William Elder died after eating lunch, and doctors found enough arsenic in his body to kill three men.
1. Black True Crime’s “Roberta Hall (Re-VAMPED Archived EP)” centers on Roberta Elder and the poison deaths linked to her in Atlanta, Georgia.
2. Kayla and Nikki host the episode, with Kayla leading the case details and Nikki reacting to the timeline and evidence.
3. The episode asks why Roberta Elder, unlike Nanny Doss, left so little media record while allegedly killing multiple people.
4. The hosts open with Nanny Doss, who was responsible for 11 poison deaths between 1920 and 1955 and was called the “giggling nanny” and “the black widow.”
5. They contrast that coverage with Roberta Elder in Atlanta, where little news attention followed the same poison pattern during the same era.
6. Kayla cites psychologist Scott Bond and says misconceptions about serial killers have fed the myth that Black serial killers do not exist in significant numbers.
7. The episode states that Black perpetrators are overrepresented in media while Black victims are underrepresented.
8. Roberta is described as born around 1908, although Kayla mentions another source that listed 1903.
9. Kayla says Roberta’s mother was Kelly Brown and that Roberta may have married into the Elder name.
10. The hosts say Roberta worked as treasurer of an Atlanta fraternal organization and allegedly embezzled money until a bounced check exposed the missing funds.
11. They describe Roberta as unattractive on camera but still able to attract men, and she said she had “two husbands and some friends.”
12. The episode says Roberta legally married Reverend William Elder in 1951 when she was 43 and he already had children living with them.
13. Kayla names the children as 15-year-old Fannie Mae and 9-year-old Annie Pearl, both living in the home full-time.
14. William became extremely sick in 1952, went to the hospital, returned home, and later got violently ill after lunch at work.
15. A coworker named Henry Smith heard William say, “Well, I didn’t know bananas and cheese would hurt you,” before he died.
16. Dr. Folks refused to sign the death certificate because William had red sores and shifted skin, and a coroner later found enough arsenic to kill three men.
17. The doctor then realized he had signed earlier death certificates for Fannie Mae and Annie Pearl under pneumonia, and both were later tied to arsenic as well.
18. Bullard and Helms exhumed Fannie Mae’s body, questioned Roberta, and found life insurance policies on William and Fannie Mae that made Roberta the sole beneficiary.
19. The show keeps a blunt, conversational tone, with asides about New Mexico weather, ashy elbows, and the hosts’ reactions to the case file.
20. Listeners who like old, underreported poison cases and family-linked true crime will get the most out of it, while people avoiding repeated child deaths may skip it.
