which may be a consequence of chronic alcohol use or poisoning. some arafat supporters feel it is unlikely that arafat habitually used alcohol (forbidden by islam), and so suspect poisoning. however, it is also important to note that cirrhosis is not necessarily caused by alcohol use, or indeed any poison at all. ardeshir hosseinpour (d. 2007), iranian nuclear scientist; possibly assassinated by mossad with "radioactive poisoning" or "gas poisoning" poisoners locusta, professional poisoner hired by roman emperor nero and his mother agrippina the younger for several murders lucrezia borgia (d. 1519), alleged by rivals of the borgia family to be a poisoner, using a hollow ring to poison drinks with white arsenic edward squire (d. 1598), english scrivener and sailor executed for conspiring to poison queen elizabeth i and robert devereux, 2nd earl of essex george chapman, hanged after murdering three common-law wives mary ann cotton, 19th-century woman who poisoned family members for financial gain maria swanenburg, dutch serial killer who murdered at least 27 and was suspected of killing more than 90 people thomas neill cream (d. 1892), british serial killer vera renczi, romanian serial killer who used arsenic to kill two husbands, a son, and 32 suitors nannie doss, black widow anna marie hahn (d. 1938), american serial killer dr. john bodkin adams, british doctor acquitted in 1957 but suspected of killing 163 patients via morphia and barbiturates. anjette lyles, american restauranteur responsible for the poisoning deaths of four relatives between 1952–1958 in macon, georgia, apprehended on may 6, 1958 and sentenced to death yet later was involuntary commitmented due her to diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenic, died aged 52 on december 4, 1977 at the central state hospital, milledgeville in georgia. genene jones, homicidal nurse grigory mairanovsky, received soviet phd degree for testing poisons on political prisoners stella nickell, used cyanide-laced excedrin to kill her husband and another woman in suburban seattle in 1986 charles sobhraj, serial killer who preyed on western tourists throughout southeast asia during the 1970s jim jones, cult leader responsible for the mass murder–suicide of 918 of his followers in 1978, using cyanide-laced flavor-aid at jonestown, guyana michael swango, american physician and surgeon who fatally poisoned at least thirty of his patients and colleagues graham frederick young (d. 1990), british serial killer members of the aum shinrikyo religious group in japan in the 1990s often used poisons for murder, including chemical weapons such as vx and sarin daisuke mori, japanese nurse convicted of one murder and four attempted murders by muscle relaxant harold shipman (d. 2004), english general practitioner and one of the most prolific known serial killers in modern history richard kuklinski (d. 2006), american contract killer who was associated with the gambino crime family fiction as poisoning is a long-established plot device in crime fiction, this is not intended to be an exhaustive list. crime anthony berkeley: the poisoned chocolates case ann granger: say it with poison francis iles: before the fact (filmed as suspicion), malice aforethought agatha christie: three act tragedy, sad cypress, a pocket full of rye, crooked house, and then there were none john dickson carr: the burning court, the black spectacles (u.s. title: the problem of the green capsule) raymond postgate: verdict of twelve freeman wills crofts: the 12.30 from croydon sir arthur conan doyle: a study in scarlet, the adventure of the devil's foot dashiell hammett: fly paper dorothy sayers: the unpleasantness at the bellona club, strong poison gosho aoyama: case closed/detective conan rex stout: fer-de-lance, the red box, black orchids cornell woolrich: waltz into darkness (filmed as mississippi mermaid and original sin) isaac asimov: the death dealers, the naked sun, david starr, space ranger other v.c. andrews: flowers in the attic alexandre dumas, père: the count of monte cristo and the three musketeers gustave flaubert: madame bovary kaori yuki: count cain (godchild after vol. 5) protagonist cain hargreaves is known as the count/earl of poisons. he has quite a collection of poisons, and frequently solves murder cases, almost all of which involve poisons. snow white ate a poisoned apple mingo swieter in ricarda huch's 1917 novel, the deruga case (curare) baron vladimir harkonnen in dune by frank herbert unsuccessful poisoning of ron weasley in harry potter and the half-blood prince. the intended victim was albus dumbledore. david eddings sagas: in the belgariad, the nyissan people poison each other on a regular basis; some work as professional poisoners. isaac asimov: "obituary", "sucker bait", "the winnowing" films poisoning paradise 10 arsenic and old lace (1944) d.o.a. (1950) the young poisoner's handbook (1995) crank (2006) jill tracy's the fine art of poisoning television third and tenth doctors in doctor who regenerated due to radiation poisoning. the fifth doctor regenerated due to poisoning from the substance spectrox, giving the antidote to his also poisoned companion peri brown. king joffrey, olenna tyrell, gregor clegane, and jon arryn in game of thrones peter iii of russia in the great plays joseph kesselring: arsenic and old lace william shakespeare: romeo commits suicide by poison in romeo and juliet hamlet, king claudius, gertrude and laertes in hamlet, prince of denmark imogen in cymbeline