Solved case · 1916
Also known as killing of Hannah and John E. Peck · Hannah and John E. Peck's murder
The short answer
Hannah and John E. Peck, an elderly married couple from Grand Rapids, Michigan, were fatally poisoned with arsenic in 1916 by their son-in-law, Arthur Warren Waite. Waite was convicted and executed at Sing Sing in 1917.
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Suggest coverage for Murder of Hannah and John E. PeckHannah M. Peck (née Carpenter) and John Edward Peck were a married couple from Grand Rapids, Michigan. John Edward Peck had co-founded the Peck Brothers Drug Co. with his brother Thomas M. Peck, sold the business for several million dollars, and served as a director of several banks while holding stock in furniture companies. Hannah and John Peck's daughter, Clara Louise Peck, married Arthur Warren Waite on September 9, 1915, in Grand Rapids.
Hannah Peck was poisoned with arsenic and died on January 30, 1916, at the New York City home of her daughter Clara and son-in-law Arthur Warren Waite. John Peck later traveled from Grand Rapids to Manhattan, where he stayed at Waite's home at 435 Riverside Drive. Waite administered arsenic to him during a dental examination and continued to poison his food. When the poisoning proved too slow to be fatal, Waite gave John Peck ether and smothered him with a pillow. John Peck died on March 21, 1916.
Arthur Warren Waite, born December 2, 1887, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Warren W. Wait and Sarah Jane Haines, was known publicly as "Dr. Waite." He had taken a dentistry course at the University of Michigan and studied at the University of Glasgow, but he was not a registered physician or dentist despite being listed as "Dr. Waite" in directories.
Waite was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. He was executed by electrocution at Sing Sing on May 24, 1917.
Clara Louise Peck Waite, the daughter of Hannah and John Edward Peck and wife of Arthur Warren Waite, was also poisoned during the events but survived. She later remarried, to John J. Caulfield. Percy Seaman Peck, the son of Hannah and John Edward Peck, testified at Waite's murder trial. Margaret Horton, a cabaret singer, was noted as having had an affair with the married Arthur Warren Waite during this period.
John Edward Peck marries Hannah M. Carpenter.
Arthur Warren Waite marries Clara Louise Peck in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Hannah M. Carpenter Peck dies of arsenic poisoning at the home of Arthur Warren Waite and Clara Peck.
John Edward Peck dies in Manhattan, New York City, after being poisoned with arsenic, given ether, and smothered by Arthur Warren Waite.
Arthur Warren Waite is executed by electrocution at Sing Sing.
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