Romance can turn into a fatal attraction.
Research from Northeastern University shows that this is true for many female murderers, with more than half of female murders involving family members or intimate partners.
According to the International Journal of Health Services, only about 15 percent of all murders are committed by women, including these five murderers who took the lives of their lovers, romantic partners, or both.
Linda Kolkena’s friend Dan Broderick documents shocking murder: Betty Broderick ‘lost control’
betty broderick
Betty Broderick, now 76 and in prison, exacted the ultimate revenge after her husband left her to marry a much younger secretary with whom he had an affair.
Broderick was furious when she discovered that her husband of nearly 20 years, Dan Broderick, had been cheating on her with Linda Kolkena.
After a protracted and adversarial divorce proceeding in California, Dan assumed custody of Broderick’s four children against his wishes. According to Esquire, Broderick was at a disadvantage in the separation because her husband, a lawyer who is a member of the San Diego Bar Association, made it difficult to find a good lawyer to represent her. said.
An undated photo of Betty Broderick, now 76 years old. She has been denied parole twice and will not be eligible for parole again until 2032. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
After their divorce was finalized in 1989, Broderick ignored numerous restraining orders and left hundreds of profane messages on her ex-husband’s answering machine, according to CBS8.
On November 5, 1989, about six months after her husband married Kolkena, Broderick drove to the newlyweds’ home with a recently purchased revolver.
Using the keys she took from her daughter, she entered the house while the couple were sleeping and shot them multiple times. Evidence presented at her trial shows that she removed her husband’s cell phone from her bedroom, preventing him from calling her for help.
Kolkena was shot in the head, while Dunn was shot in the chest but did not die immediately. Only after Broderick took his last breath did he turn himself in and turn himself in to police.
candy montgomery
After having an affair with a married man, Candy Montgomery went to his Texas home and beat his wife with an axe.
The defense argued at his 1980 murder trial that Montgomery killed Betty Gore only in self-defense, and that when the woman questioned him about her relationship with Betty Gore’s husband, Alan Gore, Montgomery’s toe was stolen. He said he swung the ax down.
But prosecutors say the 41 ax blows (28 to the head and face) show the killing was personal and went far beyond simple self-defense. did.
What happened to Candy Montgomery? The scary story behind Hulu’s “CANDY”
This image released by Hulu shows Jessica Biel, who plays Candy Montgomery in the Candy series. (Hulu via AP)
Police initially suspected Alan of murdering his wife, but Oxygen said the bloody footprints left at the scene after the June 13, 1980 murder were too small to be his. reported.
However, on the day of his wife’s burial, Alan told police that he had been having an affair with his friend Montgomery for the better part of a year, leading them to the correct suspect.
Montgomery was ultimately acquitted of Gore’s murder on the grounds of self-defense, but the decision came after a psychologist explained that Gore told Montgomery to “shhh”, triggering a traumatic memory from his childhood. I was greatly influenced by the testimony.
Montgomery has since worked as a mental health therapist, according to the Daily Mail.
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Jodi Arias
Travis Alexander’s friends were wary of his girlfriend Jodi Arias, whom he started dating in 2006.
“It started to look just disturbing,” friend Skye Lovinger-Hughes later told ABC News.
“I said, ‘Travis, I’m afraid they’re going to find you cut up in the freezer.’ … From very early on, she was obsessed with him.”
Arias returned to California from the apartment she shared with Alexander after the two had a big fight in April 2008. Alexander was reported missing in June of that year as he was about to go on a trip to Cancun with friends.
‘Birds Behind: Jodi Arias’ star Serena Sinden talks about preparing to play a convicted murderer in her new movie
Jodi Arias was first convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 for the 2008 killing of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, but a jury could not decide whether she deserved the death penalty. , a mistrial was declared. She is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. (Arizona Department of Corrections)
Investigators said Arias stabbed Alexander nearly 30 times, cut her throat and shot her in the head at her home in Mesa, Arizona.
She claimed in court that she killed Alexander in self-defense after he attacked her for dropping her new camera, but that she lost consciousness during the stabbing, according to People magazine.
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Arias was sentenced to life in prison without parole on April 13, 2015. She said Arias is serving her sentence at Perryville State Prison for Women, and she is not eligible for release.
Stephanie Lazarus
Former Los Angeles Police Department detective. Stephanie Lazarus was sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2012 for murdering the wife of his ex-boyfriend. She spent more than 25 years without any criminal charges.
Lazarus beat and then shot and killed nurse Sherry Rasmussen in the condo she shared with John Ruten, Rasmussen’s husband of three months and Lazarus’ ex-girlfriend.
When Rasmussen’s body was discovered in 1986, detectives suspected two robbers who had attacked another woman in the area. However, the reason Lazarus’ name is on Rasmussen’s case file is because of Lazarus’ previous relationship with Ruten, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Former Lapland police detective found guilty in unsolved murder case
A veteran Los Angeles Police Department detective. Stephanie Lazarus appears at the Criminal Justice Center for her murder arraignment on June 9, 2009 in Los Angeles. Lazarus was charged with murdering Sherry Rasmussen, the wife of his ex-girlfriend, on February 24, 1986. (Mark Boster Poole/Getty Images)
The case wasn’t solved until undercover investigators tracked Lazarus down and produced a sample of her saliva. The saliva matched DNA from bite marks left on Rasmussen’s body.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the California Parole Board recommended Lazarus’ release in November.
caitlin armstrong
Yoga instructor Caitlin Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years in prison in November for the murder of her alleged rival, gravel cycling pro Anna Moria “Mo” Wilson.
Armstrong, 37, shot Wilson, 25, twice in the head and once in the heart minutes after Colin Strickland dropped the young woman off at a friend’s apartment in Texas. Strickland was Armstrong’s boyfriend at the time, but she also had a past relationship with Wilson.
Caitlin Armstrong sentenced for murder of gravel cycling star Mo Wilson
Caitlin Armstrong was convicted of murder and sentenced to 90 years in prison for shooting and killing professional cyclist Anna Moria “Mo” Wilson in Austin, Texas. (Travis County Sheriff’s Office)
Strickland dated Wilson during her breakup with Armstrong. Even after getting back together with the yoga instructor, Strickland maintained a friendship with Wilson.
Mr. Armstrong was questioned after the May 11, 2022, murder. However, after being released from her custody, she sold her Jeep and fled the country.
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In Costa Rica, Armstrong underwent plastic surgery to change his face. When she was finally tracked to Santa Teresa after 43 days on the run, police said she had plastic surgery receipts and a list of her attorneys.
