Women Who've Murdered Their Husbands: A Comprehensive List Compiled by Our Sleuthers

[detectivewannabe]

Back to the list...Phil Hartman's wife

 

[michelle]

I don't think it's quite fair to lump Clara in with Betty (I know you're not doing that - just stating that they are entirely different situations). Betty was a bey-otch for a long time and did some really messed up stuff. Clara had one instance where she snapped.

While I would have liked to have seen Clara get a bit lighter sentence (vehicular homicide) as I don't feel her crime was premeditated, I believe the jury did the right thing. I don't believe Clara went there to run him over and kill him. I think her rage had taken over for those few short minutes and she couldn't control herself. I do not think she is a cold-blooded murderer. However, had they given her a lighter sentence, there would be plenty more situations just like hers in the news.

I dont think clara premeditated it either, betty did. She was a nut, and still is..

 

[Jules]

I dont think clara premeditated it either, betty did. She was a nut, and still is..

Agreed. She's another whose cheese has slid off her cracker.

 

[michelle]

Agreed. She's another whose cheese has slid off her cracker.

:laugh: LOL...Oh man i haven't heard that one, that is freaking funny!!

 

[Jules]

:laugh: LOL...Oh man i haven't heard that one, that is freaking funny!!

:angel:

That's my new favorite! :dance:

 

[NewMom2003]

:laugh: LOL...Oh man i haven't heard that one, that is freaking funny!!

I saw her write it a week or so ago. It's my favorite "Julesism".

And yes, Betty was off her rocker and I do believe Clara just snapped. If she had just run over him the one time, I could go for vehicular homicide, but she ran over him 3 times with his daughter in the car!!!!!

Sorry to all for hijacking the thread to rant about Clara Harris. :truce:

 

[Jules]

I saw her write it a week or so ago. It's my favorite "Julesism".

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: "Julesism"
Cute! :blowkiss:

And yes, Betty was off her rocker and I do believe Clara just snapped. If she had just run over him the one time, I could go for vehicular homicide, but she ran over him 3 times with his daughter in the car!!!!!

I do agree with the bolded part. That was definitely the clincher in her case. Shame - for all involved.

 

[michelle]

Doesnt she still insist though that she didnt know she was running him over and thought it was the curb?

 

[kellideister]

"in 1993, approximately 575,000 men were arrested for committing violence against women. approximately 49,000 women were arrested for committing violence against men.
American Psychl. *advertiser censored*'n, Violence and the Family: Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family (1996), p. 10."

http://www.dccadv.org/statistics.htm

"Women are much more likely than men to be killed by an intimate partner. In 2000, intimate partner homicides accounted for 33.5 percent of the murders of women and less than four percent of the murders of men.17 "

http://endabuse.org/resources/facts/

"In 2002, 76% of IPV homicide victims were female; 24% were male (Fox and Zawitz 2004)."

IPV stands for Intimate Partner Violence

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm

I had not commented earlier, because quite honestly I was floored with the initial post. Anyway, statistics prove that far more women are murdered by their male partners than men are murdered by their female partners. Yes, women do abuse. Yes, women do kill their husbands. However, the scale is not balanced as some have suggested. It is also a fact that men use physical violence; whereas women will use violence that is not physical. However, I don't think it should be insinuated that women are more 'cunning.' This insinutes that the females crime is worse than the males crime and that is not the case. Both are equally tragic. On my website, I list all deaths and abuse incidents that I hear about, male or female. This is because I know that both are victims of domestic violence. However, it is not on an equal level.

When sharing statistics, it is probably best to share those that are most recent. One of the statistics I list is from 1993. I have chosen that one to coincide with the initial post.

Just my thoughts.

 

[NewMom2003]

Barbara Stager - Murdered two husbands

http://www.geocities.com/traciy_curry/russ_stager_ron_michaels.html

 

[Pepper]

Here is an interesting article. It's quite long, but worth reading in its entirety.

http://www.forensicnursemag.com/articles/391lifedeath.html

Women who commit homicide have been documented as killing family members more often than any other type of murder. Usually there is a historical pattern of some type of abuse within the current household; however, past childhood abuse has been linked to a woman’s predisposition to kill. Killings between married couples occur at all states of relations despite social and economic boundaries. In those relationships ending in homicide, one or both of the partners often have been unemployed, therefore struggling financially and frequently under large amounts of stress. Alcohol can be a predisposing factor contributing to these homicides, as well as any history of jealously, marital violence, or past separations.

