >> Dwight's son, >> works in this this chemical company that makes all sorts of medicines and chemicals and he has access to anything that you would want. Blanch did um try to say that there was bad blood between my father and I or that there some something broken about our relationship because of prior history.

[00:35:54]>> Have there been any recent occurrences or events in your life?

[00:35:57]>> Hearing conflicting stories, detectives turn to Reverend Moore >> has died recently. I can't think [music] of a thing. I can't think of anything.

[00:36:07]The minister refuses to believe that either his son or wife could be involved in any crime.

[00:36:14]>> I never had any suspicion, any inkling during any of this period that anyone was trying to do something to me.

[00:36:25]>> Hi. Hi.

[00:36:27]>> He tells detectives about a pleasant trip that he and his wife took to visit his son just weeks before.

[00:36:33]>> How are you?

[00:36:34]>> He's being so good. I know he is. Look how big he is.

[00:36:38]>> What detectives find interesting is [music] the timing. Shortly after his return home, the attacks began a new.

[00:36:44]>> You did a good job, guys.

[00:36:47][music] >> The days that follow are tense for the Moore family.

[00:36:53]>> Suspected by both hospital staff and [music] law enforcement, they know their every move is being watched.

[00:37:01]And while the discovery of arsenic [music] was a triumph for doctors, there still remains a significant challenge.

[00:37:08]Getting the toxic substance out of his body.

[00:37:12]>> Oh, keelation therapy is the only effective [music] treatment for arsenic poisoning.

[00:37:20]>> Hey, how are you, Mr. Moore?

[00:37:21]>> In the treatment, ions injected [music] into the blood hunt down arsenic, bind to it, and attempt to flush it from the body. much arsenic in your system. It's better to go ahead [music] and do this and take whatever >> the treatment can be notoriously painful.

[00:37:37]>> We felt quite sorry for Reverend Moore who by that time was becoming sicker and sicker and it was clear that this was predominantly due to arsenic poisoning.

[00:37:47]He was developing problems walking. He was developing problems with balance.

[00:37:52]He also reports a tingling in his feet and lower legs. Nerve damage that strikes patients [music] in the last stages of arsenic poisoning.

[00:38:02]Doctors had solved the medical mystery.

[00:38:04]But has the solution come too late for Reverend Moore?

[00:38:09]>> You have a feeling a feeling of helplessness that you can't do anything to help except a lot of prayers.

[00:38:22]Why don't we say a personal prayer?

[00:38:23]>> One Sunday afternoon, Blanch wanted us to go down into the chapel and >> Dwight.

[00:38:30]>> And she prayed this beautiful prayer.

[00:38:34]And I remember particular one thing she prayed.

[00:38:38]She didn't want to be selfish just praying for Dwight. She would wanted to pray for all the other patients [music] in the hospital from evil. As Reverend Moore's family stands vigil, they are plagued [music] with one question. Who would want to hurt him?

[00:38:56]>> We wondered where it came from. And each one of us looked at the other one questioning what's going on. What's going on?

[00:39:07]>> I look at the situation and and have to ask, well, who has access to dad? Who's closest to him? And there was really only one person that I knew of.

[00:39:19]>> I knew it wasn't me. I knew it wasn't my brother.

[00:39:24]>> We were all feeling that there had to be here again a logical explanation for for the arsenic.

[00:39:33]I mean, who wouldn't want to hurt my dad?

[00:39:37][music] >> The answer to that question will continue to elude doctors and detectives.

[00:39:43]>> I have any more questions? But then they uncover a story even more terrifying than anything they imagined. [music] Reverend Dwight Moore struggles for [music] his life as doctors fight the effects of a massive dose of arsenic poisoning.

[00:40:02]Now that doctors [music] have discovered the mysterious illness killing the reverend, one question remains.

[00:40:10]>> Who was trying to kill him and why?

[00:40:13][music] Okay.

[00:40:17]>> Investigators contact the prosecutor's office, alerting them to the difficult case in progress.

