Tamsui Death Hotel Gang – Lian Shangying & Dong Xiaorong – Taiwan, 2008

FULL TEXT: A woman suspected of being a member of a gang responsible for the deaths of several homeless people was yesterday ordered detained by the Taipei District Court, while police continue to search for more victims.

Shilin District Court yesterday ordered that Tung Hsiao-jung (董小榕), the fifth suspected member of the gang, be kept in custody.

The other suspects include main suspect Lee Hsien-chang (李憲璋), Yang Ming-chang (楊明璋), Sung Ching-tsai (宋進財) and another woman, Lien Shang-ying (連上瑩).

Police believe the five have killed several homeless people after using their names to apply for life insurance or loans.

Lee ran a hotel in Taipei County's Tamsui Township (淡水), where he housed several homeless people while plotting to kill them, police said.

Police said so far they believe the gang are responsible for three deaths, while another two suspected victims are missing.

Authorities raided Lee's hotel on Monday, rescuing four men and a woman who were reported to be in very bad physical condition.

Among them was a man surnamed Lo, who told officers he had been kept there for two years. Police are still looking for more than 20 other people who are thought to have been held at the hotel.

The three victims were surnamed Liang, Shih and Chen.

Police said they believed Lee had arranged for his girlfriend Lien Shang-ying to marry a homeless man surnamed Liang, who they later bought insurance for. Lee then ordered Yang and Sung to accompany Liang on a trip to Huangshan, a famed tourist spot in China, where the two men were believed to have killed Liang by pushing him off a cliff, they said.

Lien then received insurance payouts after the "accident," police said.

Lee also arranged for his ex-wife Tung Hsiao-jung to marry a homeless man surnamed Shih who they later bought insurance for. But Shih died a few months after the marriage, officers said.

Police said they suspected Shih had been poisoned by the gang.

Another homeless man surnamed Chen died of illness after Lee used his name to obtain several bank loans.

[Rich Chang, “Detention ordered in murder case; OFFER OF HELP One of the suspects allegedly ran a Tamsui Township hotel where he let homeless people stay while he and others plotted to kill them,” Taiwan News, Mar. 27, 2008, p. 4]

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FULL TEXT (auto-translation from Chinese):

~ Prosecutor ’s Office of Terrorist Bed and Breakfast Killing Travellers for Fraudulent Insurance Claims. ~

Follow-up found that at least two other travellers were also suspected of being poisoned. One person and his pro-wife married less than a year later also lost their lives and received insurance claims of 1.35 million yuan. Three of the five nomads who were rescued the day before yesterday were insured with nearly seven million yuan in life insurance, and may be tempted to kill at any time.

~ Make money ~

Liang Ganchang, a traveler who was tricked into the "honeymoon trip" of Huangshan, China, by the principal suspect Li Xianzhang (age 38) and his girlfriend Lian Shangying (age 30), was suspected of being pushed down to Huangshan and died. Knowing that his son has covered 62 million accident insurance, he thinks that his son is suffering from polio and is an unemployed traveler. It is impossible to marry a spouse and travel to China. Unexpectedly, after reporting the incident to the police, the insider was shocked. It's too cruel! "

~ Suspected marriage killing female suspects arrested ~

Due to the continuous expansion of the case, the judge has accused Li and other four suspects. Li Xiao's ex-wife Dong Xiaorong (45) was arrested in Luzhu Township, Taoyuan County at 7 pm last night. When the police arrested Dong Su on the line last night, Dong Su quickly tore up a large number of travellers' personal assets, land title, loan information and other objects. The police first arrested her for interrogation for annihilating criminal evidence.

And after the horrible homestay group ’s murderous method was revealed, netizens have posted messages online: "" Terrorist Hostel "Taiwan Version", "Aren’t this kind of plot happening only in movies and the mainland?"

