Rodica Negroiu

Negroiu was released from prison on January 24, 2015. She spent most of her time in solitary confinement, because of her tendency to revolt against the prison authorities.

The trial began on June 21, 1999, at the Assizes Court of Meurthe-et-Moselle, in Nancy. During the trial, Rodica's behavior played against her; she was described as wanting absolute control of the trial, as well as angry when contradicted. She also attacked, threatened and insulted the witnesses. The President of the Tribunal allowed the Helluy family's lawyer to say the truth, thus lowering the defendant's defences. Thus, she fell into a trap:

At the end of the trial, in July 1999, the jury followed the requisitions of the Advocate General and sentenced Rodica Negroiu to 20 years imprisonment. At the time, no appeals did not exist, to the sentence was final.

Rodica Negroiu (born 1940), also known as The Poisoner of Maxéville, is a Romanian murderer who was initially captured on December 14, 1990 for the death of 82-year-old retired French soldier Raymond Jactel in Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle. The subsequent investigation carried out brought to light a second victim: Negroiu's second husband, in whose body was found the same toxic substance as in Jactel: digoxin. These two murders echoed with the Romanian community in Tel Aviv, Israel, which brought to attention the existence of the first husband, Herman Goldstein, who also died under suspicious circumstances back in Romania.

On December 14, 1990, the retired soldier died at 8:30 PM at Nancy Hospital of what appeared to be a heart attack, shortly after calling for help. It was revealed that Jactel had taken out a life insurance with Rodica Negroiu, and that he had converted his savings into Treasury Bills, worth 700,000 francs, which disappeared on the day of his death. The case resembled that of Simone Weber, who had also used a poison and had a similar motive: money.

Ten days after his burial, Raymond Jactel's body was exhumed and analyses were carried out on his viscera by the Medical Institute of Strasbourg. The analyses revealed the presence of digoxin (digitalis) and phenobarbital (an antiepileptic drug), which had not been prescribed by the doctor. On the other hand, on August 29, 1990, six months before the pensioner's death, Negroiu was prescribed these two substances by a pharmacy in Nancy.

The investigation showed that after leaving her native Romania and arriving in France, Rodica Negroiu married Gérard Helluy, 68, who died two years after their wedding, on December 7, 1985 in Nancy.

Following these revelations, Rodica Negroiu was charged with two murders and voluntarily imprisoned at the Charles III prison in Nancy. The similarities between this case and that of Simone Weber resonated with the Romanian community in Tel Aviv, Israel. Thus, by reading the press, Esther Goldstein, the sister of Negroiu's first husband, Herman Goldstein, discovered the two murders of which her ex-sister-in-law was accused. She contacted the judge in Nancy to inform him of the first marriage in 1982 with her brother, while Rodica and Herman were still living in Romania. At age 51, Goldstein died from a suspicious heart attack.