Tim Scoggin arsenic poisoning of the Nobles

Forensic Files got not one, but two Texas Rangers in this season 10 episode. Johnny Waldrip and George Frasier were both retired Rangers, and their interviews were both grounded and memorable. Producers would revisit the Texas Rangers in 2008 in Brotherly Love (s12e22). There, David Maxwell quietly pursued his sister's killer, and his career eventually culminated in an assignment to the Texas Rangers. More than 30 years after Diane Maxwell was killed in 1969, her brother finally identified her killer.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Our episode indicated Leita was 69 when she was poisoned by Tim Scoggin in 1988. This episode's 2005 production would have placed our Leita at age 86. This lovely, tough woman's survival is what brought a serial poisoner to light. It's likely Tim was giving similar doses of arsenic to Olgie and Leita. While Olgie succumbed to the exposure after a long-term illness, Leita persisted.

I'm sure Leita had considered the chance that Olgie had been the one responsible for her poisoning back in the late-80s police investigation. Her 2005 reaction to the idea was still heartfelt – after their long marriage and through whatever alcohol-fueled mess she'd been exposed to, she still felt Olgie lacked the nerve to try to poison her. And of course the concept itself is far-fetched; Olgie was unlikely to also poison himself.

Our episode's event-pacing was deliberate – Olgie's death, Leita's illnesses, discovering the arsenic, exhuming Olgie's body and also finding arsenic all preceded the naming of a single suspect. Finally past the 6:30 mark, two additional characters are introduced: the Nobles' son and Timothy Scoggin. Tim entered as the man who bought the Nobles' air conditioning business – but we know theirs was no simple arrangement. Despite the $30k he'd stolen from the Norton sisters, Tim borrowed money from the Nobles to purchase their business. This unconventional deal saw him repaying Olgie and Leita monthly, and ingratiating himself with them. As he'd done with the Norton sisters, Tim's charms and service caused the Nobles to lower their defenses.

Poison, symptoms, and missed diagnoses

Whether it was 1988, 1991, or 1999, poisonings can be difficult to detect, especially if the symptoms aren't revealing enough. Heavy metals like arsenic and thallium, if ingested at dangerous levels, can cause symptoms like pain and numbness in the extremities, and hair loss.

In each of these cases, sublethal doses were initially given to the victim, and those doses developed into symptoms. Each victim went to the hospital, but was dismissed without being diagnosed with poisoning. In Bobby Curley's case, clinicians suggested Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Once each victim revisited a hospital with worsening symptoms, poisoning was finally suggested and confirmed. Joann Curley gave her husband Bobby a lethal dose from his hospital bedside. They called Tim Scoggin cold-blooded.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

I'm sure more extensive and more sensitive lab tests these days might point investigators closer or quicker to poisoning – ideally with fewer symptoms. In addition, the wealth of shared knowledge continues to grow, and sophisticated diagnostic procedures could help as well. The graphs and values shared in this episode and in Debbie Pignataro's poisoning case were curious. Debbie Pignataro's peak levels were shown as 29,580 mcg, and Leita's as 300 mg. Someone's off by an order of magnitude ... or three. All other things equal, Debbie's levels evaluate to merely 29.6 mg – this is a sublethal amount. I'm guessing someone's data isn't shared just right – either Debbie's levels were 295,800 mcg (~ 296 mg), or potentially 29,580 mg, which would wholly justify the clinical investigators' surprise that she survived.

I suggested Anthony Pignataro used Grant's ant baits to poison his wife Debbie by scraping the 10 grams of sweet-tasting gel from each tin and mixing it into her food. This differs from how Joann Curley must have carefully mixed the powdered thallium into Bobby's tea so he might not taste it. How Scoggin was able to poison the Nortons and Olgie Nobles is unknown. Since some arsenic was found in an antacid in the Nobles' home, it's suggested that this may've been a conveyance. But chief toxicologist Rod McCutcheon mentioned the amount found in the antacid was sublethal. Cowley's Original rat and mouse poison shown in the episode looked like a yellowish liquid in a glass bottle. Seemingly unappetizing if mixed into almost anything.

Arsenic in hair, tissue, and ashes

If Leita had been ill at the same time as Olgie, before he died, she might have been presenting with similar symptoms as her husband. When Leita fell sick and was hospitalized shortly after the funeral, her symptoms also should have resembled his. It was only once they diagnosed Leita with arsenic poisoning that they related the couple's illnesses. Sadly, this led to another exhumation in order to perform targeted tests on Olgie's tissues.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Heavy metal toxin testing in a body's organs is much more invasive than the various hair tests available. And preparing the sample with a segmentation analysis can craft the data to tell a story of exposure over time. We weren't graced with a Peter Thomas utterance of "Atomic absorption spectrophotometry" in this episode. Leita's hair analysis was done with neutron activation analysis. Determining which test is to be used is likely a combination of factors including cost, accessibility, and more.

