Stacey Castor: Antifreeze Poisonings, Trial, and Prison Death

Stacey Castor was a central New York woman convicted in 2009 of murdering her second husband, David Castor, by poisoning him with antifreeze and of attempting to murder her 19-year-old daughter, Ashley Wallace, in a scheme to frame the young woman for the killing. Prosecutors and the media called her “America’s Black Widow.” She was sentenced to 51⅓ years to life and died in prison in 2016 at age 48.¹

The Death of David Castor

On August 22, 2005, David Castor was found dead in the bedroom of the couple’s home in Clay, New York. He was 48. On the nightstand sat a glass of green liquid containing antifreeze; beneath the bed lay an open bottle of antifreeze. Toxicology later confirmed he had ingested ethylene glycol and had no alcohol in his system.²³

The scene was arranged to suggest suicide. Investigators didn’t buy it. There was no note. David owned a gun, which made antifreeze an unlikely method of self-harm. His ex-wife, Janice Poissant Farmer, told detectives he was knowledgeable about chemicals and had no reason to kill himself.²⁴

Suspicion sharpened as investigators dug in. David’s will left everything to Stacey and her two daughters and pointedly cut out his own son, David Castor Jr. Investigators would later conclude Stacey had forged it. In an early interview, she volunteered an unprompted comment about a television show featuring a wife who poisoned husbands with antifreeze.²⁵

The Turkey Baster and the Fingerprints

In the kitchen trash, detectives found a turkey baster. It carried traces of antifreeze and David Castor’s DNA. Investigators theorized Stacey had used it to force the poison into her incapacitated husband. Her fingerprints were the only ones on the glass of antifreeze beside the bed.²⁵

The “Antifree” Slip

On September 7, 2007, Onondaga County detectives brought Castor in for questioning. Asked to identify which glass she had used to pour cranberry juice for David, she said, “Well, when I poured the anti-free — I —” before catching herself and correcting the word to “cranberry juice.” When investigators produced a photograph of the recovered turkey baster, she grew agitated, accused the detective of trying to frame her, and ended the interview.⁶⁴

That distinctive misspelling, “antifree,” would come back a week later in a way that decided the case.

The Attempted Murder of Ashley Wallace

On September 13, 2007, with investigators closing in, Castor turned on her older daughter. She gave 19-year-old Ashley a glass of vodka mixed with crushed pills. After Ashley passed out, Castor placed a 750-word typewritten document beside her, a purported suicide note signed in Ashley’s name confessing to the murders of both Michael Wallace and David Castor and announcing that Ashley was ending her own life.⁷

The next morning, Ashley’s 16-year-old sister, Bree, found her lying across the foot of her bed with pillows over her face and empty bottles of vodka and prescription pills nearby. Bree testified that their mother had discouraged her from checking on Ashley the night before, saying, “She’s fine. Leave her alone. I want her to sleep through til morning.” Bree rushed her to the hospital, where reports said she came within 15 minutes of death.⁸⁷

How the Forgery Fell Apart

Digital forensics showed the note had been created on the family’s home computer while Ashley was away at school, and Castor had saved two separate drafts. Inside the note, the word “antifreeze” appeared misspelled as “antifree” four times, the same error Castor had made in her September 7 interrogation. Prosecutors called the misspelling a “linchpin” of the case. Forensic linguistic analysis also pointed to Castor, not Ashley, as the author.⁶¹⁹

The First Husband

Castor’s first husband, Michael Wallace, died in 2000 at 38. His death was attributed to a heart attack at the time, and no criminal investigation followed. Castor collected a $55,000 life insurance policy.¹⁰⁶

Once suspicion fell on Castor over David’s death, Wallace’s body was exhumed on September 5, 2007. The medical examiner reported his organs were “loaded with crystals,” calcium oxalate crystals characteristic of ethylene glycol poisoning, and his death was reclassified as a homicide. Castor was never formally charged in Wallace’s death. In early 2010, Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said the case was in a “holding pattern,” in part because Ashley Wallace was reluctant to testify again, and noted that Castor’s existing sentence made the urgency of a second prosecution less acute.⁶¹¹

Trial and Conviction

Castor was indicted in Onondaga County on one count each of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and forging a will. Trial began January 12, 2009, before Judge Joseph Fahey. District Attorney William Fitzpatrick and Chief Assistant District Attorney Christine Garvey prosecuted. Charles Keller, for whom this was a first murder case, represented Castor.¹²

Fitzpatrick described the state’s case as a “mountain of evidence”: the turkey baster with David’s DNA and antifreeze residue, Castor’s fingerprints on the poisoned glass, the computer forensics linking her to the drafted suicide note, wiretapped phone calls, and more than 50 witnesses over a four-week trial. Judge Fahey also allowed evidence about Michael Wallace’s death, letting the prosecution establish a pattern of antifreeze poisoning across both marriages.¹³¹⁴⁶

