Betty Neumar, who left a trail of dead men and mourning family in her wake, died on monday at the age of 79. Several of her five husbands (since the 1950s) died of gunshot wounds in mysterious circumstances, as did one of her sons. Although circumstances were suspicious in a number of cases, Neumar escaped prosecution each time.
Finally, in 2008, North Carolina investigators reopened a murder case, and began to try to piece together the details of her life. It proved difficult, because the woman had told so many people different stories about herself and her past. However, some former in-laws said she had a violent temper after a few drinks, and could be abusive.
She collected life insurance on at least three men, including her son, her fourth husband Harold Gentry, and her last husband, John Neumar, who died in 2007.
Although we will now never know for sure, Betty Neumar may have been a serial killer whose murderous inclinations were facilitated by a society and political climate that prefers to suspend justice when crimes are committed by females.
These kinds of stories always make me wonder just how accurate spousal murder statistics really are. How many husbands who die in “accidents,” from “suicide” or “illnesses” were actually murdered? A great many more than we realize, I suspect.
