The Idaho Bluebeard or The Flypaper Lady

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Lydia Trueblood (1892 - 1959) married 7 times and murdered 4 of them. With each one she had them get life insurance and then murdered them by using arsenic she got from soaking flypaper in water or milk. (Arsenic is tasteless and has no smell so it is easy to put in food or drink.) She even murdered a mother-in-law when she learned she was suspicious of her. There were five or six probable murders she was actually guilty of but authorities only had proof of one of them. She did her time at the Idaho State Penitentiary in Boise, Idaho. Lydia was very charming and manipulative. She made many friends at the prison. This included a guard who she got to bring her a saw and some sheets. With those she was able to remove one of the bars from her window and climb out the window of her cell. She escaped and went to Denver, Colorado where a ex-inmate now resided. She had promised him marriage but instead she moved on to marry #5 and then a couple more men. From 1912 to 1921 she killed about six people and accrued a hefty bank account of around $400,000 in today's money. She ended up having a heart attack in 1959. The bluebeard reference is from a fairytale popular during that time. Written by Charles Perrault, it was the story of a wealthy man who murdered his wives and buried them in a room in his mansion.