This
selection includes only those female serial killers who murdered at
least two husbands (including common-law husbands), or who murdered one
husband and unsuccessfully attempted to kill a second. Women who were
serial killers but among whose victims was only a single husband – a
category which includes a large number of cases – are not included. The
widows are presented chronologically under the date of arrest.
A
number of the following cases have not appeared in lists of serial
killers. Among these newly uncovered cases several are connected to
European husband-killing syndicates, a number of which are themselves
forgotten by historians of crime – until now.
Those
Black Widows on the following list who murdered four or more husbands
(31 cases known so far) will also be found collected together in a short
list called The Champion Black Widow Serial Killers
As of April 8, 2021, this list has reached the 314 mark.
SEE: “Exciting careers in serial widowhood,” by Robert St. Estephe, A Voice for Men, Sep. 10, 2012
***
***
As of April 8, 2021, this list has reached the 314 mark.
Peter Vronsky’s 1997 list of 140 female serial killers
includes 23 Black Widows: Barfield, Becker, Beets, Besnard, Buenoano, Cotton,
Dazley, Doss, Fazekas, Gottfried, Gunness, Kinne, Klimek, Lyles, Martin, de
Melker, Moore, Olah, Renczi, Sherman, Trueblood (Southard), Velten, Vermilya.
SEE: “Exciting careers in serial widowhood,” by Robert St. Estephe, A Voice for Men, Sep. 10, 2012
***
42 BC (5 husbands)
***
Zenobia - Syria
275 ("a series of lovers")
***
Queen Fredegund – Merovignian Kingdom
Mahaut de Bourgogne – France
1196 (4 husbands)
***
275 ("a series of lovers")
***
Queen Fredegund – Merovignian Kingdom
597 (husband,
multiple lovers)
***
***
940 (about 36
husbands)
***
Mahaut de Bourgogne – France
1196 (4 husbands)
***
***
Sultana Khadeejah – Maldives
1380 (2 husbands
& 1 other)
***
ca 1520 (paramour,
husband & 1 other)
***
1613 (5 husbands)
Gesche Margarethe Gottfried - Germany
1827 (2 husbands & 13 others)
***
Betty Rowland - England
1836 (3 husbands)
***
1827 (2 husbands & 13 others)
***
1836 (3 husbands)
***
1840 (2 husbands & 1 other)
1843 (2 husbands & 1 other)
***
1846 (2 husbands)
***
Mrs. Frey - USA
1847 (2 husbands)
***
1847 (2 husbands)
***
1850 (2 husbands & 4 others)
1852 (3 husbands)
***
1852 (3 husbands, 1 other)
1860 (2 husbands & 7 others)
***
1860 (2 husbands)
***
1862 (2 husbands; 4
others & 1 attempt)
***
Carrie E. Holbrook Chandler - USA
1864 (2 husbands)
***
Marie Binet Soques - France
1865 (2 husbands)
***
Nancy Lyman – USA
1864 (2 husbands)
***
1865 (2 husbands)
***
1869 (2 husbands)
***
1869 (4 husbands)
***
1870s (“numerous”
paramours)
***
1870 (2 husbands
& 1 other)
***
1870 (2 paramours
& 1 other)
1871 (2 husbands & 1 other)
***
1873 (3 husbands & 12-17 others)
***
***
1874 (2 husbands)
***
1875 (2 husbands
& 1 other)
***
1875 (2 husbands; 3
others)
***
1877 (3 husbands; & 2
children)
1878 (2 husbands
& 2 others)
***
1878 (3 husbands)
***
1878 (2 men: husband;
paramour)
***
Takahashi Oden –
Japan
1879 (lover &
husband)
1881 (2 husbands)
***
1881 (2 husbands)
***
***
1882 (2 husbands & 26 others)
***
1883 (3 husbands & 4 others)
***
1884 (3 husbands & 1 other)
***
1884 (2 husbands)
1884 (3 husbands, 100s of others)
1886 (4 husbands)
***
1886 (4 husbands)
***
1886 (2 husbands (1 survived) & 1 other)
***
1888 (2 husbands & 1 other)
***
1888 (2 husbands)
***
Josephine Carnahan Ramsey Artz – USA
1888 (3 husbands)
***
1888 (husband & “another man”)
***
1889 (2 husbands)
***
1889 (3 husbands
& 1 other)
1891 (4 husbands)
***
***
***
1892 (2 husbands; 1 survived)
***
1892 (2 men)
***
1893 (3 husbands (possibly) & 5 others)
***
1894 (2 husbands & 4 others)
***
1894 (2 husbands)
***
1895 (2 husbands)
***
1896 (49 husbands)
***
Fatima Ben Abdel Kader - Algeria
1896 (3 husbands)
***
"Mischar Triple Black Widow" - Serbia
1896 (3 husbands)
***
1896 (3 husbands)
***
1896 (3 husbands)
***
1897 (2 husbands)
***
1897 (2 husb. &
att. husb.)
