Menopause is Murder

This week, Angela shares one of the most shocking cases of deception, manipulation, and wrongful prosecution you'll ever hear. When Michelle Hadley reported being harassed by her ex-fiancé's new wife, she never imagined she would become the one accused of a bizarre and disturbing crime. Investigators believed Michelle was behind a series of threatening messages and an elaborate "rape fantasy" sche...

This week on Menopause is Murder, Marguerite takes us back to Revolutionary War-era Massachusetts for the scandalous and tragic story of Bathsheba Spooner—the woman who became the first woman executed in the newly independent United States. Born into privilege as the daughter of a prominent Loyalist politician, Bathsheba seemed destined for a comfortable life. Instead, she found herself trapped in...

This week on Menopause is Murder, Angela shares the tangled and heartbreaking story of Cara Rintala—a case that left juries, investigators, and true crime fans divided for more than a decade. When paramedic Annamarie Cochrane Rintala was found beaten, strangled, and covered in white paint in the basement of the family home, suspicion quickly focused on her wife, Cara. What followed was one of the...

This week on Menopause is Murder, Marguerite takes us all the way back to ancient China to tell the jaw-dropping story of the woman who refused to stay in her lane—and became the only female emperor in Chinese history: Wu Zetian. Born in 624, Wu Zetian began her journey as a teenage concubine in the imperial court. Through intelligence, ambition, political maneuvering, and a willingness to elimina...

This week on Menopause is Murder, Angela shares the shocking story of Laurie Leigh Shaver—a case filled with deception, secrets, and a backyard that held a deadly truth. When Michael Douglas Shaver suddenly vanished in 2015, friends and family were told he had simply walked away from his life. But as the years passed, something didn't add up. Messages continued to appear from Michael's social medi...

This week, Marguerite takes us to the misty shores of Washington State to tell the chilling story of Linda Burfield Hazzard—the self-proclaimed healer who believed the cure for nearly every illness was simple: stop eating. What began as an alternative health movement soon became a nightmare for the patients who entered her infamous sanitarium, known locally as Starvation Heights. As wealthy client...

This week, Angela shares the story of Marcia Thompson—a woman whose marriage was already hanging by a thread… until it snapped in the most violent way possible. What started as a troubled relationship quickly spiraled into a case filled with manipulation, shifting stories, and one very suspicious crime scene. And just when you think you’ve figured out who’s telling the truth… the details start unr...

In this episode, Marguerite takes us to post-war Japan, where survival was scarce, resources were thin, and desperation hung heavy in the air. Enter Miyuki Ishikawa—a respected midwife who became one of the most prolific killers in history… all under the guise of “helping.”But was it mercy? Neglect? Or something far more calculated? As Marguerite unpacks this deeply unsettling case, we follow a st...

This week, Angela shares the story of Stacey Castor—a woman who somehow buried not one, but two husbands… and still managed to look like the grieving widow. At least at first. But when questions started bubbling up—and the truth got a little too close for comfort—Stacey didn’t just panic… she escalated. And not in a “let me hire a lawyer” kind of way. Oh no. In a “let me frame my own daughter with...

In this episode, Marguerite takes us back to the foggy streets of Victorian England, where respectability was everything… and arsenic was surprisingly easy to come by. Meet Mary Ann Cotton—a seemingly ordinary wife, mother, and caregiver with an extraordinary talent for outliving just about everyone around her. Husbands? Gone. Children? Tragically departed. Insurance policies? Cashed in. As Margue...

Strap in, because this one is less “Houston, we have a problem” and more “Houston…what on earth just happened?”In this episode, Angela takes you into the high-achieving, high-pressure world of Lisa Nowak—a decorated NASA astronaut whose life looked picture-perfect…until it spiraled into one of the most bizarre crime stories in modern history. What happens when ambition, obsession, and a love trian...

Join us for part two of the story of Ruth Ellis! It only gets crazier. Was it passion, abuse, or inevitability? Marguerite unpacks the scandal and the moment that turned Ruth into history. Because sometimes… it’s not just murder. It’s history. 💋 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/menopause-is-murder--6789914/support .

This week Marguerite shares part one of the story of Ruth Ellis. Glamorous, troubled, and pushed to the edge—Ruth Ellis became the final woman executed in Britain after gunning down her lover, David Blakely, in 1955.Was it passion, abuse, or inevitability? Marguerite unpacks the scandal, the trial, and the moment that turned Ruth into history. Because sometimes… it’s not just murder. It’s history....

