She Poisoned His Tomato Wine

She Poisoned His Tomato Wine. So She Could Marry Another Man. , In April 1939, Louise Myers (48) of Gravelton, a small town in northeastern Wayne County, murdered her husband Grover M. Myers (54), by infusing his homemade tomato wine with insecticide., Grover Myers was a construction supervisor working on the Wappapello Dam project. His April 15, 1939, death did not at first appear to be a murder. Dr. John Wagner determined the cause of his death to be pneumonia and influenza. But after a neighbor overheard Louise and Oscar Stroup discussing Grover Myers death, gossip eventually reached his sister, Ala Ada Whitener. Suspecting foul play, she demanded a police investigation. Myer's body was exhumed and sent to the new state crime laboratory in Jefferson City, where a forensic examination detected poison., Louise initially confessed to the murder. But later, during her trail, she testified that the idea to poison her husband was concocted by Oscar F. Stroup (39), with whom she was apparently having an affair, so that they could "be together" after her husband's death. Louise also testified that Stroup and another neighbor, Moneda Cook (22) were both present when the poison was mixed into her husband's tomato wine. When questioned by the prosecutor about why she poisoned her husband, Louise replied that "he was mean to me." It is unclear if Grover Myers physically abused his wife Louise, or if he was merely unkind., During her trial in Old Greenville, Louise Myers suddenly changed her story and pled guilty. She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. Myers served her sentence ay the State Prison Farm No. 1 in Jefferson City.