***
1898 (2 husbands)
***
1899 (2 husbands)
***
1899 (2 husbands)
***
1899 (2 husbands)
1899 (husbands)
***
***
1899 (2 husbands)
***
Late-19th century (2 husbands & 4 others)
***
1900 (4 husbands)
***
1902 (2 husbands, 2
others)
***
1902 (4 husbands
& 14 others)
1903 (2 husbands)
***
1903 (2 husbands & 9 others)
***
1903 (5 husbands (1 survived))
***
Marie Knauer - USA
1903 (2 husbands & 1 other)
***
Mrs. Massilon - USA
1904 (3 husbands, suspected)
***
Marie Nowak - Moravia
1904 (3 husbands)
***
***
1903 (2 husbands & 1 other)
***
1904 (3 husbands)
***1904 (3 husbands, suspected)
***
1904 (3 husbands)
***
Anna Bergmann –Germany
1905 (5 husbands)
***
1905 (3, or more,
husbands)
***
1905 (4 “lovers”)
1907 (2 Husbands & 1 other)
***
1908 (2 husbands)
***
1908 (2 husbands & dozens of fiancés)
***
1908 (many paramours)
1909 (3 husbands; 2 others)
***
1911 (2 (or 3) husbands)
***
Louise Vermilya – USA
***
Louise Vermilya – USA
1911 (2 husbands
& 7 others)
***
***
1912 (2 husbands & 1 other)
***
1912 (2 husbands & 3 others)
***
1912 (2 husbands & 3 others)
***
1914 (2 husbands)
***
1914 (2 husbands
& 1 paramour)
***
1914 (3 husbands)
***
1915 (3 husbands)
***
Amy Archer-Gilligan – USA
1916 (5? husbands & several others)
1916 (5? husbands & several others)
***
1917 (2 husbands & 2 others)
***
1918 (10 husbands)
***
***
1918 (8 husbands susp.; 2 confirmed)
1920 (2 husbands, 1 lover)
***
Ca. 1920s (2
husbands)
***
1920 (4 husbands)
***
***
1921 (2 husbands & 2 "lovers," &
1 husband who survived)
1923 (4 husbands & 9 others & 6 survivors)
***
***
1923 – (6 husbands)
***
1924 (2 husbands (1 survived) & 4 others)
1924 (2 husbands & others)
***
1924 (3 husbands)
***
1924 (2 husbands
& 1 boyfriend)
***
1924 (2 husbands & 2 others)
***
1924 (2 husbands & 1 possible survivor husband)
***
1925 (2 husbands & 33 others) (possibly a hoax story; requires confirmation)
***
Georgia Brown - USA
1926 (2 husbands)
***
***
1925 (2 husbands; 30 others)
***
1926 (2 husbands)
***
1926 (2 husbands (1 survived))
***
1926 (2 husbands (1 survived) & 2 others)
***
***
1926 (8 paramours)
1927 (3 husbands)
***
1927 (3 husbands & 55 others)
1928 (3 husbands & 1 other)
***
***
1928 (2 husbands, 1
other)
***
1929 (3 husbands)
***
1929 (2 husbands & dozens of others)
***
***
1929 (2 husbands)
***
1930s (multiple
“lonely hearts” victims)
***
1930 (2 husbands & 5 lovers)
***
1930 (husband & paramour)
***
1930 (2 husbands & 5 others)
***
1931 (1 husband & 1 husband attempted)
***
1931 (5 husbands & 14 others)
***
1931 (3 husbands)
***
***
1931 (2 husbands; 4 others)
***
1932 (2 husbands, 1 fiancee; & 4 others)
***
1932 (2 husbands)
***
1932 (2 husbands)
***
1933 (3 husbands suspected; 1
other)
***
Franziska Schoerghofer (Schörghofer) - Austria
1933 (2 husbands; 1
other)
***
1935 (2 husbands; 2 others
& 1 att.)