The police pointed out that among the five migrants rescued on the seventh floor of the homestay the day before yesterday, the list of four missing persons was reconstructed one by one, namely Chen Gongping (52 years old), Shi Mingche (36 years old), Xu Yuming (48 years old) and Lin Desheng (41 years old), of which Chen and Shi had died in August and December last year.

After an in-depth investigation, the police found that Chen had carried a mortgage of 6.5 million yuan unpaid before his death, and this loan was Li and Lian's two suspected low-price bids. He used Chen to do after a house auction in Banqiao City, Bei County. After taking the cash for the heads, Chen unexpectedly died when the money was not in Li Su's pocket.

[Huang Bochuan, “Terror homestay explodes again,” Taiwan Apple (Taiwan), Mar. 3, 2008]

 

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Gang of 5 (2 men, 3 women)Li Xianzhang (age 38).

Lian Shangying (age 30), (連上瑩), Li Xianzhang’s  girlfriend.

Dong Xiaorong (45), (Tung Hsiao-jung) (董小榕), female, Li  Xianzhang’s ex-wife

Sung Ching-tsai (宋進財), male

Yang Ming-chang (楊明璋), male.

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MORE Female Serial Killers of Asia 

 

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[167-1/15/21]

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Barbara Hoffman, Suspected Double Black Widow – Wisconsin, 1978

In 1974, Barbara Hoffman was a Phi Beta Kappa senior at University of Wisconsin Madison, majoring in biochemistry. Inexplicably she dropped out a semester before graduation and took a job at a “massage parlor,” Jan’s Health Studio, under the alias of Linda Millar. She became known as “Queen of the Massage Parlors.” In that occupation she Harry Berge Jr., a tire factory worker, and Gerald Davies, a shipping clerk at the university. She carried on a relationship with each outside the parlor. In 1977, she left the parlor and took a job in an insurance processing firm. She took out life insurance on each of her massage parlor boyfriends:  $34,000 on Berge, and $750,000 on Davies.

Davies was head-over-heels in love and wanted to marry. He referred to Barbara as his fiancée, yet he knew nothing of Berge.

On December 22, 1977, Berge met his death in Barbara Hoffman’s apartment. Two days later, Davies assisted Barbara – in removing the body of the man Barbara claimed not to know, from a snowbank behind her apartment and depositing it in another snowbank on Tomahawk Ridge near the Blackhawk Ski Club. Barbara had told him that the mysterious appearance of the corpse might be the result of shady characters associated with massage parlor who might be trying to manipulate her. Against Barbara’s wishes Davis went, on Christmas Day, to police headquarters and reported his actions. He led police to the makeshift snowbank grave. An autopsy was filed stating the cause of death as “five blows to the head.”

On December 18, 1978 Barbara was arrested and was charged with first degree murder. Davies was to be the prosecution’s chief witness. Barbara’s attorney advised her to cancel the life insurance policy on Davies. Despite being advised to steer clear of the suspect when she was released on bail, Davies kept up the romance. On Mar 24, 1978 he sent identically-worded letters asserting Barbara’s innocence to three Madison newspapers contradicting statements under oath he had given and asserted Barbara’s innocence.

The following day he was found dead in his apartment bathtub. An autopsy revealed he his corpse contained cyanide of twice the fatal dose. The discovery of the cyanide led to a second examination of the Berge body. The result was the discovery of cyanide 34 times the fatal dose.

The prosecution dropped the original indictment for the Berge murder and filed a new indictment stated the newly ascertained cause of death. The filed another indictment against Hoffman for murdering Davies.

On June 28, 1989 Barbara Hoffman was convicted of Berge murder; acquitted of Davies murder.

On July 2, 1980, she was sentenced to life in prison. She continued to assert her innocence.

[Robert St. Estephe, Apr. 6, 2020]

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CHRONOLOGY

1974 – Hoffman, a Biochemistry major, Phi Beta Kappa, University of Wisconsin Madison drops out to take a job. She became known as “Queen of the Massage Parlors.”

1977 – Barbara leaves parlor, works in insurance processing firm.

