Departures of note

In 1895, Helga Fägerskiöld was present at the deathbed of Evert Taube von Block, her fiancé's father, at Broxvik Manor. Poison was found in his body, and Fägerskiöld convinced her fiancé that his mother, Betzy von Röök, had murdered him. Von Röök sued Fägerskiöld for slander in 1896, and the trial became a national sensation, with lawyers appealing to public sentiment and followers taking sides along political lines. Fägerskiöld was represented by Karl Staaff.

In 1897, Fägerskiöld confessed that she herself had poisoned Taube von Block so that her fiancé would inherit the estate, and that she had accused von Röök to prevent her from inheriting and willing the property to her younger son. Von Röök was acquitted, but Fägerskiöld retracted her confession, claiming she had made it to divert attention from the recent birth of an illegitimate child. The court found the evidence insufficient to convict her against her denial, and on 1 April 1898 the case was closed, freeing Fägerskiöld for lack of proof.

After the trial, Fägerskiöld left Sweden for the United States, where she married the lawyer William W. White around 1908. She died in New York City on 25 September 1958.