Arsenic content of hair and bones in the case of the suspected poisoning of R. Brun,first mayor of the city of Zurich

On the occasion of the 1970 opening of the grave of R. Brun, which is suspected to have been poisoned in 1360, samples of hair, bones and soil were taken and analysed for arsenic by neutron activation. Whereas the arsenic content of the hair was normal (0.2 to 0.3 ppm), the bones gave results of approximately 2 ppm, which is far above the value expected for healthy people (approximately 0.1 ppm). However, bones from the same grave (but not belonging to the suspected victim showed similar high values. These high values are thought to be due to an arsenic uptake from the soil and the evidence for an arsenic poisoning is under these circumstances rejected.