1977? – under alias Linda Millar used as employee of Jan’s Health Studio, Barbara Hoffman, biochemistry major at UW Madison, takes out $34,500 life insurance policy on Harry Berge Jr.

Dec. 22, 1977 – Harry B. Berge Jr. (52), Stoughton Uniroyal tire factory worker, dies. 5 blows to head given as cause of death in autopsy report.

Dec. 24, 1977 – Gerard T. Davies, shipping clerk at UM Madison audio-visual dept., assists in moving nearly nude body from a snowbank behind Barbara’s apartment to a snowbank on Tomahawk Ridge near the Blackhawk Ski Club.

Dec. 25, 1977 – Davies leads police to the body.

Dec. 18, 1978 – Barbara Hoffman (26) arrested for Berge murder.

Jan. 21, 1978 – Barbara Hoffman freed on $15,000 bail.

Feb. 1978 – Davies takes Hoffman in Spring Green. Considered prime prosecution witness, he is surveilled by police, for his protection.

Mar. 24, 1978 – Postmarked letters written by Davies he sent to 3 Madison newspapers contradicting statements under oath he had given and asserted Barbara’s innocence.

Mar. 25, 1978 – Gerald Davies (31), dies. Cyanide, 37x lethal dose, found in body. He was a key prosecution witness in the Berge murder case. Barbara Hoffman paid two $6,618 premiums on a $750,000 life insurance policy on Davies which she cancelled on the advice of her attorney in the Berge murder case.

Apr. 1978 – cause of dearth of Berge changed to cyanide poisoning.

Dec. 1978 – recharged in Berge case with changed cause of death; charged with Davies murder.

Jun. 16, 1978 – trial begins.

Jun. 28, 1989 – convicted of Berge murder; acquitted of Davies murder.

Jul. 2, 1980 – sentenced to life.

Both victims met Barbara at the massage parlor where she worked, Jan’s Health Studio.

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BOOK: Karl Harter, Winter of Frozen Dreams : A True Story of Passion, Greed and Murder,  

McGraw Hill/Contemporary, 1990

FILM: Winter of Frozen Dreams is a 2009 independent American crime drama directed by Eric Mandelbaum, and starring Thora Birch, Keith Carradine, and Brendan Sexton III. The film follows the story of Barbara Hoffman, a Wisconsin biochemistry student and prostitute convicted of murder in the first televised murder trial ever.

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A good brief summary of the case:

Marva Bovsun, “She Gave Massages to Die For,” New York Daily News, Jan. 8, 2017, p. 40

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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.

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[635-1/3/21; 3070-9/28/22]

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Greenland Double Black Widow – 1990s

This is a place-holder post, awaiting completion. The woman described is, presumably, Inuit.

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Gretel Ehrlich, This Cold Heaven, Pantheon, 2001 – Publisher’s promotional copy:

Ehrlich also relates tales of the ordinary men and women who brave this awe-inspiring land, including one who has shot two husbands dead for trivial reasons and is now in 'lock-up'.

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Interview excerpt:

RB: You frequently mention people who have killed — one woman killed two husbands — what happens to them?

GE: She was just sent to a house in another village and looked after and made sure that she didn’t kill anyone else.

RB: How did they make sure?

GE: They are watching her all the time. A guy came over to ask her out on a date and the women said, “No, you don’t want to go out with her. She doesn’t like men.”

[Robert Birnbaum, “Gretel Ehrlich,” Identity Theory, December 28, 2001]

http://www.identitytheory.com/gretel-ehrlich/

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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.

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[76-1/3/2021]

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Manuela Gonzalez Cano, Black Widow Serial Killer – France, 2008

Manuela Gonzalez Cano, nicknamed, "the black widow of Isère," was charged in 2014 with murdering her husband Daniel Cano in 2008. On September 28, 2008, a fire broke out in the middle of the night where Daniel Cano was staying, but after an investigation, Manuela Gonzalez was not suspected. On October 31, 2008 that the lifeless body of her "husband" Daniel Cano was found on the back seat of the burnt-out vehicle near the village of Villard-Bonnot in Isère.

