Female Offenders

A photo gallery of female teachers, mothers and caregivers who have been charged with anything from inappropriate behavior with minors to having sex with young students.

The nation is always shocked by criminal cases such as Andrea Yates, a mother of five who methodically drowned all of her children in a bathtub then calmly called police, but mothers killing their children is more common than we might think.

It is indeed rare for a woman to be given the death sentence in the United States. Of the 3,487 persons on death row in the U.S. as of June 2004, only 49 of them, or 1.3 percent, were women.

A profile of Amy Fisher, her affair with Joey Buttafuoco, and the attempted murder of Mary Jo Buttafuoco.

Amy Fisher, the 16-year-old "Long Island Lolita" subject of made-for-television movies and tabloid headlines for shooting her married lover's wife, has published her biography called, "If I Knew Then..."

Amy Gilligan (1901-1928) was known for her nurturing tonics and nutritional meals at her private nursing home in Windsor, Connecticut. That was until it was discovered that she had added arsenic to her recipe.

Belle Gunness was responsible for killing 49 people on her small farm in La Porte, Indiana. Her victims included ranch workers, vagrant females, adopted children and her many husbands

Janie Lou Gibbs murdered her husband, three children and a grandson by poisoning them with arsenic so she could collect on their life insurance policies.

At age 22, self-proclaimed Manson family member, Leslie Van Houten, took part in the 1969 brutal murders of Leon and Rosemary LaBianca. She was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to death. Because of an error in her first trial she was granted a second which deadlocked. After spending six months free on bond, she returned to the courtroom a third time and was convicted and sentenced to life.

Kasabian was present during the Tate and LaBianca murders and gave eye-witness testimony for the prosecution during the murder trials. Her testimony was instrumental in the conviction of Charles Manson, Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten..

Lydia Trueblood was from Pocatello, Iowa and earned her seat on the list of female serial killers for poisoning five of her husbands, her brother-in-law and her baby girl.

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme became the voice of cult leader, Charlie Manson, when he was sent to prison. She also pointed a gun at President Ford, for which she is now serving a life sentence.

Mary Kay Letourneau: A profile of the grade school teacher convicted of child rape, after having sex with her 12-year-old student.

In the late 1960s, Patricia "Katie" Krenwinkel became a member of the infamous Manson family and participated in Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969.

On July 4, 1990, Stacey Ann Lannert, age 18, shot and killed her father, Tom Lannert, as he lay sleeping in the family's St. John, Missouri, home. In her statement to the police Stacey claimed that her father had sexually abused her. She was later found guilty of first degree murder of her father and sentenced to life in prison.

Stacey Lannert was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1992 murder of her sexually abusive father. The way the Missouri laws were written the jury was not permitted to take into consideration that Stacey was abused since childhood. If she was tried today, most feel the outcome would have been much different and she would possibly be free today. Without any appeals left, her one remaining hope is that the current Governor will consider her petition for clemency.

Susan "Sadie" Atkins is a former member of the Charles Manson family. She swore before a Grand Jury, that under the direction of Charlie Manson, she stabbed actress Sharon Tate and participated in the murder of music teacher Gary Hinman.

A 16-year-old Michigan teen has been charged with helping his girlfriend terminate her unwanted pregnancy by hitting her in the abdomin with a baseball bat over a period of two weeks, causing her to miscarriage.

Andrea Yates made a call to police after killing her children. Here is a copy of the transcript of the call from Andrea Yates to police.

Velma Barfield was a 52-year-old grandmother and serial poisoner who used arsenic as her weapon. She was also the first woman executed after the death penalty was reinstituted in 1976 in North Carolina and the first woman to die by lethal injection.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row - from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

Women on Death Row Series from the About Crime Site. Find out what they did to get there.

A study in the December 2001 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry by Rosemary Purcell and her colleagues looked at the characteristics of male and female stalkers.

This report looks at the common paths of female criminals and how it differs than males. It also focuses on reasons for gender-responsive programs in the prison system.

In the United States you are 10 times more likely to be murdered on the day you are born, then at any other time during your life, and chances are, it will be at your mother who murders you.

In 1990, the American Correctional Association published the results from a survey it conducted on female offenders resulting in a very detailed profile of the female offender. This report has been updated, in some areas, through 2001.

A jury found Diane Downs guilty of shooting her three children because her boyfriend did not want to raise kids, a fact that Diane has always denied.

Patricia Blackmon brutally murdered her adopted 3-year-old child and is currently awaiting execution for her crimes.

Carolina Young killed her two grandchildren after losing custody of them to their father.

Robin Rows sits on Idaho's death row for the murder of her husband and two children.

Betty Lou Beets earned her Black Widow title after killing two of her husbands for money. The great-grandmother exhausted her several appeals in 2000 and Texas put her to death.

Profiles of women who kill those who love them.