***
1936 (2 husbands, 9 others & 5 survivors)
***
1938 (2 husbands (1 survived))
***
***
1939 (3 husbands)
***
1938 (1 husband &
1 paramour)
***
1939 (3 husbands)
***
1939 (2 husbands (1 survived) & 1 other)
***
1940 (5
husbands; plus others)
***
1940 (3 husbands)
***
1941 (2 husbands)
***
1941 (2 husbands)
***
1941 (3 husbands)
***
1943 (3 husbands
& 2 others)
1948 (3 husbands)
***
1949 (2 husbands & 11 others)
***
1949 (2 husbands & 3 others)
***
1950 (2 husbands)
***
1950 (Common law
husband & another man)
***
1951 (17 husbands)
***
1952 (3 husbands
& 9 others)
***
1952 (2 husbands)
***
Alicia Roberts - Wales
1952 (2 husbands)
1954 (4 husbands & 7 others)
***
Mary Elizabeth Wilson - England
***
1956 (2 husbands & 4 others)
***
1957 (2 husbands)
***
1957 (3 husbands & 1 other)
***
Anjette Lyles - USA
1958 (2 husbands & 2 others)
***
1958 (2 husbands & 2 others)
***
Margaret “Maggie”MacDonald - Canada
1960s -(2 husbands)
1960s -(2 husbands)
***
1962 (3 husbands)
***
1962 (1 husband, 1
boyfriend)
***
***
1962 (2 husbands)
***
Irene Langhaus - USA
1964 (2 husbands)
***
Irena Cubirkova (Čubírková)
– Czechoslovakia
1966 (husband &
boyfriend)
Catalina Domingo Campins - Spain
1970 (2 husbands & 3 others)
***
1975 (2 husbands, 1
survived)
***
***
1978 (2 husbands & 4 others)
***
Margarita Herlein - Argentina
1978 (4 (3 husb, 1 bf))
***
1978 (2 lovers)
***
1979 (2 husbands
& 1 other)
***
***
1979 (2 husbands)
***
***
1983 (2 husbands & 3 others)
***
1983 (4 husbands (1 survived) & 1 other)
***
1984 (3 men; 1
survived)
***
1984 (1 husband, 1
fiancé (survived; 1 other)
1985 (3 husbands & 200 others)
***
1985 (5 husbands)
***
Hazel Allison - USA
***
1985 (2 husbands)
***
1987 (2 husbands)
***
1987 (2 husbands; 7 others)
***
1987 (2 husbands)
1988 (2 husbands)
1988 (2 husbands)
***
***
1989 (“multiple husbands” & others)
***
"Greenland Black Widow" - Greenland
1990 (2 husbands)
***
Lynda Calvey - England
1990 (2 husbands)
***
Frances Beasley
Truesdale – USA
1990 (2 husbands)
***
1990 (2 husbands)
***
Rodica Negroiu - France
1990 (3 husbands)
***
1992 (2 husbands)
***
1992 (2 husbands
& 1 other)
***
Jill Coit – USA
1993 (2 husbands)
***
1994 (2 husbands; & 1
survived)
***
1995 (2 or more
husbands)
Terri Gilbert – USA
1996 (2 husbands)
***
1996 (2 husbands; 1 surv.; others threatened)
***
Cynthia Darlene Phillips –
