10 Times a Woman May Have Gotten Away With Murder
Some say they were clever. Others say they were just lucky. But one thing’s for sure—these women were at the center of murder cases that left the public guessing. Whether through charm, chaos, or a lack of evidence, they all walked free. Here are 10 times women may have literally gotten away with murder.
1. Belle Gunness
Known as the “Black Widow of La Porte,” Belle Gunness is believed to have killed over 40 people, including husbands, children, and wealthy suitors, primarily for insurance money. She faked her own death in 1908, and her body was never conclusively identified, leading many to believe she truly got away with murder.
2. Nannie Doss
Dubbed “The Giggling Granny,” Doss confessed to killing 11 people, including four husbands, two children, her mother, two sisters, a grandson, and a mother-in-law, mostly by poisoning. She was only caught after years of suspicious deaths in her family.
3. Darya Saltykova
A Russian noblewoman, Saltykova tortured and killed at least 38 female serfs. For years, she avoided prosecution due to her status and connections, and only after a direct appeal to Empress Catherine II was she finally brought to justice.
4. Hazelynn Stomps
In 2009, Hazelynn Stomps shot her husband, burned his body to destroy evidence, and reported him missing. She almost got away with it, but inconsistencies in her story and the discovery of bone fragments led to her arrest.
5. Ann Brier
Brier poisoned her husband with arsenic, initially getting away with it by making it look like a natural death. She was only caught after her lover confessed to his lawyer about her actions.
6. Lindsey Lowe
Lowe secretly gave birth to twins and killed them immediately after birth to hide her pregnancy. She hid the bodies in a laundry basket, and only after her father discovered them was she arrested.
7. Robin Lee Row
Row killed her estranged husband and two children by setting their house on fire to collect insurance money. She had previously collected insurance for another child’s suspicious death. Her crimes went undetected for years.
8. Jane Dorotik
Dorotik killed her husband and attempted to frame her daughter for the crime. She almost succeeded, but forensic evidence ultimately led to her conviction.
9. Lizzie Borden
Accused of brutally murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in 1892, Lizzie Borden was acquitted after a sensational trial. Many believe she was guilty but managed to escape justice due to lack of evidence and societal biases.
10. Belle Gunness (again, for emphasis)
Her disappearance and the ambiguity surrounding her fate have kept her case in the public imagination as one of the ultimate “got away with murder” stories—her body was never definitively found, and sightings of her were reported for years after her supposed death.
The Takeaway
These cases highlight how, through cunning, manipulation, or systemic failures, some women have either managed to evade justice for murder or nearly did so before eventually being caught. Many of these stories remain cautionary tales about the complexities of criminal investigations and societal perceptions of female offenders.
How To Not End Up As An Episode Of Dateline: Essential Online Dating Tips For Women
READ: How To Not End Up As An Episode Of Dateline: Essential Online Dating Tips For Women
As a post-menopausal single woman heading into my mid-60s who has come to value my autonomy and peace of mind above all else, and as an avid listener to the Dateline podcast, my inclination to venture back onto online dating has been almost non-existent in the past few years.
But I was bored one evening and decided to log in to Match.com for the first time in many years to see if the same pool of people was there since the last time I logged in. I found myself updating my profile, changing out the photos, and paying for a month of access, and then I went to bed….
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