Typical motives for homicides of husbands center on:

Battering/self defense
Money/financial gain
Jealousy/rage
An undetermined motive or mental illness/personality disorder

In 1976, females murdered more than 1,357 male intimates. In 1993, men were the victims of about 162,870 violent crimes by an intimate partner. In 2000, an intimate partner killed approximately 1,247 women and 440 men. Percentages compiled recently have shown an intimate killed about 4 percent of male murder victims, compared to the average of 33 percent of female murder victims.

Baseline statistics show that on the average, men murdered by intimates dropped 68 percent between 1976 and 2000. From 1993 to 2000, the number of males who were murdered by an intimate remained relatively stable, while the number of female murder victims killed by an intimate slightly increased. The reason is unclear.

 

[Pepper]

I had not commented earlier, because quite honestly I was floored with the initial post. Anyway, statistics prove that far more women are murdered by their male partners than men are murdered by their female partners. Yes, women do abuse. Yes, women do kill their husbands. However, the scale is not balanced as some have suggested. It is also a fact that men use physical violence; whereas women will use violence that is not physical. However, I don't think it should be insinuated that women are more 'cunning.' This insinutes that the females crime is worse than the males crime and that is not the case. Both are equally tragic. On my website, I list all deaths and abuse incidents that I hear about, male or female. This is because I know that both are victims of domestic violence. However, it is not on an equal level.

When sharing statistics, it is probably best to share those that are most recent. One of the statistics I list is from 1993. I have chosen that one to coincide with the initial post.

Just my thoughts.

Regarding statistics - from what I am able to gleen, murder by a woman of her intimate partner is decreasing, although it appears that the Department of Justice has not published an indepth report since the 1994 study.

For clarification, of course muder is equally tragic, no matter who the victim is. By "cunning" I mean that women are far more prone to use "non-violent" methods such as poison, or staging an accident, as compared to using knives or guns that leave obvious traces. Often in these cases, especially if the victim is past the age of 40, death is deemed to be the result of natural causes, especially if the victim has a medical history of heart disease.

My point is that I believe many more females than males "get away with murder" because of the methods they choose. So maybe they commit the crime more often than the statistics would lead us to believe.

 

[Pepper]

Back to the list:

Sandy Murphy (live-in girlfriend) killed Ted Binion, casino owner
Jean Harris killed Dr. Herman Tarnower (Scarlsdale Diet author)
Claudine Longet killed Spider Sabich

 

[vanillasky]

Liysa Northon - murdered husband Chris, Ann Rule wrote a book about the case

Frances Newton - murdered her husband and children in Texas to collect on their insurance policies - she was executed last fall

 

[michelle]

Back to the list:

Sandy Murphy (live-in girlfriend) killed Ted Binion, casino owner
Jean Harris killed Dr. Herman Tarnower (Scarlsdale Diet author)
Claudine Longet killed Spider Sabich

Wasnt Sandy Murphy aquitted?

 

[kellideister]

Often in these cases, especially if the victim is past the age of 40, death is deemed to be the result of natural causes, especially if the victim has a medical history of heart disease.My point is that I believe many more females than males "get away with murder" because of the methods they choose. So maybe they commit the crime more often than the statistics would lead us to believe.

I think, in this day and age, when an autopsy is done they automatically also do a toxicology. Therefore, that would rule out any deaths that are wrongly classified. Many are now performed using the toxicology tests, so if they were indeed poisoned, it would show up in the tests the labs run. I don't believe, personally, that women 'get away with' murder any more than men do. There are both men and women that kill people and 'hide' it.

I don't know, I'll just agree to disgree. =)

 

[bbmcrae]

Back onto the topic of women who've done in their hubbys...

Stella Nickell-the Excedrin poisoner

http://nickell.tierranet.com/tales/bruce.htm

 

[proadvocate]

Betty Beets,executed by Texas for the murder of 2 husbands

 

[arielilane]

I'd like to add Susan Wright to the list; she murdered her husband.

 

[arielilane]

As far as I'm concerned her sentence was way too light. She only got something like 20 years. IMO, she should have life in prison. I understand her rage, but to murder him???? No way.

I remember the day the verdict came in. We were having dinner with friends and one of the wives said she was sad that Clara was convicted at all. This woman was almost in tears over it. She said it was David's fault that he was dead because he was having an affair and he deserved what Clara did to him. I almost came out of my chair at her because I had never heard something so profoundly stupid come out of her mouth. My husband literally held my legs on my chair with his hands under the table. He could tell I was about to make a scene. Needless to say we don't socialize with this couple anymore. To this day she believes Clara was wrongly convicted. :doh:

I do feel sorry for Clara's children and her step-daughter because they have lost their parents, but this was Clara's doing and she must pay the consequences.

About your friend you no longer socialize with; hopefully her hubby won't go out on her!