USA
1998 (2 husbands
& 1 boyfriend)
***
1999 (2 husbands)
***
Jamila Belkacem -
France
1999 (1 dead; 1
survived)
***
Laurene Dye - Canada
1999 (2 husbands & 1 att. on a husband)
***
Tammy Martin - USA
1999 (1 dead husband; 1 survived)
***
Yuko Takahashi - Japan
2000 (2 husbands)
***
1999 (2 husbands & 1 att. on a husband)
***
1999 (1 dead husband; 1 survived)
***
2000 (2 husbands)
***
2001 (2 husbands)
***
2001 (3 husbands)
***
2001 (4 husbands)
***
2002 (2 husbands)
***
2003 (husband &
paramour)
Raynella Dossett Leath – USA
2003 (2 husbands)
***
Janet Smith - USA
2003 (1 husband, 1 fiancee; & 2 plots)
***
Uhm - South Korea
2005 (2 husbands)
***
2003 (1 husband, 1 fiancee; & 2 plots)
***
2005 (2 husbands)
***
Sonia Rios – USA
2006 (2 husbands)
***
Stacy Castor - USA
2007 (2 husbands, 1 other (survived))
***
2007 (1 husband & 3 boyfriends)
2007 (2 Husbands & 1 other)
***
***
Miriam Helmick - USA
2009 (2 husbands)
***
2009 (3 husbands)
***
2009 (7 men, "personals")
***
Venera Nabozar Obolashvili - Georgia
2009 (2 husbands
& 1 other)
***
Sonia Rios Risken - USA
2009 (2 husbands)
***
Miyuko Ueti – Japan
2009 (5 “dates” & 1 fiancee)
2009 (5 “dates” & 1 fiancee)
***
2011 (1 husband &
1 “boyfriend”)
2011 (2 husbands)
***
2012 (2 husbands
(suspected))
***
Catherine Symanowski – USA
2012 (1 husband & 1 surv. boyfriend, shot 6 times)
2012 (1 husband & 1 surv. boyfriend, shot 6 times)
***
2012 (2 husbands
& 2 who survived)
***
Esneda Ruiz Cataño – Colombia
2013 (3 husbands)
2013 (3 husbands)
2013 (2 husbands)
***
Robyn Lindholm - Australia
2013 (2 boyfriends)
***
Emma Raine - USA
2013 (3 husbands)
***
Noh (husbands: Lee; Kim) – Korea
***
2013 (2 boyfriends)
***
2013 (3 husbands)
***
2013 (2 boyfriends)
***
2014 (2 husbands)
***
2014 (husband, another
man, poss. others)
***
Noh (husbands: Lee; Kim) – Korea
2014 (husband &
paramour; 1 other)
***
Marli Teles de Souza - Brazil
2014 (3 husbands & 1 boyfriend)
***
Brenda Jacobs – USA
Kelly Marie Cochran - USA
2016 (husband, boyfriend; possible others)
***
2014 (3 husbands & 1 boyfriend)
***
Brenda Jacobs – USA
2015 (2 husbands)
***
2016 (husband, boyfriend; possible others)
***
2017 (4 husbands & paramours; 1 other)
***
Wane Brenda - Brazil
2018 (2 boyfriends)
***
Meshell Hale - USA
2018 (2 husbands)
***
Lori Vallon Daybell - USA
2020 (3? & multiple others?)