It was only after the combination of the previous facts with the death of two of his former companions by similar facts that the investigation finally qualified the act as an assassination attempt. Traces of anxiolytics were found during the autopsy, showing that he had ingested 3 sleeping pills. The presumed motive the sum of 235,000 euros from two life insurance contracts and an exemption from loan repayment. Her money problems resulted from a bad a gambling habit.

In a period of 27 years five of Manuela’s male companions and husbands have experienced terrible misfortune. Three of them died, two others recovered from poisoning. The two other suspicious deaths were regarded at the time as suicides. In one case there a fire broke out and the body of the victim was discovered in the cubbyhole. The other was asphyxiated in his garage by carbon monoxide. In each case, Manuela , had recovered, or attempted to recover, large sums of money.

Investigators found out that in the year 1983, Gonzalez' husband at the time spent three months in a coma for having taken large quantities of anti-depressants. He immediately divorced Gonzalez, now France's Black Widow, when he woke up.

The year after that, Gonzalez began had another partner, a jeweler who ended up hospitalized after drinking a cup of tea she had laced with morphine derivatives. This devious act was reportedly a plot to persuade the jeweller to write her a cheque for the equivalent of £10,000. Manuela Gonzalez was convicted of a two-year prison sentence for that crime.

She spent 5 years in prison preceding her trial for the murder of Cano. In 2014 she was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison for his murder. She appealed and due to court delays, she was released. The conviction was affirmed Drôme Assize Court. His lawyer announced a cassation appeal on Monday, May 30, 2016.

[Sources: French Wikipedia & Althea Serad, “France's Black Widow: Woman Murderer In France Receives Murder Trial,” Travelers Today, Apr 15, 2014]

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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.

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MORE: Female Serial Killers & Arson

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Janet Smith, Suspected Black Widow Serial Killer – Florida & Arkansas, 2003

Janet Smith, a  breeder of Chihuahua dogs, died at the age of 71 in 2013. By the time she was criminally charged in 2003 she had seven husbands and two fiancés. She was suspected of murdering one fiancé, Charles Miller (66), and also husband, Randy Smith (47), she had insured for $230,000. Randy Smith’s son and daughter filed a lawsuit to block Janet from collecting the proceeds, asserting that their father had been murdered by his one of Smith’s ex-husbands, Griffin, under the supervision of Janet.

~ Charles Miller ~

[Janet] testified that two months after Randy’s drowning, she accepted engagement rings from two Pinellas men. One was Barry Reitz, 64, who took out life insurance naming her as beneficiary. The other was Charlie Miller Miller, 66, who was found dead in his house by Charlie Griffin. Miller had heart troubles, and his doctor ruled it a natural death without examining the body. Janet denied having any insurance on Miller, though FDLE [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] agent Pfeil notes that there’s no central registry that can track insurance policies. “I don’t know how many more she might have had on Randy or anyone else, I have no clue. “I thought it smelled to high heaven,” says Circuit Judge George Greer, who ruled for Janet in the civil case. “There was truly a lot of suspicious stuff going on. But there was no proof.” [Source: Aug. 3, 2003]

~ Randy Smith ~

“In May 1990, a few weeks after she divorced Griffen [sic] in another county, Janet made Smith husband No. 7. Within two months, Smith took out more than $100,000 in life insurance, naming his bride as beneficiary. He also made out a will, giving her everything he owned. In October 1990, less than a year after the couple met, Smith went fishing on the Suwannee River with Cecil Griffen, the handyman, even though Smith hated the water and couldn't swim, the children say. The two men had a fight, and Smith drowned. He was 47.” [Source: Oct 1, 2005]