[00:40:23]>> She was married [music] that weekend.

[00:40:25]>> Tracking a clever killer using poison would not be easy.

[00:40:30]The uh psychological profile of a poisoner is not unlike maybe a bomber in the sense that um in poisoning the perpetrator does not have to confront the victim. Uh they can be kind and loving toward the victim. The victim may think that the person is helping them.

[00:40:49]It is their caretaker or their nurturer, their nurse, uh whatever. Um and uh it's a a crime that we see usually committed by women because uh uh women usually don't like to confront people aggressively and physically.

[00:41:07]Typically poisoning is a crime that involves a great deal of calculation and thought.

[00:41:14]>> Often the perpetrator spends weeks or months slowly killing the victim.

[00:41:20]>> You're telling me that was her whereabouts that would happen? Police have several suspects, but no strong leads.

[00:41:26]>> Okay, >> you can confirm this.

[00:41:29]>> One suspect is ruled out early.

[00:41:33]>> Out of town.

[00:41:34]>> Moore's ex-girlfriend lives in Virginia, and witnesses there can account for her whereabouts for the past few months.

[00:41:42]>> Have there been any recent occurrences or events in your life? Maybe.

[00:41:46]>> A chance recollection, however, suddenly breaks [music] the case wide open.

[00:41:53]The question that I remember answering was, "Do you know of anyone of Blanch's acquaintance that has had an unusual illness or died under mysterious circumstances?"

[00:42:07]Raymond Reed died of a diagnosis of Gillon Beret syndrome.

[00:42:19]She's fine.

[00:42:20]>> Detectives asked Dr. John Buts, North Carolina's chief medical examiner, to look into Raymond Reed's death.

[00:42:30]Gon Beret is a condition that affects the nervous system. And [music] it's very similar to arsenic poisoning or some of the symptoms of arsenic poisoning in the sense that these individuals present with a peripheral neuropathy. uh and by that I mean a a condition of the nerves that starts um you know at the fingers and the hands and begins to spread centrally.

[00:42:49]>> The symptoms of Gillon Beret are very much like the ones [music] experienced by Reverend Moore.

[00:42:56]>> And like Moore, Reed was in and out of the hospital fighting mysterious symptoms.

[00:43:02]>> Okay, I'll get that for you.

[00:43:03]>> Hi.

[00:43:03]>> Hey. How are you doing?

[00:43:04]>> I'm fine.

[00:43:06]Blanch was proud of the care she offered, often boasting of the home-cooked meals she'd prepare.

[00:43:12]>> Yeah.

[00:43:13]>> As she had with Reverend [music] Moore, Blanch often brought him food. Banana pudding and peanut butter milkshakes, according to nursing notes in Reed's medical file.

[00:43:23]>> Okay. When I received the medical records, the thing that struck me was that they were pretty much a textbook description of arsenic poisoning that he had presented about approximately 4 months prior to his death at one hospital with a symptom symptoms of acute onset of what was described as gastroanoritis.

[00:43:42]I need some help. Somebody please.

[00:43:45]>> Over the course of 4 months, Reed's condition spiraled downward. [music] We had >> his lungs filled with fluid. His heartbeat became erratic.

[00:43:56]>> He grew septic.

[00:43:59]>> Monitor.

[00:43:59]>> On October 7th, [music] 1986, Raymond Reed died. No autopsy was performed.

[00:44:06]>> Clear.

[00:44:06]>> Clear.

[00:44:08]>> I wrote the district attorney and said that I thought there was a a high likelihood that Mr. Reed had in fact died of arsenic poisoning and that if we did exume his body and examine him that we could make that determination whether in fact that was what had happened to him. And so I did go ahead and um write him and recommend that and he petitioned the judge and the judge authorized the examination.

[00:44:30]One of the things we're always nervous about is what condition the body is in because the better the condition, the more likely that our examination is going to be able to produce some meaningful uh results.

[00:44:43]Mr. Reed's body was in a very good state of preservation.

