Black True Crime Podcast · iHeartPodcasts

Killer Enslaved Women / Mothers of Gynecology (Episode 215)

·59 min·3 clips

Phyllis, Phoebe, and Mark poisoned Captain John Codman for at least two years with rat poison, lead, and arsenic.

1. Black True Crime episode 215 focuses on enslaved women and mothers who killed enslavers after abuse and violence. 2. Kayla and Nikai host the show and frame the discussion as a Black History Month episode with heavy historical material. 3. The episode asks what justice looked like for enslaved women who were denied legal protection and bodily autonomy. 4. The hosts introduce Nikki M. Taylor’s book Brooding Over Bloody Revenge, Enslaved Women’s Lethal Resistance as a source for the cases. 5. Taylor’s summary is quoted to say these women killed for “deeply personal instances of injustice” and planned the deaths in advance. 6. Celia in Missouri is presented as the first major case, with Robert Newsome identified as her enslaver. 7. The hosts say Newsome sexually abused Celia and that she struck him with a thick stick or fireplace shovel. 8. After the killing, Celia tried to burn Robert Newsome’s body in her own fireplace. 9. The episode says Celia was convicted and hanged in December 1855 despite her attorneys arguing self-defense. 10. Harriet appears as another enslaved woman who killed her enslaver during a violent altercation in 1832. 11. The hosts say Harriet had recently suffered severe physical punishment before the killing. 12. Maria from Alabama is described as poisoning her enslaver after repeated sexual abuse. 13. Phyllis of Virginia is linked to Captain John Codman from Massachusetts and a long poisoning case that included Phoebe and Mark. 14. The poisonings are described as lasting at least two years and involving rat poison, lead, and arsenic. 15. Mark was convicted as an accessory after the fact and hanged, while Phyllis was sentenced to burn at the stake. 16. Josephine, a cook purchased from New Orleans, and George are discussed in connection with the poisoning of Lafayette Jones’s family in Mississippi. 17. The hosts note that Lafayette Jones, his second wife Eliza, and infant Lila Virginia were poisoned, but the son was not sick because he did not drink the tea. 18. Josephine and George were charged with homicide, then exonerated after four mistrials, which the hosts describe as a striking legal outcome. 19. The episode’s tone is conversational and emotional, with frequent tangents, jokes, and anger mixed into the historical reporting. 20. Listeners interested in Black history and legal injustice will get the most from it, while those avoiding graphic abuse and execution details may skip it.

As heard by us

A hard, heated listen about enslaved women, resistance, and the violence around their choices.

This episode follows enslaved women forced into brutal conditions and keeps the focus on their resistance, not on theory or distance. Celia, Harriet, Maria, and Phyllis are treated as people first.

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You want a sharp, angry listen about enslaved women surviving slavery's violence.

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