Janet Smith's daughter, Julie Butikoper of Idaho Falls testified that she made contact with her mother in 1996, for the first time in 20 years, when she mistakenly heard that Smith was on death row in Florida for killing her husband. Though she hadn't lived with her mother since she was 8, Butikoper said, she came to Florida to reconcile. That went sour when her mother took her to river property she owned in Dixie County and described the drowning. "She said that Randy was stupid, and he didn't know that Cecil was her husband," Butikoper said. "He just thought of him as the handyman. She would laugh about it." At the river property, Janet Smith provoked a fight with her husband so Griffen and Randall Smith would go fishing at night by themselves, off a home-made raft in the middle of the river, Butikoper testified. When the two men argued, "Cecil pushed Randy overboard," Butikoper said. Her mother said she snuck down to the river to watch, "to make sure the job was done right." [Source: Oct 1, 2005]

~ Cecil “Jay” Griffin ~

[In 2002] Smith’s son [Matthew Paxton] secretly taped conversations in which he and his mother talked about killing an ex-husband in Arkansas [Griffin] for more insurance money. Police arrested her and charged her with solicitation of murder. . . . In the tapes, “Janet and her son discuss various options. They first talk of having Paxton drive Jay off a cliff in Janet’s car. “That would get the car paid off. That would get me a new car,” Janet says on the tape.  “I’d get the insurance money and get me the f--- out of here.”

They discuss shooting Jay in the head, then telling police it was suicide. . . .  The final plan, Paxton said, was to ask Jay to pull a tarp over the swimming pool [of the “mansion” Janet bough with insurance proceeds]. Paxton would push Jay in, throw the tarp over him and jump on top so he couldn’t get out. “You got to get him while the pushing’s good,” Janet says on tape. Melani Barnes, a friend who traveled with Paxton to Arkansas, told deputies she heard Janet discussing these murder plans as well. [Source: Sep. 19, 2003]

~ Barry Reitz ~

Soon after the 1990 drowning of Randy Smith, Janet became engaged to Barry Reitz.

Barry Reitz took out insurance years ago that pays Janet Smith $100,000 if he dies accidentally. They were dating at the time, but he grew cared and moved to Pennsylvania for a time to hide. Reitz, of Largo [Fl.], can’t cancel the policy, because Smith still pays the premiums. [Source: Aug. 3, 2003]

~ Outcome ~

Janet was never prosecuted. None of the lawsuits against her succeeded. Her insurance income was eaten up by legal expenses and she ended up living on social security benefits. She died in Hollister, Missouri, in 2013.

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SOURCES

[William Yelverton, “Years later, drowning a mystery,” The Tampa Tribune, Jul. 22, 1996, p. 1]

[Stephen Nohlren, “Six and Seven,” St. Petersburg Times (Fl.), Aug. 3, 2003, P. 1]

[Stephen Nohlren, Officials drop charges in alleged murder plot,” St. Petersburg Times (Fl.), Sep. 19, 2003, P. 1]

[Stephen Nohlren, “Stepmother had man killed for insurance, suit claims,” Tampa Bay Times (Fl.), Oct. 1, 2005]

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Suspected Victims & Intended Victims

- Charles Miller (66), fiancé; died, no autopsy. Engaged Jan. 1991. Florida.

- Barry Reitz, fiancé, Largo, Florida. Intended Victim? Double indemnity, $100,000 life insurance, $104 monthly premiums paid by Janet. Engaged Jan. 1991.

- Randy Smith (47), husband #7; died Oct. 14, 1990; drowned; Largo, Florida; $250,000 life insurance paid. His applications signatures were determined to have been forged.

- Cecil “Jay” Griffin (Griffen), Husband #5 (#6?), divorced May 1990. Janet Smith charged with plotting with her son [Matthew Paxton, father was husband #2] to kill him. Mountain Home, Arkansas.

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CHRONOLOGY

April 13, 1942 – Janet born, Ohio.

Dec. 1982 – Janet marries Griffin (Griffen), Grand Ridge.

May 2, 1990 – Janet divorces Griffin (Greffen).

May 19, 1990 – Janet marries Randy Smith (47).

Oct. 14, 1990 – Randy Smith, husband #7; died Drowned. $230,000 life insurance paid.

Nov. 2, 1990 – civil injunction filed by Randall Smith Jr & Kathryn Smith.

Ca. 1990-91 – Janet Smith’s house burns; receives $80,000 insurance payment; moves to Ohio with Jay[?]

Jan. 1991 – Barry Reitz (64), fiancé, life insurance policy taken out.

Jan. 1991 – Charlie Miller (66), fiancé, dies.

2002 – Janet and Jay squabble; Jay moves to as motel.

2003 – Janet Smith arrested and charged in plotting to murder Cecil “Jay” Griffin (Griffen). Arkansas.

Sep. 2003 – Charges dropped, Janet Smith (61)

August 3, 2013 – Janet A. Smith (71), Hollister, MO, dies.

Janet’s Residences: Florida, Ohio, Arkansas

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Obituary: Janet Smith, 71, of Hollister, MO, formerly of Mountain Home, AR, April 13, 1942 - August 3, 2013. Janet A. Smith, age 71, of Hollister, passed away in her home Saturday, August 3, 2013. She was born April 13, 1942 in Ohio.

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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.

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MORE: Female Serial Killers & Arson

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[170-1/8/21]

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Marie Knauer, Suspected Black Widow Serial Killer – California, 1903

FULL TEXT: San Francisco, Oct. 7. —The suit contesting the $60,000 estate left by Ferdinand Knauer, to his wife Marie, has developed some startling charges. The story of Mrs. Knauer's life as told in the suit is that she originally eloped to this country with a German army officer. She deserted' her husband and while living in Chicago induced the lieutenant whom she had married, and a son that they had adopted, to insure their lives in her favor. Both husband and son died of mysterious ailments, supposed to be due to poison. While the son was being buried Marie eloped with the undertaker and fled again for Germany. Her undertaker died suddenly. She then returned to America and came to San Francisco, setting up business as a massage artist. While here she became employed as a nurse to Mr. Knauer, aged 73 and induced to take a flat. Moved by her pitiful story that she had lost her husband, brother, son, and her dear old grandfather, Knauer was induced to marry her. In December a surgeon informed Knauer that an operation was necessary and to please his wife attached a codocil to his will bequeathing her all his estate. Knauer died, not surviving the operation. The suit is brought by Knauer's relatives.

[“Poisoned Husbands - Favorite Pastime of California Woman. - Sensation In A Will Contest - Widow Left $60,000 Accused of Having Made Way With Several Consorts.” The Evening Statesman (Walla Walla, Wa.), Oct. 7, 1903, p. 1]

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FULL TEXT: On motion of A. Muenter, attorney for Marie Knauer, who is said to have inveigled the late Ferdinand Knauer, an aged German, into a marriage in order that she might secure his money, Mrs. Knauer's petition for a partial distribution to her of Knauer's estate was yesterday withdrawn and an order that the petition be dismissed was entered on the records of Judge Troutt's court.

The dismissal of the petition changes the aspect of the case, and will be used by the attorneys for the contestants of Knauer's will as proof that the alleged widow practically admits, by withdrawing the petition, that the claims of the contestant that she is not the widow are based on fact.

Attorney Muenter created quite a stir among the interested attorneys yesterday morning by informing them that he had been approached by people who told him that Knauer had left a son, and that the latter would soon come forward to fight for estate of his father. Muenter did not give the name of his informant, and vouchsafed no other information other than the statement that the son was supposed to be the child of a Mexican woman with whom, he said, Knauer had been intimate.

[“Mrs. Marie Knauer Stops Distribution Proceedings - Withdraws Petition for Partition of Decedent's Estate — Attorney Says Heir Has Been Found.” The Call (San Francisco, Ca.), Jan. 20, 1904, p. 4]

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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.

