CrimeAtlas

Most Notorious Female Killers & Serial Killers

Female serial killers are rare — and that rarity makes their cases some of the most studied in criminal history. Poisoners, black widows, and predators who hid behind respectability: this list gathers the female killers documented on CrimeAtlas.

Cases are ranked by their known victim counts, drawn from the public record. Each entry links to the full case file with the documented facts, locations, and sources.

  1. 1 Irina Gaidamachuk: "Satan in a Skirt" Pensioner Murders Krasnoufimsk, Russia · 2005 A Russian housewife murdered elderly pensioners across the Sverdlovsk region by posing as a social worker, killing them and stealing their money to fund her drinking.
  2. 2 Raya and Sakina: The Alexandria Brothel Murders Alexandria, Egypt · 1920 Egyptian sisters Raya and Sakina, with their husbands and accomplices, murdered 17 women in Alexandria to rob their jewelry, becoming the first women executed by modern Egypt.
  3. 3 Belle Gunness - Lady Bluebeard La Porte, Indiana, USA · 1908 Belle Gunness lured men to her Indiana farm with promises of marriage, then murdered them for their money.
  4. 4 Juana Barraza - La Mataviejitas (The Old Lady Killer) Mexico City, Mexico · 2006 Juana Barraza, a former pro wrestler dubbed La Mataviejitas, strangled elderly women alone in Mexico City; she was caught in 2006 and convicted of multiple murders.
  5. 5 Aileen Wuornos - First Female Serial Killer Volusia County, Florida, USA · 1989 Aileen Wuornos killed seven men along Florida highways, claiming self-defense against clients who picked her up.
  6. 6 K. D. Kempamma - "Cyanide Mallika" Bangalore, India · 2007 India's first convicted female serial killer, who lured distressed women at temples and poisoned them with cyanide to rob their gold, killing six between 1999 and 2007.
  7. 7 Daisy de Melker - The Poisoner Johannesburg, South Africa · 1932 Daisy de Melker, a trained nurse, poisoned two husbands with strychnine for their life insurance and later poisoned her 20-year-old son Rhodes with arsenic.
  8. 8 Leonarda Cianciulli - The Soap-Maker of Correggio Correggio, Italy · 1940 Italian housewife Leonarda Cianciulli murdered three women in Correggio between 1939 and 1940, rendering their bodies into soap and teacakes in a ritual to protect her son.
  9. 9 Yiya Murano - The Poisoner of Monserrat Buenos Aires, Argentina · 1979 Argentine housewife Yiya Murano poisoned three women from her social circle with cyanide-laced tea and pastries in 1979 Buenos Aires to escape debts she owed them.
  10. 10 Suzane von Richthofen Parricide Sao Paulo, Brazil · 2002 Brazilian teenager Suzane von Richthofen orchestrated the murder of her sleeping parents with her boyfriend and his brother at the family home in Sao Paulo in 2002.
  11. 11 Winnie Ruth Judd - The Trunk Murderess Phoenix, USA · 1931 Phoenix medical secretary Winnie Ruth Judd shot two friends in 1931, then shipped their bodies to Los Angeles in trunks, earning her the name "The Trunk Murderess."
  12. 12 The Torture and Murder of Sylvia Likens Indianapolis, USA · 1965 A 16-year-old Indiana girl was starved, beaten, and tortured to death over several months by the woman paid to board her, who enlisted her own children and neighbors in the abuse.
  13. 13 Jodi Arias - Travis Alexander Murder Mesa, Arizona, USA · 2008 Jodi Arias killed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in an extremely violent attack.

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