Statistically, a man is much more likely to serial kill. But that doesn’t mean women never become multiple murderers. Throughout history there are grisly crimes committed by women. All over the world women have killed infants, other women, and men in vicious ways. These are the stories of a few unbelievable female serial killers.
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Dorothea Puente. Sacramento, California. Nicknamed “Death House Landlady” for her crimes, Puente ran a boarding house in the 1980s. When one of her boarders went missing, homicide detectives investigated the home. They soon discovered seven bodies buried in the backyard of the 59-year-old Puente. She went on the run for four days before detectives found her in an LA motel. Prosecutors suspect she poisoned her tenants to collect their social security, netting almost $5000 a month. (source)
Genene Jones. San Antonio, Texas. Authorities believe Jones responsible for the death of over 60 infants in her care at Bexar County Hospital. She worked in the pediatric ward as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN). There’s no way to know the exact number of her victims. Hospital administrators, once aware of her actions, destroyed the records of the infants she murdered. Fearing lawsuits from parents, they fired all the LVN staff at the hospital instead of turning in Jones. She left San Antonio to work at a pediatric clinic in nearby Kerrville, Texas. It was there that detectives apprehended her after a botched murder attempt. She went to trial in 1985 and was sentenced to 99 years. (source)
Miyuki Ishikawa. Tokyo, Japan. During the 1940s, Ishikawa worked as a midwife in the Kotobuki maternity hospital. It’s believed she killed between 103 and 169 infants in her care through neglect. Ishikawa claimed she was doing both the infants and the parents a favor, since many of her patients were poor and may not have been able to care for the children. At one point she sought payments from parents for killing their infants. Ultimately, she served only 4 years in prison, her defense placed blame on the parents for leaving the infants in her care. (source)
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Aileen Wuornos. Daytona, Florida. Wuornos is the subject of the movie Monster, which earned its star Charlize Theron an Oscar. Wuornos killed six men in Florida before getting caught, prosecuted, and put to death by lethal injection. The first murder, of sexual predator Richard Mallory, Wuornose claimed was in self-defense. At first she claimed the following five murders were also in self-defense but later retracted the statement. Wuornos found her victims on the highways of Florida and hid their bodies in a junkyard. (source)
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Leonarda Cianciulli. Correggio, Italy. Called ‘The Soapmaker of Correggio’ Cianciulli killed three women between 1939 and 1940. She believed human sacrifice would protect her eldest son after he went to war. After murdering each woman, she’d cut their bodies into pieces and cook them in a pot. Out of the pot came both cakes and soaps which she’d sell, give to acquaintances and eat herself. After authorities caught her, she remained unrepentant and was later sentenced to 30 years in prison. She died in 1970, the infamous pot is on display in a museum in Italy. (source)