Sarah Jane Whiteling was born in Germany in 1848. She married Tom Brown in 1868 in Clinton, Iowa, and later moved to Chicago. After the Great Fire, they relocated to Philadelphia. Following Brown's imprisonment and death, Sarah had a child with Thomas Storey, an oyster saloon keeper. In 1880, she married John Whiteling, bringing her daughter Bertha into the marriage. The couple had a son, William C. Whiteling, in 1886.​

Between March and May 1888, Sarah Jane Whiteling poisoned her husband, daughter, and son using arsenic. Her husband, John, died on March 30, 1888, with the cause initially attributed to bowel inflammation. Her daughter Bertha died on April 24, 1888, and her son Willie on May 26, 1888. All three were insured, with Sarah receiving payouts from the policies.​

Suspicious of the rapid succession of deaths, Coroner Ashbridge ordered investigations. Exhumations revealed high levels of arsenic in the bodies. Sarah confessed to poisoning her children, citing Bertha's misbehavior and Willie's being "in the way." She denied poisoning her husband, claiming he had taken his own life.​

At her trial, Sarah was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of her daughter and sentenced to death. She was executed by hanging on June 25, 1889, at Moyamensing Prison in Philadelphia, becoming the first woman executed in Philadelphia County.