10 of history’s most infamous female prisoners
Prison and prison life remain a fascinating subject for us law-abiding people. We all know the anecdotal (and probably terrible advice) doled out to people new to the clinking: fight the biggest man and assert dominance, watch yourself in the shower, etc. Women’s prisons, although they are more unknown , have crept into the public eye bit by bit in recent years, with documentaries and streaming shows like Orange is the new black gives us an, albeit sensational, glimpse into what life is like behind bars.
But what are female prisoners like? Are they in prison for the same terrible crimes committed by men? Do they reach a level of fame like the infamous Bronson?
Here is a list of ten of the most infamous female prisoners ever.
Related: 10 reasons why women marry serial killers
10 Gene Jones
Murderers are probably among the most deserving people to end up behind bars. From a logical point of view, the threat of ending someone’s life should be enough to keep you out of society as a whole. Killing a child, however, is on a whole different level.
This Texas murderer, born in 1950, was a pediatric nurse and came into contact with children and victims every day during his work. By injecting her victims with various poisons, investigators estimate that Jones ended the lives of approximately 60 children, putting her in the category of a serial killer.
Sentenced to 99 years for the murder of Chelsea Ann McLellan, it seemed as if Jones was destined for life behind bars. In a stunning turnaround, a mandatory release law was passed, and Jones became eligible for release after serving only a third of her sentence. After much effort and more deaths attributed to her coming to light, a jury decided she should remain in prison for life.[1]
9 Cathy Wood and Gwendolyn Graham
Who can resist true love? The kind of love that makes you kill others to seal your love for each other.
When Graham and Wood, both assistants at Alpine Manor, met, the new couple quickly fell into a torrid relationship that eventually culminated in murder. Wood admitted to murdering five of the patients together and choosing the victims based on the first letters of their names in an attempt to spell MURDER, which would somehow link the two forever.
After a few murders they abandoned the spelling, but the deaths continued. The couple proved the seal didn’t work and broke up. A few years later, Wood came clean to her husband and, in exchange for testifying against Graham, was sentenced to 40 years and granted parole in 2018 (after being denied eight times). Graham received five life sentences.[2]
8 Nanny Doss
When you read about a serial killer, certain disturbing images come to mind. It just gets worse when you read that the serial killer was a grandmother, also known as the Giggling Granny. A killer with a sunny disposition.
Nancy Hazel had many such terrible nicknames: Lady Bluebeard, Jolly Black Widow, and the Lonely Hearts Killer, but that she was a cheerful psychopath is all you need to know. Nannie Doss was arrested in 1955 for her husband’s death and confessed to killing four more. However, there is much speculation that she killed nearly twelve people during her murderous life.
When one husband became too much, she simply killed him and moved on to the next. During her trial, she blamed her terrible antics on her brain injury, but the jury saw through it and sentenced her to life in prison. She died a few years later while serving her sentence.[3]
7 Lindy Chamberlain
It was August 1970 when tragedy struck a campsite near Australia’s Ayer Rock, killing 10-year-old Azaria Chamberlain.
Lindy’s defense? A dingo carried away her child and was the main cause of death. Azaria’s body was never found. Lindy was found guilty of murder and given a life sentence. Her husband, Michael, was subsequently given a suspended sentence for complicity.
The case was a sensation, and allegations that police provided the media information further complicated matters. The Chamberlains exhausted every option available to them, and Lindy was staring at a life in prison when Azaria’s coat was found near an area where there are many dingoes. The cause of death remains a mystery, but there was enough doubt to exonerate the Chamberlains.[4]
6 Mary Bell
When ten-year-old Mary Bell killed two boys, ages three and four respectively, the world was shocked. How can someone commit such atrocities at such an innocent age? Easy: psychopathy.
Mary Bell was accused of strangling the two boys. Thanks to mounting evidence and testimony from her older sister, Anne Bell, the case was clear. Bell had taken their lives and therefore had to be tried for murder. Bell then proceeded to write letters of confession to the parents of the little victims.
Court psychiatrists convinced the jury that Bell was too young to realize the intent of murder, and given her psychopathy, she could not be held responsible for her own actions. Bell was convicted of manslaughter, and at a time when juvenile detention did not exist, she was sent to adult prison. Twelve years later she was released for good behavior.[5]
5 Joyce Mitchell
Joyce Mitchell was in jail, yes, but not for breaking the law. She worked as a seamstress at Clinton Maximum Security Prison, just doing her job. That was until she decided to break the law.
Joyce gave a drill and a hacksaw to two dangerous criminals, Richard Matt and David Sweat, allowing them to escape from prison in the most sensational way. The fugitives managed to evade authorities for almost three weeks, with the search culminating in a shootout, leaving Matt dead and Sweat injured and taken back into custody.
Mitchell planned to meet the men in a getaway car once they got outside, but her feet got cold. She was charged with promoting prison contraband and facilitating criminal activity and was sentenced to up to eight years in prison. She was released after five.[6]
4 Sister Ping
Cheng Chui Ping, known worldwide as Sister Ping or the Mother of the Snakeheads, was a ruthless business magnate who made his money through human smuggling.
At a time when it was insanely lucrative for people to come to the US from China in hopes of making top dollar (or just a working wage), Ping decided to turn it into a business. She smuggled as many as 3,000 people into the US, for a price, of course. It was a dangerous and often perilous journey, and it came at a high price, making Ping a wealthy international businesswoman.
After a collaboration with Hong Kong authorities led to her capture, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Ping, once an illegal immigrant himself, eventually died in prison of pancreatic cancer.[7]
3 Ilse Koch
Koch, also known as the Beast, the Witch and the Bitch of Buchenwald, was the wife of Colonel Karl Koch of the SS and head of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Koch is known for some of history’s worst atrocities, beatings, rapes and more. However, she is perhaps best known for commissioning lampshades, book covers and gloves made from the tattooed skin of the prisoners.
But near the end of the war, Koch got what was coming to her when she was tried as a war criminal and given a harsh sentence for her involvement. However, the Americans released Koch at the outbreak of the Cold War for political reasons. Yet she was arrested the same day by West German authorities, who sentenced her to life behind bars. Koch eventually hanged herself with her sheets.[8]
2 The San Antonio Four
At the height of the satanic panic, four friends felt the full effects of what paranoia, fear, homophobia and our obsession with the Devil could do.
Four Texas women – Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasquez – were convicted in 1998 of sexually assaulting two young girls after the alleged victims (who were seven and nine at the time) accused them of assaulting them. One of the girls, Ramirez’s cousins, later testified that they had lied after becoming angry because her aunt was a lesbian.
The women spent fifteen years behind bars before being released. Still, they had to fight another five years so a judge could acquit them and expunge the convictions from their records.[9]
1 Aileen Wuornos
Captured in Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning performance in the film SampleAileen Wuornos was a controversial figure even after her arrest.
Known as one of the most dangerous female serial killers in American history, Aileen shot and killed six men (possibly seven) between 1989 and 1990. She was arrested and sentenced to six death sentences a year later. She was executed by lethal injection in 2002, but her time in prison was not without incident.
During her time on death row, Wuornos urged authorities to put her out of her misery, suggesting there was no point in delaying her execution as she was unrepentant and would kill again. She also suggested that her lengthy incarceration was a waste of taxpayer money.[10]