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[95-1/12/21]

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Betty Rowland, Executed Husband-Killer, Suspected of Two Other Husband-Killings – England, 1836

Betty Rowland was prosecuted for the murder of her husband, William Rowland (50). At her trial is was disclosed that she had been long been suspected of murdering two previous husbands by poisoning.

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FULL TEXT: WILFUL MURDER. – Betty Rowland, 46, was charged with the willful murder of her husband, William Rowland, at Manchester, on the 19th of November last.

Mr. Brandt conducted the case for the prosecution; the prisoner was undefended.

The prisoner, when placed at the bar, presented a most wretched and decrepid appearance; her age appeared nearer 60 than that started in the indictment.

Jeremiah Crawley – Knew the deceased for many years. The prisoner and deceased were both Irish. Witness saw the deceased on the Sunday before his death, when he was in perfect health. Went into prisoner’s house on the next Sunday Saw prisoner and another woman there. The prisoner and the other woman offered him some drink, which he refused. Saw a coffin, and asked prisoner what she had done with this man. Told her it was suspected she had poisoned him, as she had done with two previous husbands. Witness then went out, and prisoner followed him to say something to him, when he said, " No, you wretch, nothing you can say will prevent me from giving notice to the public authorities.'' Witness then acquainted a police officer. Witness went on the Saturday following (the 28th) to the burying-ground in Every-street, and recognised the body of the deceased, when it was disinterred.

Ann Heaton — Lived in November last near the house of the prisoner. Was called up at a quarter before four o'clock on Thursday, the 19th of November, by the prisoner, who asked witness to get up, for that her (prisoner's) husband was just dead. Witness got up, and prisoner said, " Nanny, it will be very awful for you, for he is sitting in the chair with my cloak round him." Prisoner opened the door, and then stepped behind witness. Witness went into the house and saw deceased sitting in a chair with a cloak round him. Prisoner showed witness a gin jug, and said, "This is the mug out of which my poor husband drank last." She said she had given him some ale and rum. She had given him some gin and garlic also. Prisoner showed witness the mug again, and said, See, he has drunk the whole of it." Prisoner never left the jug out of her own hand all that time.

Alice Benker — I went with the prisoner to Mr. Goodman's, a druggist, to buy some pobon for rats. Dr. Goodman sold the prisoner something from the left-hand part of the shop. It was like flour. Prisoner afterwards told witness that the poison was for rats in the cellar.

Thomas Goodman — Is a druggist at Manchester, "The last witness was in the habit of purchasing articles at his shop Does not know the prisoner. In November last the arsenic kept in his shop was on the left-hand side; generally gives nux vomica for poisoning rats, unless arsenic be asked for. Arsenic is white, like flour, and might deceive an inexperienced person. Never gave arsenic without a caution as to its use, and always wrote " Poison" on the paper in which it is wrapped.

James Sawley — Is a police officer at Manchester. Went on the 22d of November to the house of the prisoner, in consequence of information which he had received. Saw at the prisoner's house from fifteen to twenty people. The corpse of the deceased also lay there, and the people in the house were drinking. Witness said the deceased should not be interred until he (witness) had reported the circumstance to the coroner. Several persons in the house said it should be interred at once, and witness replied, " Then I must take this woman into my custody," which was also resisted; but after a while they consented that she should go, and some followed them on the way, the prisoner exclaiming several times, "Oh, dear me! I never gave him anything." After a consultation with the coroner the prisoner was liberated, and directions given that the interment of the deceased should not be interrupted, but that the place of burial should be watched. Mr. Thomas, superintendent of police at Manchester, proved that the prisoner confessed, whilst in custody, having put the arsenic into some gruel she had made for her husband, saying it was by mistake for sugar.

Mr. Olliver — Is a surgeon, made an examination of deceased s body on the ä7th November. The examination took place in the burying ground where the corpse had been interred. Analysed the contents of the stomach and found it to be white arsenic. "There was a great deal of it, as much as would have poisoned any man in the course of twenty-four hours. The arsenic was the cause of death.

