The Messed Up History Of Stanford University

Jane Stanford was murdered in 1905, and the culprit or culprits have yet to be revealed to this day. She'd survived an earlier attempted poisoning at her home in San Francisco, and much gossip ensued about her swift departure from her Nob Hill mansion to Hawaii. Some would attempt to hide the reasoning behind her escape. "Mrs. Stanford was threatened with pneumonia and her physician advised a warmer climate than San Francisco," Stanford University's president at the time, Dr. David Starr Jordan, said in a statement to reporters. 

Mrs. Stanford had been living as a widow for 12 years after Leland's death. She lived with only "a few trusted servants," according to the San Francisco Gate. On the evening of January 14, she retired to her bedroom. At around 9 p.m., she reportedly began calling for help. "Come and see what is the matter with the Poland water!" Mrs. Stanford said. "I drank some, and it nearly choked me. It burned me so that I ran my fingers down my throat and threw it all up." 

Her maid, Elizabeth Richmond, also tried the water and confirmed its strange, bitter taste. The water was tested at a drug store in the morning, and it was concluded that the water had been poisoned with strychnine. 

Unfortunately, when Jane disappeared to Honolulu, the culprits' next attempt was successful. While staying at the Moana Hotel in February, she experienced violent body spasms before dying. Honolulu officers reportedly confirmed that cause of death was poisoning.