Do Snakes Murder?
Snakes don't usually kill in crime fiction. They pop up as allusions to evil, like a serpent in the grass or a snake's nest, or as nicknames for bad guys. Charles Sobhraj, a serial killer who preyed on tourists in Southeast Asia during the 1970s, was called the Serpent. But snake-murderers, people who use snakes for killing, are rare for obvious reasons. How does a murderer motivate a snake to kill?
Sherlock Holmes discovered a snake murderer in The Adventure of the Speckled Band, originally published in Strand Magazine in 1892. Holmes’ client, Helen Stoner, relates the dying words of her sister, “The speckled band!” After her sister’s death, Helen hears strange noises in the estate she shares with her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, and fears for her life. Upon investigating the bedroom where the sister died and where Helen now sleeps, Holmes observes a bell cord not attached to any bell. He and Watson spend a night in the room and solve the mystery.
Exotic poisons were everywhere in classic murder mysteries. Agatha Christie killed over thirty characters with poisons. Poisons such as arsenic, cyanide, strychnine and plant poisons like belladonna figure in fictional murders. But venom as a murder weapon, particularly snake venom, is rare.
Yet in history snake venom pops up as a weapon over and over. In the ancient Near East soldiers tipped arrows in venom. When Alexander the Great’s armies invaded India, the arrow wounds of soldiers frothed black liquid, produced convulsions and led to a rapid death, a result, investigators have concluded, of the venom of Russell’s viper. Roman generals encountered the practice among indigenous groups in the lands they invaded. And accounts from the Western frontier describe Native American warriors using venom-tipped arrows. People on the frontier described how native warriors would dangle a liver from a stick to entice a rattlesnake to strike. After drying and pulverizing the venom-filled liver, they’d mix it with sap and paint arrowheads. Reputedly these arrows killed before they could be pulled out.
But who kills with snake venom in modern times? In 2014 a mother in Vancouver discovered her daughter dead. A police investigation turned up unusual evidence: a dead snake and shed snake skins. These items, along with tissue samples from the girl, were sent to a biology professor at the University of Northern Colorado for analysis. As snake venom is made up of proteins and peptides and can be lethal in tiny quantities, it required sophisticated testing to detect venom in the victim’s blood and identify the species as Mojave rattler. Ultimately the mother’s boyfriend confessed to injecting the girl with venom, claiming he believed that snake venom improved immune function.
In India snake murders are practically common. A few recent cases: a businessman was found dead in his car. A police investigation concluded his girlfriend had used a snake charmer to unleash a cobra on him. In 2021 a woman and her toddler daughter were found dead in a bedroom and police classified the death as accidental due to snakebite. But after the woman’s father accused his son-in-law, a renewed investigation revealed he had turned a cobra loose in the bedroom.
What about using snake venom without the snake? It’s pricey, so much so that venom farming is a booming business niche in certain parts of the globe. Venom farmers in China and Turkey are making millions per year. The most lucrative venom in the world is deathstalker scorpion selling for $39 million per gallon. But the king cobra, coral snake and Australian brown snake are among the top ten highest-priced venoms. Pharmaceutical research and the demand for anti-venom have driven prices through the roof.
In contrast to the modern focus on lethality, the mythology of the ancient world portrays snakes as positive symbols In Egypt, a stylized cobra crown called a uraeus, worn by pharaohs, signified the protection of the snake goddess Wadjet and claim to her lands. The temples of the Phoenician goddess Astarte display serpent motifs. Excavations of ancient Minoan civilization found statuettes of women holding snakes or with snakes winding up their arms. And in ancient Greek sanatoriums dedicated to Asclepius, snakes ran loose to facilitate healing.
In modern times snakes have lost their positive connotations. And they produce some of nature’s most lethal substances. They deserve greater representation in crime fiction, don’t you think?
Coming soon! Available for review on NetGalley and Reedsy Discovery.