This is the story of Jolly Joseph, known as the cyanide killer of India.

Jolly Joseph is the prime accused in the cyanide killings in the Indian state of Kerala, where she reportedly poisoned six of her family members.

The story begins in 1997. Following her first marriage to Roy Thomas that year, Jolly moved to her patrilocal house.

Image Credit: Indian Express/Netflix

The killings began in 2002 with the death of Jolly's mother-in-law, Annamma. She was believed to have died of cardiac arrest at the time. 

Image Credit: Rojo Thomas

However, later reports suggest Jolly laced her mutton soup with poison.

Next, Jolly's father-in-law, Tom Thomas, was found dead in 2008. He, too, was believed to have died of cardiac arrest.

Image Credit: Rojo Thomas

Years later, an investigation revealed that Jolly mixed cyanide into Tom's mushroom capsule medication.

After killing Tom, Jolly forged a will that stated she would be the legal owner of the house the family lived in.

In 2011, Jolly's husband, Roy, was found dead in the bathroom under mysterious circumstances. Roy's maternal uncle, Manchadiyil, demanded a postmortem, which revealed traces of cyanide in his body.

Image Credit: Netflix

However, Jolly portrayed Roy's killing as a suicide and convinced the relatives not to further the investigation in the name of family reputation.

But Manchadiyil grew suspicious of Jolly, and in 2014, he was also killed after Jolly laced his whiskey with poison.

Shaju with his first wife and daughter (image credit: Netflix)

In 2016, Jolly had a second marriage to Shaju, one of Roy's cousins. In that same year, she killed Alphine, the one-year-old daughter of her second husband, Shaju, and Cili, Shaju's first wife.

The case finally came to light in 2019 when Roy's brother, Rojo Thomas, and his sister, Ranji Thomas, filed a police complaint raising concerns about the deaths in their family.

Image Credit: Manu R Mavelil / Indian Express

Jolly was arrested in October 2019 and is currently serving her sentence in jail.

Investigations revealed that Jolly sourced cyanide from Praji Kumar, a local goldsmith, by bribing him with liquor, INR 5,000 (USD 60) cash, and a night with her.

Reports also hint that Jolly used her influence to arrange cremations without a post-mortem examination of the deceased.

According to the police, the motive differed from person to person. While property was the reason in a few, anger and passion seem to have been Jolly’s motive behind the other murders.

The Motive

Image Credit: IMDB

Netflix's latest crime series, "Curry and Cyanide - The Jolly Joseph Case," is based on this incident.