In this episode of Menopause is Murder, Angela tells the story of Francine Hughes — the quiet Michigan mom who endured years of brutal abuse before one night in 1977 when she decided she’d had enough. After being beaten, controlled, and terrorized by her husband, Francine waited until he passed out… and then she set the bed on fire. But this isn’t just a story about flames. It’s a story about surv...

Marguerite tells the story of Pauline Parker and Juliette Hulme — two girls, one fantasy kingdom, and a murder committed with a brick in a stocking in a quiet park on a sunny afternoon. But this case isn’t just about the crime — it’s about obsession, adolescence, delusion, and a friendship that crossed every boundary between loyalty and madness. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spre...

This week, Angela dives into the heartbreaking case of Missy Avila — the bright, bubbly teenager whose life ended in a dark, trash-filled ravine in the Angeles National Forest in 1985. What started as jealousy over boys, popularity, and teenage drama spiraled into something far more sinister. Rumors were spread. Lies were told. And two girls who called her “friend” lured her out for one last ride....

Marguerite is taking us back to the scandal-soaked early 1900s with a woman who treated husbands like seasonal accessories and crime scenes like inconvenient housekeeping. This week, we’re diving into the slippery, manipulative, and astonishingly bold life of Louise Peete — a charming con artist turned convicted killer who managed to reinvent herself more times than a Hollywood starlet. She marrie...

This week on Menopause Is Murder, Angela tells the story of Susan Wright — the soft-spoken Houston mom who claimed she was a battered wife… and then stabbed her husband 193 times in their bed. In 2003, what started as a “romantic night” ended in one of Texas’ most shocking crime scenes. Her husband, Jeff Wright, was tied to the bed. t prosecutors said it was premeditated murder. So which was it? D...

This week on Menopause is Murder, Marguerite takes Angela—and the rest of y’all—straight to wartime Italy for one of the most unsettling recipes in true crime history. Meet Leonarda Cianciulli: devoted mother, neighborhood fortune teller… and the woman infamously known as the “Soap-Maker of Correggio.” Between 1939 and 1940, in the quiet town of Correggio, Leonarda claimed she was simply protectin...

This week on Menopause is Murder, Angela takes the mic and tells the absolutely unhinged tale of Audrey Marie Hilley — the Alabama mama who decided arsenic was a love language. Angela walks us through how Audrey slowly poisoned her husband, then turned her sights on her own daughter (yes, her DAUGHTER), all while cashing insurance checks and playing the role of grieving widow. But wait — because t...

This week on Menopause is Murder, we’re diving into the chilling case of Velma Barfield — the soft-spoken North Carolina “caregiver” who was secretly serving up poison instead of comfort. Between 1971 and 1978, several people close to her — including her own fiancé — died mysteriously… until investigators realized the common ingredient wasn’t bad luck. It was Velma. Become a supporter of this podc...

Sharpen your side-eye and clutch your pearls, because this one shook France to its corseted core. The Papin sisters—Christine and Léa—were live-in maids in Le Mans when, on February 2, 1933, they brutally murdered their employer’s wife and daughter. What followed wasn’t just a murder trial—it was a full-blown intellectual meltdown. Were the Papin sisters monsters… or maids pushed past the breaking...

Marguerite gives the nitty gritty on Elizabeth Woolcock; who was convicted of poisoning her husband, Thomas, with mercury and paid the ultimate price—literally—when she was hanged at Adelaide Gaol. She remains the only woman ever executed in South Australia, buried inside the prison walls like a warning label for patriarchy gone wrong. But here’s the menopause-rage twist: historians argue Elizabet...

Angela shares the story of Kristi Koslow, when she decided family drama needed a body count. Instead of therapy, she allegedly recruited her boyfriend and his best friend to take out her father and stepmother. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/menopause-is-murder--6789914/support .

Marguerite shares the story of Betty Ann Duncan, the patron saint of toxic boy-mom energy. Back in 1958, she decided her pregnant daughter-in-law, Olga Duncan, had to go… so she outsourced murder like it was a household chore. The case blew up nationwide, because nothing says scandal like a mother-in-law hiring hitmen. In the end, Elizabeth Ann Duncan earned a grim little footnote in history: she...