[00:44:47]He had what are called meas lines or little bands that run across the fingernails on all of his fingers and they're actually visible on his toes as well. Um, these are seen in arsenic poisoning.

[00:45:00]>> Could this finally be the clue helping to hunt down whoever was trying to kill Reverend Moore?

[00:45:07]>> Hair samples were taken. uh tissue samples were analyzed and it was determined that Raymond Reed did in fact die from complications of arsenic poisoning.

[00:45:18]>> Investigators also look at the death of Blanch's first husband >> samples here.

[00:45:24]>> When we ran the concentrations of arsenic on his tissues, he had very high levels and certainly in levels that were associated with [music] toxicity, fatal fatal levels, potentially lethal levels.

[00:45:37]didn't seem very logical that uh three people um would have encountered lethal or near-lethal concentrations of arsenic accidentally. If one person had, then you know, you might be able to accept that perhaps this could be an accident.

[00:45:53]But two people, three people, no.

[00:45:59]>> In the end, there was only one logical suspect, one probable killer. I have a warrant for your arrest for the poison.

[00:46:06]>> Blanch Taylor Moore was arrested in 1989, charged with the murder of Raymond Reed. [music] >> She was convicted and sentenced to death.

[00:46:16]>> Ken and we'll be held against you in a court of law >> because she had already been [music] convicted for Reed's murder. She was not tried for the attempted murder of Reverend Moore or her first husband.

[00:46:27][music] Of course, we were all shocked, devastated, you might say, to think that a nice lady like that could do that.

[00:46:40]I hated her for it. I absolutely hated her for it.

[00:46:44]>> It's about time.

[00:46:45]>> How in God's name could she have done this? What did my father do to her >> other than love her?

[00:46:52]>> All right, need to lift it up a little higher. I I really do not recall ever being angry at her and I I don't proclaim any special virtue on this regard.

[00:47:09]Reverend Dwight Moore survived his ordeal, but he is not entirely free of it.

[00:47:16]Almost 20 years later, he still suffers from permanent nerve damage to his legs and has little sense of touch in his hands.

[00:47:24]My feelings more than anything else, I think, are are simply sadness. Sadness that it happened. Sadness that her life was so messed up.

[00:47:36]Investigators theorized that Blanch may have begun poisoning Reverend Moore in the same way she murdered Raymond Reed with home-cooked meals.

[00:47:47]Potato soup, milkshakes, puddings, sandwiches, all were spiked with toxic drops of arsenic, most likely coming from a bottle of ant pesticide.

[00:47:59]She killed Raymond Reed for money, convincing him to name her as the beneficiary of his life insurance policy.

[00:48:08]Her motive for alleged poisoning of Reverend Moore may never be clear.

[00:48:12]>> Lunch is ready.

[00:48:14]I don't think anyone will ever understand Blanch's motivation unless she reveals it. And I'm not sure she even knows what her motivations were.

[00:48:31]Investigators also believe Blanch must have continued the poisoning inside hospital walls.

[00:48:38]>> I brought you some homemade pudding.

[00:48:41]That could explain the sudden unexpected relapses that mystified doctors and brought Reverend Moore to the brink of death.

[00:48:50]>> How's that?

[00:48:51]>> All right, look straight ahead.

[00:48:53]>> Turn your head.

[00:48:54]>> She is capable of loving and hating someone at the same time. uh she's capable of marrying someone and toasting them with champagne with one hand and sprinkling arsenic in the the same glass with the other and not see any contradiction in that.

[00:49:13]>> Today, Reverend Moore [music] is remarried and pastor of a small country church in Virginia.

[00:49:19][music] How he was able to survive a record dose of arsenic remains a medical mystery.

[00:49:26][music] I had so much arsenic in my system that by all rights I should be dead.

[00:49:35]So I'm obviously grateful to God and felt as I recovered that there has to be some reason that uh that my life was spared. [music] [music] Heat. Heat.

[00:50:09][music]