Testing for arsenic in the Norton sisters' cremated remains was another first shared on Forensic Files. Because arsenic is a metal, it could remain detectable even after hours in a near-2,000°F furnace, long after organic compounds were destroyed. Mixing the remains with acids and reagents, Rod McCutcheon dialed in a colorimetric test for arsenic that would yield a rich purple color. And while this test on Catherine's remains was inconclusive, Cordelia's remains clearly indicated exposure to arsenic.

It was stated the Norton sisters had no surviving family members in Llano, but this didn't encourage them to include Tim Scoggin in the will. The sisters had a substantial estate – especially for the late 80s at an estimated $5m. So, how are their deaths on back-to-back days considered unremarkable? Even without a lot of family, the sisters had an active social life and many friends. Whether they were ill before their deaths wasn't clear, but they both seemed to go from well to ill to dead with suspicious rapidity – simultaneously despite being eight years apart in age.

The $30,000 Tim was able to extract from the Nortons through fraud was a far cry from the value of their estate. But after realizing his "hard work" befriending and catering to the older Norton sisters was going unrewarded, thirty thousand dollars wasn't a bad consolation prize. How much of this money did Scoggin have when he approached the Nobles in San Angelo? Maybe part of it was a down payment – earnest money for his interest in their air conditioning business. The photos make this look suspiciously more like an everyday hardware store.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Even in 1988, walking into the bank after the account holders' deaths with a large check should have raised some flags. Somehow, Tim Scoggin convinced bankers to move $30k before the executor(s) of the sisters' estate opened probate. Imagine attempting the same transaction today: Step up to the counter with an ID, a $30k check from a deceased party, and a smile. The first thing I'd expect to hear is, "Let me speak with my manager." Tim forged his check from Catherine, backdated it February 16, 1988, and wrote it out to "South Glen". Apparently, this was a business owned by Scoggin, but the illegible memo field couldn’t help clarify.

Tim Scoggin's pattern

Tim was described as effeminate – Waldrip even described Scoggin presenting himself as a female over the phone sometimes. I'm curious about the combination of charisma and characteristics that made Tim Scoggin appealing to both the Nortons and the Nobles. He was described as providing helpful services to both pairs. A nice (if somewhat flimsy) younger man is sometimes just what an older person needs in their life. In my 30s, my grandmother had a friend from church, Etta. The more I helped Etta, the more help she needed. The Nobles seemed less likely to fall for Scoggin's charms, but he was able to get at least close enough to them to adulterate their food with rat poison.

What was Tim's hurry to kill again? I know his dreams of millions died (accompanied by a silent chuckle) with the Norton sisters. But he had his $30k in 1988 money, which was not a bad haul. Still, Tim was in San Angelo and working on his takeover of the Nobles' business mere months after the Nortons' deaths. Olgie became ill, and he died before 1988 was out – the same year as the Norton sisters. Tim Scoggin's scheme had (sort of) worked once, and he was compelled to do it again – quickly.

A memorable person or a memorable purchase can leave enough of an impression that a questioned witness will inform police. Unfortunately for Scoggin, a worker at an Abbott's Supermarket found both Tim and his likely multiple bottles of rat poison memorable. Additional reading revealed Tim may've come in once to shop or ask about Cowley's Original rat and mouse poison before returning to purchase it. Not really thinking about laying low.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

In the last segment, Mac McKinnon suggests Tim Scoggin gets away with his second pair of murders if Leita doesn't survive. This makes the author's story better, and after what happened in Llano and the lack of exploring the fates of the Nortons, he might be right. Olgie was buried while Leita was sick with similar symptoms. Should the 69-year-old widow have also died, she may have just been quietly buried, and Tim's debts to the Nobles forgotten. With no suspicion, there's no need to investigate – who'd have been left to mourn the Nobles?

Where is Timothy Scoggin now in 2026?

Timothy Scoggin was taken into custody by Texas in early 1989. With no other suspects, he stayed jailed through the build-up to trial. Tim Scoggin was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in the Nobles case in April 1989. In May 1990, Tim Scoggin confessed to murdering Catherine and Cordelia Norton in Llano. He also admitted to forging several of their checks (including the $30k). Aged 33 at the time, Tim Scoggin would be 69 years old now in 2026.