Female Criminals

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 meg...

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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

A revenge plot turned deadly in 1985 after two teenage girls unleashed their jealous rage on their former friend, Missy Avila. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After luring their friend Payton Leutner into the woods in May 2014, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser stabbed her 19 times — all in the name of Slender Man, a horror character that had materialized on the Internet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A made-up bogeyman went viral in 2009, inspiring low-budget web series, video games and fanfiction. The Slender Man was pure invention, but he seemed all too real to two Wisconsin girls. And in 2014, they set out to prove their devotion to him.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re bringing you a special two-part episode from another Spotify Original from Parcast. If you enjoy these episodes, check out Medical Murders on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!  She became the most sought after nurse in eastern Massachusetts. But “Jolly Jane” Toppan preyed on the sickly and poisoned unsuspecting patients. And when pressed for a sizable debt, she embarked on a...

Today we’re bringing you a special two-part episode from another Spotify Original from Parcast. If you enjoy these episodes, check out Medical Murders on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!  She became the most sought after nurse in eastern Massachusetts. But “Jolly Jane” Toppan preyed on the sickly and poisoned unsuspecting patients. And when pressed for a sizable debt, she embarked on a...

After fighting obscenity charges for her stage plays, Mae West went to Hollywood and quickly earned a level of power unheard-of for women in movies. But between censors' efforts to sanitize her, and the revelation of a shocking secret from her past, Mae had to do everything she could to survive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When one of the most famous entertainers in America couldn’t find another good role, she wrote one for herself. The result was a play titled “Sex,” and it became a Broadway smash in 1926 — but moral reformers couldn’t handle its heat, and took drastic action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facing an ultimatum from her husband, 24-year-old Kristin drugged him with a lethal mix of prescription drugs, then staged his death to look like a suicide. Her story quickly unraveled, but to this day she claims innocence.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a childhood spent striving for perfection in the early '90s, a devastating ballet injury turned Kristin Rossum to drugs. She married the man who helped her get clean, but after a series of marital rifts, she used her knowledge as a toxicologist to plan the perfect murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In February 1887, a man opened a package to find a bloody torso, and police set to work following a trail of clues that led right to Hannah Mary Tabbs — but she knew exactly how to play her cards.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late 19th century, Hannah Mary Tabbs used violence to control those around her, directing her cruelty toward family and acquaintances. When she began an affair with a younger man, she thought she'd found happiness. Until he lost interest, and she began to plot her revenge... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After an argument in a Days Inn Motel, Yolanda Saldívar shot her boss, beloved Tejana superstar Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, in the back. The murder shocked the world. When her trial began in October 1995, Yolanda stood in a Houston courthouse and swore: Not Guilty.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices