A Mormon mother of four, Jeanne, was investigated by the FBI for several years for poison while married to her third husband, Bruce. Salt shakers and Easter candy are at the center of the story.
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Jeanette calls Bruce ‘her favorite dad.’ She says she liked the version of her mom who was married to Bruce. Her mom started hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas for the first time during her time with Bruce.
“I remember getting a birthday card and present. I thought back and I was a child the last time I got something from her. It was very surprising that she remembered my birthday. It was just odd to me. I actually felt very happy for her. I thought, ‘She’s finally stepping into this role. This is going to be great.’ And I let go.”
There is an email written in February 2008 from Jeanette to the local officer in Utah and FBI Agent Schwarz…
“I want you to realize that (my daughter’s) physician did us a great favor by not reporting her poisoning to the courthouse when it happened. He told me that he was doing me a favor because he knew police were already involved, and he handed me her report upside down that she was poisoned. He said that media regularly combs through files at courthouses looking for hot stories, and a child poisoning would certainly be picked up. I realize now what a huge favor that was! I do not, however, want her to be forgotten though just because I had a physician be nice to me and not turn it in.”
I want to make sure something is overly explained. We’ve been calling these ‘salt shakers’, but they weren’t. Jeanette takes half a day to REALLY explain to me what she saw in that cabinet. They were containers. 10-12 of them. She says they were short, clear-ish, red-lidded CONTAINERS. Jeanne said she got them at the Dollar Store. Jeanette says they were kind of like the little McCormick seasoning/spice containers but there was no plastic snap-on with the holes and no flip-top. There was some kind of paper or label on them that prevented you from seeing what was on the top of the salt. You could see that there was salt in them from the bottom of the small jars.
Jeanette says when her mom opened the first one, it was immediately obvious she didn’t want that one because it had brown-gray-ish balls. Jeanne told Jeanette, ‘NO!’ Jeanette says it was so packed that they were nearly spilling out AND some had been crushed at the top. Jeanette says her mom placed it on the counter with the lid tilted, maybe partially touching the counter. That’s how short the containers were. Then, Jeanne grabbed the second small container. Jeanette says her mom opened it, stared deeply into the contents, laser-focused, and then deemed it ‘the good one’. Jeanette says her mom thrust the small jar at her…didn’t hand it to her…but extended it to Jeanette in a forceful manner, like a punch. That was Jeanette’s red flag that something was not right.
Then, Jeanne ran to attend to Bruce.
That’s when Jeannette was trying to inspect the contents of both small jars.
“I was over the sink rolling my finger around in there (the white substance) and some spilled out accidentally … I just threw some water on it so she wouldn’t know I was checking it to see what the hell was in it … I just wanted to make sure. She was FAST with Bruce – adrenaline was running so maybe time stood still and it felt like 2 minutes, but it might have been much faster. That’s all I got done before she was coming quickly back down the hall toward me in the kitchen. There was a straight line of vision from her bedroom doorway to the kitchen stove and sink area”
