Germany's 'Black Widow' gets life for murder of four men
I don't know about you, but her eyes give me the creeps...:eek:
NO chance of parole for this one.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...Uugo1dEkfCIzyg
Germany's 'Black Widow' gets life for murder of four men
14 hours ago
BERLIN (AFP) — A 69-year-old former prostitute dubbed the "Black Widow" by the German press was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for the murder of four wealthy but frail elderly male companions.
Lydia Lassen-Berge's accomplice, a 53-year-old man, was sentenced to 12 years in jail for carrying out the killings.
The court in Goettingen ruled that Lassen-Berge's crimes were so serious that she will not be able to qualify for parole after 15 years in jail, as is usual under German law.
http://afp.google.com/media/ALeqM5jU...zSe18fQ?size=m
The killings happened between 1994 and 2000 but only came to light last year after the accomplice, Siegmund Schlufter, confessed the murders to police, saying he had carried them out at Lassen-Berge's request.
The court heard that Lassen-Berge, who described herself in court as "very religious" and having no interest in sex, had lured the victims by advertising her services as a caregiver for elderly gentlemen in the local press.
In the notices, the well-preserved, curly-haired woman identified herself as a widow in her mid-fifties or early sixties.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that she told the court she selected wealthy applicants.
"There were enough men. I chose according to their income. Why should I have taken a poor one if I could have a well-to-do one?" the newspaper Thursday quoted her as saying.
"Men flitted around me like moths around a flame. Of course I only let the fat moths come closer," she added.
But she denied having anything to do with the murders, saying Schlufter, who was described in the press as simple-minded, had acted on his own accord and killed them because he was jealous.
The body of her first victim was found partially burnt by the side of a road in June 1994. According to investigators, he was given sedatives along with his evening meal and then suffocated with a plastic bag.
Lassen-Berge was linked to the crime after investigators found her DNA on a paper handkerchief found close to the corpse.
The other three victims met a similar fate after being fed sandwiches and pea soup laced with drugs. Lassen-Berge married one of the men and doctors had initially believed that the 84-year-old died of natural causes.
The court heard that she had taken some 15 men into her care and received about 700,000 euros (1.1 million dollars) from them in fees and presents.