***
***
***
2018 (2 boyfriends)
***
2018 (2 husbands)
***
2020 (3? & multiple others?)
***
***
►►BLACK WIDOW SERIAL KILLERS
CATEGORIZED
►Weapons, Poisons & Methods
Antifreeze – Shirley Allen, Stacy Castor, Julia Lynn Turner
Axe – Belle Gunness, Lizzie Halliday
Beat to death – Linda Lou Charbonneau, Ulisa Chavers
Carbon Monoxide – Cynthia Phillips, Kanae Kijima
Drown – Kanae Kijima, EmilseYulima Emilsen Rojas Castaño
Fireplace poker – Ann Gates
Gunshot (handgun
unless otherwise noted) – "Broncho Lou" (Mrs. Yankers), Minnie Cummings, Jane Taylor Quinn, Mary T. Godau,
Euphemia Mondich, Alma McClaney (Theede), Margie Zeglen, Nannie Doss, Betty Lou
Beets, Sharon Kinne, Betty Lou Beets, Carrie Allen, Ann Gates, Hazel Allison
(shotgun), Cynthia Phillips, Barbara Stager, Sandra Bridewell, Geraldine
Parrish, Sylvia Ipock White, Jill Coit, Terri Gilbert, Cynthia Phillips,
Josephine Gray, Raynella Leath, Sonia Rios, Betty Newmar, Miriam Helmick,
Goidsargi Estibaliz 'Esti' Carranza, Amy Herrera, Catherine Symanowski (rifle,
handgun), Colleen Ann Harris, Della Sutorius
Knife – Sienna Engelbredht, Mary Lou Martin, Esneda Ruiz Cataño, Mme. Tamara
Poison (arsenic unless otherwise noted) – Gesche Margarethe
Gottfried (arsenic), Hannah Hanson Kinney, Sarah Dazley, Mrs. Van
Valkenbugh, Madame Segard, Mary McKnight (strychnine), Elizabeth P. McCraney,
“Gardiner, Maine Black Widow,” Lydia Sherman, Catherine Batchelor, Mary Ann
Cotton, Brigitte Burckel, Sallie Hardman (Gibbs), Mrs. Gossau, Kathi Lyukas,
Mrs. Christian, Angenette B. S. Haight, “Varanda, Hungary Black Widow,
“Silesian Black Widow,” Louisa Collins, Martha Johnson, Mrs. John Dorsey, Caroline
Sorgenfrie (Paris green), Kate Painter, Ann Miniver Davis, Olive Sternaman,
Mrs. Camfield (aconite and acotine), Lulu Johnson, Marie Nicodem, Lisa Triku,
Jerinia, Zsimcsa, Sultana Pongyan Juchi Jamela, Caroline Przygodda, Malvina
Roeste, (rose bay leaves), “Knez Four-Time Black Widow,” Louise Vermilya,
Louisa Lindloff, Frieda Trost, Amy Archer-Gilligan, Annie Monahan, Anna
Tomaskiewicz, Frau Buchmann, Madame Pitiot, Lydia Trueblood Southard, Clara
Carl, “Cleveland Black Widow,” Tillie Klimek, Annie Hauptrief, Annora
Yeoman, Vera Renczi, Laura Christy, Elsie Bible Malinsky, Nora Edwards, Julia
Fazekas, Suzi Olah, Maria Aszendi, Agnes Bittner (?), Maria Varga, Margaret
Summers, Daisy de Melker (strychnine), Marie Becker, Florence Peters, Rose
Carina, Victoria Lefebvre, Anna Louise Sullivan, Helen Moeller, Marguerite
D’Andurian, Josefa Idler, Marie Besnard, Marie
Jeanbracq (digitalis), Bessie Lee Cunningham,
Roberta Elder, Yvonne Fletcher, Rhonda Belle Martin, Anjette Donovan Lyles,
Bessie Folse Toups, Mrs. Elmer Stone Conyers, Velma Barfield, Ada Wittenmyer, LaVerne O’Bryan (horse tonic), Shirley
Allen, Pauline Rogers, Maria Velten, Judias Buenoano, Blanche Taylor Moore, Raynella Leath
(morphine), Kanae Kijima (medicines), Melissa Friedrich (Weeks) (drugs)
Suffocate – Lydia L.
