It is a known fact that the most dangerous serial killers are the ones
who seem like normal, ordinary people. That way they are able to get
away with the horrendous crimes. Throughout history, there were a
number of women who secretly poisoned and tortured innocent people.
We compiled a list of some of worst and most terrifying killers. Wives,
maids, young girls, and even nobles, these criminals came from all
walks of life and from all over the world. Read below for our list of the
most frightening female serial killers in history.
1. Elizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed was a 16 century Hungarian
noble. She is perhaps the most well-known female serial killer, as well
as the most terrifying. Witnesses claimed Bathory would torture and kill
her victims in the dungeons of her castle, and even eat their flesh and
drink their blood. The Countess started with young peasant girls, luring
them with promises of well-paid work as maids. She moved on to
women of the lower nobility, who were convinced they are moving to
the castle to receive etiquette lessons. After further investigation,
Báthory was accused of killing as many as 650. The “Blood Countess”
was found guilty in trial in 1611 and died in her prison four years later.
The story of the countess inspired many legends, books, and films.
2. Amelia Dyer
Amelia Dyer owned a “baby farm” in England during the late 19
century, where she took in newborns from mothers who became
pregnant illegitimately. Dyer would either help find adoptions for the
babies or let them die from malnutrition, but eventually she started to
murder them. It is confirmed that she killed six babies, but she was
believed to have murdered 200 to 400 more. Dyer was caught in 1879
and sentenced to six months of hard labor, and once she was freed she
went back to killing babies. She was caught again 15 years later, and
this time she pleaded guilty and was hanged.
3. Delphine LaLaurie
Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie was a New Orleans socialite during
the early 19 century. She had a number of slaves, who everyone
believed were treated well. Many praised LaLaurie for her beauty and
charm. However, after a fire in her home it was revealed Madame had a
torture chamber where several black slaves were found hanged.
LaLaurie fled to Paris after an angry mob attacked her house. The
investigations reveal that the socialite was involved in the torture and
murders of hundreds of slaves.
4. Gwen Graham and Cathy Woods
Gwen Graham and Cathy Wood began dating when they met at the
Alpine Nursing Home, where they worked as nurse’s aides. As part of a
“love bond,” the two conspired and smothered five elderly people.
Graham started dating another woman and moved up with her to
Texas. In 1988 Wood’s ex-husband, who knew about the murders from
Wood, went to the authorities. During the investigation process, Wood
and Graham accused each other as the main motivator and the
manipulator in the relationship. Graham was sentenced to five life
sentences after she was found guilty on five counts of murder. Wood
was sentenced to 20 years, and is expected to be released in 2021.
5. Júlia Fazekas and the Angels of Nagyrév
Júlia Fazekas, a midwife, had an interesting solution for women’s
problems. During World War I, many women in the Hungarian village of
Nagyrév took foreign lovers since their husbands were gone to fight in
the war. Naturally, no woman wanted her husband to find her with
another man or a child that wasn’t his. Fazekas helped these women,
the “Angels of Nagyrev,” to poison their husbands. She participated in
the deaths of over 300 people from 1914 to 1929. Fazekas allegedly
said, “Why put up with them?”
6. Martha Needle
Martha Needle was raised in a poor and abusive home in South
Australia during the 1860s. She reportedly showed signs of instability
since childhood. By 1891, she poisoned her husband and three small
children, and used the collected insurance money to buy a grave for the
family.
A year after the murder, Needle was hired as a housekeeper by brothers
Otto and Louis Junken. She and Otto started a love affair, which Louis
was completely opposed to. He suddenly became ill for a mysterious
reason and passed away a few months later. Otto’s second brother also
died from an illness shortly after moving in with the couple. After an
autopsy, it was revealed Needle had been feeding the brother arsenic.
An investigation started and the bodies of her husband and children
were found, and they all tested positive for arsenic. Needle claimed she
was innocent, but was sentenced to death. Interestingly, Otto stayed by
her side until the very end.
7. Magdalena Solis
Magdalena Solis, or “The High Priestess of Blood,” was a cult leader
and serial killer in Mexico. Sometime in 1963, Solis and her brother
were contacted by two criminals, the Hernandez brothers. The brothers
convinced residents of a local village that they were prophets of Incan
gods. The poor villagers paid taxes and provided sacrifices to the
“prophets,” but when the villagers realized nothing was changing, the
brothers claimed Solis as a reincarnation of a goddess to restore faith
in them.
Solis created horrifying rituals of human sacrifices that involved
beating, burning, cutting, and mutilating victims. The priests would
drink a mix of human and chicken blood. In the most extreme cases,
there were dissections of live victims’ hearts.
That same year, a 14-year-old boy accidently witnessed the rituals. He
reported what he saw to a detective, but after both of them disappeared
the police started an investigation. The Hernandez prophets were
arrested and Solis and her brother were sentenced to 50 years in
prison.
8. Hélène Jégado
Hélène Jégado was a French maid who lived in the early 1800s. She
started poisoning her victims in 1833 while she was working for a
priest. She allegedly killed seven people in the course of three months,
including her sister and the priest. Since there was a cholera outbreak
in the area, nobody thought the deaths were unusual. In 1850 she
poisoned a number of servants at the household she was working at.
When a doctor requested to see one of the corpses for an autopsy,
Jégado exclaimed that she was innocent — for no apparent reason. The
doctor became suspicious and an investigation began. The maid was
found guilty of three murders, three attempted murders, and eleven
thefts. She was executed by guillotine in 1852.
9. Mary Bell
This killer started early. Eleven-year old Mary Bell from England was
found guilty of strangling two small boys, aged 3 and 4. She went back
to the murder scene and carved the letter M on her victims’ stomachs
with a razor, as well as other mutilations. Bell was released from prison
in 1980, when she was 23. Since her release, the killer has been living
under court-protected anonymity. In 1998 a book was about her life
was written, called Cries Unheard: The Story Of Mary Bell.
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