Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHAPTER 1.  INTRODUCTION   
CHAPTER 2. THE WICKED STEPMOTHER? THE EDNA MUMBULO CASE   
Edna’s Background    
The Fire    
The Hunt    
The Trial   
Conclusion   
 
CHAPTER 3. GENDER ROLES IN AMERICAN SOCIETY   
Historic Fabrications of Femininity    
Engendered Violence: Women, Violence, and the
American Way of Life   
Changing Theories   
Biological Explanation  
Situational Explanation   
Combined Forces
The Statistical Profile
 
CHAPTER 4.  MARITAL TERROR: HOMICIDE, WOMEN, AND
THE MEN THEY LOVED   
No Escape: The Tragic Life and Death of Stella Kuzmicki       
A Troubled Motherhood    
The Escape    
Their End    
Aftermath    
The Devils and the Diary: Mrs. Sample and Murder    
Background    
The Diary    
The Murder and the Trial    
Aftermath    
CHAPTER 5.  THE DARKER SIDE OF MOTHERHOOD    
No Chance in Heaven: The Marie Noe Case    
Background    
Bassinet to Burial    
Investigation, Fame, and SIDS    
The Unraveling   
“The Clock is Dismantled”: Tanya Dacri    
Background    
The Crime    
The Trial    
CHAPTER 6. THE DEMOTED DEPUTY HUSBAND    
Iron Irene: The Life, Crimes, and Electrocution of a Mother     
Background   
The Butler Robbery and the Roadblock Killing   
A Cross-Country Flight   
The Trial of Iron Irene Schroeder    
“It’ll All Come Out in the Wash’: The Millie Thomas Case      
Background    
The Murder    
The Investigation and Trial    
Conclusion       
The Janice Graham Case    
Background   
The Murders   
The Trials    
 
CHAPTER 7.  WITCHCRAFT AND WOMEN WHO KILL    
Poisoned Kitchens   
Arsenic and Homeland Traditions: Chalfa-Allas Case    
Background    
The Crime    
The Trial    
Witches, Poison, and Italian Women: The Philadelphia
Poison Ring of the 1930s    
Arsenic and Death    
Italian Philadelphia     
The Black Widows of Philadelphia    
The Investigation and Trial    
CHAPTER 8.  SERVICES NOT RENDERED: WOMEN WHO KILL
AND THE AGENCIES THAT FAILED THEM   
Social Services History: A Cracked Community    
Child Protective Services    
Inseparable Companions: The Matricide Case
of Agnes West, 1940     
212 Cuts and Bruises and One Big Black Eye:
The Lisa Iarussi Case    
Brittany and Lisa    
The Murder and Trial    
The Black Eye of OCY     
Child Welfare Breakdowns    
Three Times a Lady: Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong    
Background    
Murder One    
Murder Two    
Murder Three   
 
CHAPTER 9.  RACE, HOMICIDE, AND WOMEN WHO KILL   
Severed City, Severed Soul: Corinne Sykes Case   
Racist Philadelphia, 1940s   
Corinne and the Crime  
Raymond Pace Alexander and the Trial of
Corinne Sykes   
CHAPTER 10.  CONCLUSION    
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 

About the Author

Joseph W. Laythe currently teaches courses on the American West, American violence, and American urban development at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. His other works include Crime and Punishment in Oregon, 1875-1915: A Study of Four Communities (2008).