Strychnine death ‘was first in 25 years’. independent. ie. September 19, 2008.THE state pathologist yesterday told an inquest that the death of a young man from strychnine poisoning was the first such case recorded in the state in nearly 25 years.Marie Cassidy, who carried out the post mortem, told Dublin City Coroner’s Court that she had identified the rat poison in the blood and stomach contents of Anthony Kelly, a 20-year-old inmate who had collapsed from an overdose at a prison for young offenders.[ See ]