Torture to Death –“Brazilian Black Widow”
►Miscellaneous
“Accidental” Death – Sharon Kinne, Sharon Lynn Nelson
(Harrelson), Natthakan Anaman (drugged, auto wreck), Raynella Leath (morphine,
supposedly trampled by cattle), EmilseYulima Emilsen Rojas Castaño
Advertising (lonely hearts) – Belle Gunness, Marie Krueger,
Nannie Doss, Ada Wittenmyer, Lydia L., Kanae
Kijima, EmilseYulima Emilsen Rojas Castaño?
Dismemberment – Marie Vere Goold, Ulisa Chavers, Goidsargi
Estibaliz 'Esti' Carranza (with chainsaw)
Escape from Prison or Fugitive – Lydia Trueblood Southard,
Sandra Bridewell, Sharon Kinne, Goidsargi Estibaliz 'Esti' Carranza
Execution of
perpetrator – Gesche Margarethe Gottfried (arsenic), Sarah Dazley, Mrs. Van
Valkenbugh, Madame Segard, Rhonda Belle Martin, Velma Barfield, Judias
Buenoano, Betty Lou Beets
Fake Suicide –Raynella Leath, Miriam Helmick, Kanae Kijima, Amy Herrera
Incineration – Madame Tamara
Married in prison – “Brazilian Black Widow”
Occult – Louisa Lindloff, Frieda Trost, Madame Tamara,
Anjette Donovan Lyles, Josephine Gray,
Geraldine Parrish,
Proxy – Mrs. Gossau (leap-frog), Euphemia Mondich
(leap-frog), Sharon Nelson (Harrelson), Geraldine Parrish, Gray (leap-frog),
Esneda Ruiz Cataño, Cynthia Phillips, Geraldine Parrish, Sylvia Ipock White,
Jill Coit, Cynthia Phillips (attempts), Linda Lou Charbonneau, Josephine Gray,
Sonia Rios,
Suicide of perpetrator – Louise Vermilyea, Marie Torosian,
Annie Hauptrief, Julia Fazekas, Suzi Olah, Julia Lynn Turner, Josefa Idler, Ada Wittenmyer, Catherine Symanowski
Trophy cadaver
accumulation – Vera Renczi
***
***
Abstract: This research examines one type of ‘Black Widow’
killer as an unexplored area of romance scams. Black Widow killers murder those
close to them, usually those who they have some form of romantic association
with, such as a husband or lover, however, they also prey on their own
relatives. The type of Black Widow killer focused upon in this research is
those who murder for the purpose of financial gain, through using romance to
initiate the process. These killers are referred to as ‘Scamming Black Widow
killers’. The notion that such a killer could be identified as a type of
romance scam is due to these killers and those fraudsters conducting romance
scams having the same motivations. Romance scams involve fraudsters romancing
their victims to form a trustworthy ‘relationship’, to then defraud them of
their finances.
The crime of murder itself, committed by Black Widow
killers, is extremely serious in that it requires attention. There is no way to
fully understand the incidence of Black Widow murders, as it is possible for
some to go undetected or possibly ruled as accidental deaths. The other crime
of non-lethal romance scams discussed in this research is also a serious crime,
which can result in high quantities of money lost, and great emotional pain for
the victims. Although these two crimes are separate, the link between them has
previously been weirdly unexplored.
This research aims to fill this knowledge gap, proposing
Scamming Black Widow killers to be understood as one type of romance scam.
***
***
***
***
***
[32,042-1/29/21]
***
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