Mr. Goodman recalled by the Judge — The quantity of arsenic sold for a penny is sufficient to poison half-a-dozen persons. It would be impossible to mistake arsenic for sugar.

The Learned Judge, in summing up the evidence, commented thereon at much length.

The jury retired, and, after a short deliberation, found the Prisoner Guilty, and his Lordship sentenced the prisoner to be hung on Saturday (this day).

[“Wilful Murder.” The Morning Post (London, England), Apr. 9, 1836, p. 4]

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FULL TEXT: The unfortunate female, Betty Rowland, convicted on Thursday last of the willful murder of her husband, Wm. Rowland, at Manchester, on the 31 st March last, suffered the extreme penalty of the law on Saturday, in front of the County House of Correction, Kirkdale.  It having been announced in the newspapers, by mistake, that the execution would take place early in the morning, an immense number of persons assembled in the fields and roads adjacent to the goal by five o’clock, and notwithstanding a notice issued by Mr. Amos, the respected governor of the prison, to the effect that the fatal ceremony would not take place until three o’clock in the afternoon, they most tenaciously determined to disbelieve it, and from that period up to the stated time they continued on the spot. They conducted themselves in a most discraceful manner, pelting each other, and finally committing depredations in the most open manner. They made an attack upon the females (of whom we regret to say there was a large sprinkling), tearing away their tippets [a scarf-like narrow piece of clothing, worn over the shoulders], shawls, bonnets, and other articles of dress, convenient to carry away. Many of the females took refuge from the villains in the goal, and were let out through the Court-house at the other end of the building. The wretched creature who called forth the curiosity of the multitude, for a fortnight previous to her conviction, and immediately after her condemnation, and immediately after her condemnation, appeared fully sensible of the awful situation in which she was placed, paying the most devoted attention to the religious consolation afforded to her, when she was again pressed to make confession of her crime and acknowledged the justice of her sentence. She again stated that her intention was not to murder her husband; for although they sometimes had had quarrels, at times they lived happily, and were very fond of each other.

The religious ceremonies having been concluded, the under-sheriff", Mr. Birchell, accompanied by Mr. Amos, proceeded to the chapel, where the latter delivered up his charge to the under-sheriff, saying, " Betty Rowland, this is the under-sheriff, I deliver you up to him to undergo the awful sentence of the law which has been awarded." She was then accommodated with a chair, until the clock tolled the hour of three, when she was led to the fatal scaffold, the funeral service was read, and in a few minutes she ceased to exist.

The unfortunate woman, who was described as 46 ye:ir8 of age in the calendar, appeared to be nearly 60. She was dressed in one of the Lancashire bedgowns, a linsey-wolsey petticoat, and a frilled cap. She supported herself with fortitude during the whole of the awful ceremony. John Berry, of Prestwich, the other unfortunate malefactor, was respited at nine o’clock on Friday night, in consequence of a representation from the jury, to the effect, if they had considered their verdict would have hanged him they would have returned a verdict of manslaughter. The respite for fourteen days.

[“Execution of Betty Rowland, And Disgraceful Riot.” The Morning Post (London, England), Apr. 12, 1836, p.  4]

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CHRONOLOGY

Dec. 18, 1835 – William Rowland (50), becomes ill.

Dec. 19, 1835 – William Rowland (50), dies.

Dec. 22, 1835 – funeral scheduled.

Dec. 25 ca., 1835 – Body exhumed and examined. arsenic found.

Dec. 30, 1835 – Betty Rowland (46); defendant at coroner’s inquest.

Mar. 30, 1836 – She was found guilty at the trial on 30 March and sentenced to death. 

Apr. 19, 1836 – Betty Rowland (46) executed; hanged in front of the House of Correction at Kirkdale, Liverpool; riot.

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SEE: Naomi Clifford , “Three women hanged for poisoning their husbands in 1836: Betty Rowland,” Nov. 11, 2016, NaomiClifford.com

https://www.naomiclifford.com/betty-rowland/

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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.

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More cases: Female Serial Killers Executed

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