Baba Anujka: The Sweet Grandma Serial Killer Who Offered Deadly Solutions

Baba Anujka, also known as Ana di Pištonja, lived a life so extraordinary and complex that it is hard to reconcile the various roles she played. To her neighbours, she was a kindly old woman who seemed ever eager to help with her herbal remedies and healing potions. Yet behind the grandmotherly façade, she was a cold and calculating serial killer, known in whispers as the “Witch of Banat” and the “Witch of Vladimirovac.”

Her life story is one of tragedy, cunning, and a deep understanding of both human nature and herbology. Born in 1838 (or possibly 1836, according to some accounts), Ana grew up in Romania in a well-off family. Her father, a wealthy cattleman, provided her with a stable and comfortable childhood. At the age of 11, she moved to Vladimirovac, in present-day Serbia, where her education flourished. Unlike many women of her time, Ana received an advanced education, mastering five languages and nurturing a fascination with chemistry.

A Broken Heart and a Turn Toward Darkness

Ana’s personal life, however, was riddled with hardship. At 20, she fell in love with an Austrian military officer who not only abandoned her but left her with syphilis—a disease that would haunt her health for the rest of her life. Broken-hearted, she later married an older man and had 11 children, but tragedy struck again as 10 of her children died young. These events, while devastating, likely shaped her stoic and pragmatic approach to life—and death.

When her husband passed away after 20 years of marriage, Ana was left a widow. Financially stable but emotionally hardened, she began to focus on her herbal remedies and potions. Operating out of her home laboratory, she garnered a reputation as a skilled healer. But her craft soon took a darker turn, and Baba Anujka emerged as one of history’s most unusual serial killers.

The Evolution of a Serial Killer

Initially, Ana’s poisons served a seemingly benign purpose: she sold concoctions to men who wanted to dodge military service. These mixtures would make them just sick enough to avoid conscription without fatal consequences. However, her most infamous creations were her “love potions,” which, in reality, were deadly poisons intended to solve an entirely different problem—abusive or unwanted husbands.

These so-called love potions were potent mixtures laced with arsenic and toxic plants. Ana’s method was chillingly practical. When a woman sought her help, Baba would ask, “How heavy is that problem?”—a coded question to determine the weight of the intended victim. The dosage was then tailored accordingly. Once administered, the poison would kill the man within about a week, leaving little evidence behind.

Her clientele were often women trapped in abusive or loveless marriages, desperate for a way out in a society that offered them few options. For these women, Ana was more than a herbalist; she was a lifeline.

The Toll of Death

Over the decades, Baba Anujka’s poisons claimed at least 50 lives, though some estimates put the number closer to 150. Despite the whispers that surrounded her, she managed to evade suspicion for many years. It was only in 1929, when she was in her nineties, that her crimes came to light.

The downfall began with Stana Momirov, a customer who had visited Baba multiple times. Stana’s first purchase was for her husband, but she returned for potions to eliminate her new husband’s uncle and father-in-law. The string of deaths eventually raised suspicions, leading to Stana’s arrest. Under questioning, she pointed the finger at Baba Anujka as the source of the poisons.

The Trial of Baba Anujka

By the time she was arrested, Baba Anujka was already an old woman, frail in appearance but sharp in wit. During her trial, she denied ever selling poisons, insisting that she had only provided herbal remedies. Her customers, however, argued that they had no idea the potions were lethal.

Ultimately, Baba was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Yet, justice seemed elusive. At 90 years old, a life sentence held little meaning. After serving just eight years, she was released due to her advanced age and lived her final two years back in Vladimirovac, where she passed away in 1938.

A Legacy of Death and Complexity

Baba Anujka’s story defies simple categorisation. While her actions were undeniably those of a serial killer, her motivations and methods were far from typical. She didn’t kill out of personal malice or a desire for bloodshed; instead, she acted as a mercenary of sorts, fulfilling the desperate pleas of women with no other means of escape.

Her case also highlights the plight of women in a patriarchal society, where arranged marriages and domestic abuse were often inescapable. Baba Anujka provided a grim solution to an equally grim problem.

In the end, Baba Anujka remains a paradoxical figure—a grandmotherly serial killer whose potions offered both liberation and death. She was both a saviour and a monster, a healer and an assassin, leaving a legacy as murky and complex as the concoctions she brewed.

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