The defense argued Ashley Wallace was the real killer, a theory that required jurors to believe an 11-year-old girl had committed the first murder. Forensic linguistics expert Dr. John Roy testified that the suicide note’s writing patterns fit Ashley better than her mother, but Judge Fahey struck portions of that testimony, calling parts of the analysis “more ‘voodoo’ than linguistic analysis” and leaving the ultimate authorship question to the jury.¹⁴¹⁵

After four days of deliberation, the jury convicted Castor on February 5, 2009, of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and forging David Castor’s will. On March 5, 2009, Judge Fahey imposed consecutive terms: 25 years to life for the murder, 25 years for the attempted murder, and additional time for the forged will, totaling 51⅓ years to life. She would not have been eligible for parole until 2055.⁶¹²

The Appeal

Castor challenged her conviction under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 440.10, arguing her right to counsel had been violated during the 2007 interrogation. She contended that Norman Chirco, an Auburn attorney she had hired in 2005 to handle David Castor’s estate, had effectively entered the criminal investigation by communicating with sheriff’s deputies about fingerprint requests, and that police should not have questioned her without him present.¹⁶

At a June 2013 hearing, Chirco testified he had never represented Castor in a criminal matter and said doing so would have created a conflict of interest. Fitzpatrick noted the estate file was closed and Chirco’s fee paid before the interrogation. Judge Fahey ruled against Castor, finding Castor had waived her Miranda rights and that Chirco’s role was limited to the estate. In May 2015, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, unanimously affirmed, holding that an attorney-client relationship formed in a civil matter does not carry the same right-to-counsel protections as one formed in a criminal matter. The ruling ended her legal challenges.¹⁷¹⁶¹⁸

Death in Prison

Stacey Castor died at 6:48 a.m. on June 11, 2016, at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, the state’s maximum-security women’s prison in Westchester County. She was 48. An autopsy attributed her death to heart disease resulting in a heart attack, and authorities ruled out foul play and suicide.¹⁹²⁰

What Happened to Ashley Wallace

Ashley survived the poisoning and became a central witness at her mother’s trial. In a victim impact statement, she told the court, “I never knew what hate was until now. Even though I do hate her, I love her at the same time.” Addressing her mother, she added, “As hard as you tried, I survived. And I will survive because now I’m survived by people who love me.”⁷

In interviews, Ashley described her mother as her “best friend” before the crimes came to light. “She was my best friend. She was, and then she took that all away,” she told ABC News. “I would’ve done anything for her. But she tried to kill me instead.” She and Bree credited their recovery to Ashley’s boyfriend and his family, with whom they lived after the trial. Following Castor’s death, Ashley said she “never got my answers because Stacey died,” but added, “I know that I didn’t do anything wrong.” As of 2020, she was living in New York and engaged to be married. Fitzpatrick called her “a remarkable woman who is doing amazing things in her life,” while noting she “will never have closure.”¹⁰⁷²¹

1
CBS News. Woman Who Poisoned Husband With Antifreeze Dies in Prison
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ABC News. Detectives Caught Black Widow in Deadly Web of Lies
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Forensic Files Now. Stacey Castor: No Loyalty to Anyone
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Oxygen. Black Widow Stacey Castor Convicted for Murder After Exhumation
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Syracuse.com. Stacey Castor Case: Detective
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ABC News. Timeline of Black Widow Stacey Castor’s Shocking Crimes
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Oprah Daily. Ashley Wallace, Stacey Castor’s Daughter, Now
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Syracuse.com. Expert: Castor’s Fingerprints On Note
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Syracuse.com. Stacey Castor on Lifetime: 5 Chilling Details From Syracuse’s 2009 Antifreeze Murder Trial
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ABC News. Black Widow Stacey Castor Accused of Anti-Freeze Murder
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CNY Central. Castor’s Prosecution for Wallace Murder on Hold
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Syracuse.com. Judge to Sentence Murderer Stacey Castor
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CNY Central. Day Two of the Stacey Castor Trial
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ABC News. Black Widow Stacey Castor Trial
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Syracuse.com. Expert: Antifreeze Poison Found
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NY Courts. People v Castor, 2015 NY Slip Op 03648
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Syracuse.com. Convicted Killer Stacey Castor’s Hearing
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Syracuse.com. Appeals Court Puts Nail in Coffin for Notorious Murderer Stacey Castor’s Appeal
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Syracuse.com. DA: Notorious Antifreeze Murderer Stacey Castor Dead at 48
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Syracuse.com. DA: Anti-Freeze Murderer Stacey Castor Died of Heart Attack
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Spectrum Local News. Castor’s Death Ends One Chapter but Doesn’t Bring Closure