Female Criminals

Edythe Klumpp liked to have fun with the men in her life... even if that made her the "other woman." But in 1958, her love triangle turned deadly. Edythe would make the ultimate sacrifice for her lover. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lori Loughlin had it all: a career as a beloved TV icon, a happy marriage, and two loving daughters. But in the world of the ultra-rich and famous, success seemed to rest on the wins your child netted. And there was no bigger win than getting into a top college. So Lori left nothing to chance… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A particular caper in 1965 brought Doris uncomfortably close to law enforcement and the media. With her face now easily recognizable in the U.S., she turned her attention to Europe, eager to prove just how good she really was. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born in 1930, Doris Payne realized early on that she had a taste for the finer things in life. She also realized she had a knack for putting people at ease — and it was a skill she could use to get exactly what she wanted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After abducting Elizabeth Smart in 2002, Barzee and Mitchell — known to each other as Hephzibah and Immanuel — fashioned her into a sister-wife, systematically abusing her into submission. It would be nine months before Elizabeth was rescued by police in Utah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All Wanda Barzee wanted in life was for someone to take care of her, and in return she promised complete devotion. So when her paramour, self-styled prophet Brian David Mitchell, demanded she help him find a child bride, Wanda aided and abetted the kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She's perhaps the most famous femme fatale of the 20th century. And yet, Mata Hari's supposed crimes are shrouded in mystery. Who was this woman who captivated all of Europe? How did she become embroiled in the espionage of WWI? And who masterminded her ultimate fate? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In espionage terms, honeytraps are the stuff of legend: a beautiful temptress so seductive that she can convince even the most cunning of men to reveal state secrets. But in the case of Shi Pei Pu and the affair known as M. Butterfly, seduction would turn to love, and a decades-long deception which would ultimately expose a very different kind of secret. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The beautiful Soviet seductress is a well-known figure of femme fatale lore. She's patriotic, irresistible, and deadly. But how much of that is true? Did the KGB really train women to seduce and kill men? Or were the "sparrows" just women desperate for a better life? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A cunning puppetmaster, Catherine de Medici is most vividly remembered as a one-time queen of France who dispatched beautiful women in her court to manipulate the men of France. Except… that’s not really the case. But hidden in the spectacular legends lie kernels of truth about Catherine and her Flying Squadron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The term "femme fatale" conjures up noir vixens whose sole purpose is to bring the story's male hero to his knees. But sometimes, women behaving badly are just getting things done the only way society will allow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the aftermath of her elaborate bank-robbery-gone-wrong, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong had to resort to every tactic up her sleeve to avoid going to jail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Intelligent and unstable, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong always had a way with men. But they never seemed to live for long. Nobody connected her to their deaths — until she roped an innocent hostage into an elaborate bank heist, and forced him to wear a collar bomb.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1936, Abe Sada was so in love — and lust — she committed a gruesome crime. The case scandalized all of Japan. When she was finally caught, Abe was resolved to meet her fate. But then she was thrown a twist nobody saw coming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a young woman in 1920s Tokyo, Abe Sada dreamed of becoming a geisha… but settled for sex work. She began a heated affair with a married man. When his wife threatened their happiness, Abe decided she wouldn’t let him go. Even if it meant losing him forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The unceasing stream of deaths in Castle Cachtice did not go unnoticed, but priests and concerned parents alike were powerless to intervene. When the Countess set a new trap to lure more girls, she unwittingly began the end of her torturous reign.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Real-life vampire or expert sadist? Elizabeth Báthory was allegedly responsible for killing hundreds of young women in 16th century Hungary. Her story is steeped in the kind of hearsay and legend befitting a cruel, untouchable noblewoman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Called one of the most dangerous anarchists in the country, Emma Goldman was deported back to Soviet Russia in 1919. Ostracized from her peers and the movement she helped progress, Goldman found new ways to advance anarchist causes until her death at 70.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the turn of the 20th century, a Russian immigrant spent decades supporting the anarchist cause in America — plotting an assassination, publishing a magazine, and lecturing on everything from freedom of speech to prison reform to birth control.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the aftermath of 17-year-old Missy Avila’s murder, a killer moved into the Avila family home, a witness stepped forward after three years, and Missy’s Law was passed in California.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices