The rarest of criminals, especially murderers, are women. Be it due to their particular biology or something more cultural, women account for an incredibly small amount of crime. Though women account for a little less than half of the world’s population, they only make up 5% of the total prison population. Some, however, rise to the top and commit violent, unspeakable crimes.
Let’s meet 10 of the most famous female criminals of all time. (For criminals of the commerce variety, meet the most infamous white-collar criminals of all time.)
To compile a list of the most famous female criminals, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of publications and websites including The Famous People, and The Crime Wire. After that, we selected a variety of female criminals with different Modus Operandi and from different eras. After that, we consulted sites like Britannica and Biography for biographical information.
Aileen Wuornos
A career prostitute and serial killer, Aileen Wuornos didn’t have much chance at a good life. Born to a pedophile father and a mother who quickly abandoned her and her siblings, Wuornos began exchanging her body for food or drugs at an early age. What followed was a tragic tale of sexual abuse, suicide attempts, and eventually, serial murder.
Over the 12 months between 1989 and 1990, Wuornos murdered seven men, with many of them being her customers. When she was caught, Wuornos claimed that all the murders were in self-defense after the victims raped or attempted to rape her. The jury didn’t buy it, however, and she was sentenced to death. On October 9, 2002, Wuornos was executed by lethal injection in Florida. (For other female killers, discover the most evil female serial killers in history.)
Amelia Dyer
Born Amelia Elizabeth Hobley and later known as the Ogress of Reading, Amelia Dyer was a trained nurse who fell into the lucrative Victorian-era practice of baby farming. That is, adopting unwanted babies and fostering them in exchange for money. Though Dyer appeared to take to the job quickly, a number of the babies died under her care, and she was sentenced to six months of hard labor.
Upon release, she began killing the infants, often strangling them before disposing of the bodies. Mentally unstable and spending periods of her life in mental asylums, Dyer was eventually caught for her murders. This came after a baby’s body was fished out of the Thames River. It resulted in one of the most sensational trials of the Victorian Era. Though she was found guilty of one murder and hanged, there’s a good chance there are untold more babies she killed Dyer never answered for.
Karla Homolka
One of the most famous female criminals ever is Karla Homolka. She is also the only criminal on this list who is currently free. Homolka’s story starts with her destined meeting with Paul Bernardo. A salesman by day and the Scarborough rapist by night, Bernardo took an evil shine to Homolka’s younger sister and convinced Karla to kill her with him.
What followed was a series of murders, with many of them recorded to videotape. When the pair were eventually caught, Homolka claimed she was an unwilling participant in the crimes, doing so only out of fear for her life. However, the surfaced video tapes suggested she was a more eager participant than she claimed. Nevertheless, Homolka was given a reduced sentence for manslaughter and is currently free, living somewhere in Quebec.
Myra Hindley
Another one of the most famous female criminals is Myra Hindley. Also part of a serial killer pair, Hindley met Ian Brady at a job they both worked at. By all accounts obsessed with Brady, Hindley was overjoyed when he finally asked her on a date. What followed was a series of some of the most brutal murders in English history known as the Moors Murders.
Responsible for five bodies, the pair were eventually caught in 1965. In court, Hindley proclaimed innocence, but both were sentenced to life in prison. Twenty years later, however, Brady admitted to more murders which reopened the investigation. Around this time, Hindley finally admitted guilt in all the murders. Called “the most evil woman in Britain,” Hindley died at the West Suffolk Hospital after 36 years in prison. (For other criminals who did their deeds in the post-war period, meet the most wanted criminals of the 1960s.)
Elizabeth Bathory
One of the most famous female criminals of all time is undoubtedly Elizabeth Bathory. A Hungarian Noblewoman from the noble, land-owning family of Bathory, Elizabeth was also an accused serial killer. Arrested in 1610 along with four of her servants, Bathory was accused of killing scores of women and girls. She was even accused of bathing in the victims’ blood to preserve her youth.
Though many modern historians see the story of Bathory as a politically motivated witchhunt, the jury is still out on the accuracy of her alleged crimes. Either way, Bathory was imprisoned in Čachtice Castle, dying shortly after. True or not, she has come down through the history books as an inspiration for vampire stories. What’s more, she is still considered an almost mythical evil character.
Nannie Doss
Born Nancy Hazel, Nannie Doss was a serial killer of the Bluebeard variety. Born and raised in Alabama, Doss got married early. It was an unhappy one, however, as two of their children died of suspected food poisoning. Though this first husband survived, her next few betrothals would not fare as well.
Doss married a few more times and even had more children, but all of them would meet unseemly ends. Suspicion only fell on her when her fifth husband died and his autopsy revealed fatal amounts of the poison arsenic in his system. After that, Doss confessed to 11 murders. All in all, by poisoning or worse, she killed four husbands, her mother, sister, grandson, and mother-in-law, often taking out life insurance policies on the victims before their murders. For her crimes, Doss was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Griselda Blanco
Unlike the other most famous female criminals on this list, Griselda Blanco was an entrepreneur. Born in the mean streets of Cartegena, Colombia, Blanco was raised in a violent, lawless atmosphere that no doubt gave way to her life’s work. In the mid-60s, she emigrated to the United States where she quickly set up a thriving drug dealing business. Although she fled the country back home, she returned to Miami in the late 70s.
Coincidentally, her return stateside lined up with the murder epidemic that plagued the already drug-soaked Miami in the early 1980s. She was eventually arrested on drug trafficking charges and three counts of first-degree murder for alleged drug-business-related hits and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Due to health reasons, she was eventually released and returned to Colombia. Not long after, however, Blanco was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Medellín, Colombia.
Juana Barraza
Perhaps less known than other famous female criminals, the story of professional wrestler and serial killer Juana Barraza is still a compelling one. Fascinated by lucha libre style wrestling from an early age, Barazza would become one as an adult under the auspicious ring name of La Dama del Silencio.
The Lady of Silence was also a serial killer of older women. Accused of murdering and robbing 16 elderly women, Barazza was finally arrested after the crimes went unsolved for years. Though she only admitted to one of the murders in court, Barazza was found guilty of all 16 murders and sentenced to 759 years in prison where she currently resides.
Belle Gunness
Much like Nannie Doss, Belle Gunness was a serial killer who preyed on unsuspected men. A Norwegian immigrant to the United States, Gunness married Mads Sørensen in 1884. What followed was a series of burned-down properties that were quickly reimbursed through insurance as well as mysterious deaths including of her husband.
This gave Gunness the money to buy a farm in Indiana, which she used to lure lonely men via newspaper advertisements. All in all, she is thought to have killed at least fourteen people but is suspected of many more. Only after her farmhouse burned down with her in it were bodies and the subsequent murders discovered. The autopsy on her body, however, suggested it was not her. Rumors still abound that she managed to fake her death and disappear into the great heart of the Midwest, but we may never know.
Dagmar Overbye
Another one of the most famous female criminals is Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye. A professional child caretaker by trade, Overbye was believed to have killed between nine and 25 children between 1913 and 1920, including one of her own. She did this by strangling them, burning them, or drowning them before disposing of the bodies in the ground or hidden in her loft.
Overbye was eventually caught, however, tried, and convicted for nine of the murders. Though there was insufficient evidence for any more convictions, her lawyer claimed the murders were due to Overbye’s abuse as an infant. The judge didn’t buy it and sentenced her to death. This made her one of the three Danish women sentenced to death in the 20th century. Her sentence was reprieved, however, and she spent the rest of her life in prison.
For a co-ed list of brutal criminals, meet 25 of the most brutal criminals who ever lived.)