50 Cases: #12 - Idaho - Lyda Southard

This post is part of our 50 Cases of America series. View more cases in this series here.

Quick Facts

Nicknames or Aliases: Lyda Anna Mae Trueblood, "The Black Widow"

Offender Status: Deceased

MO: poisoning, familicide, money fraud

Timespan of Crimes: 1915–1920

Date of Incarceration: June 11, 1921

Sentence: second-degree murder and sentenced to ten years to life imprisonment. Ultimately received a pardon and died outside of prison.

Case Status: Closed

Number of Victims: 6

Victims: Robert Dooley, Ed Dooley, William McHaffle, Harlan Lewis, Ed Meyer, Lyda's 4-year-old daughter

Location of Crimes: Idaho and Montana

Summary of Lyda Southard’s Crimes

Lyda Southard murdered her 4 husbands, her 4-year-old daughter, and a brother and law with arsenic poisoning from flypaper to collect their insurance money. She was sentenced to ten years to life in 1921.

Southard escaped prison on May 4, 1931, moved to Colorado and married her fifth husband, Harry Whitlock. She was arrested again in 1932 and returned to the Idaho penitentiary that year. She was ultimately released on probation in 1941 and received a final pardon in 1942.