6. Mary Ann Cotton
Year of birth: 1832
Died year: 1873
Living 30 years before Belle Gunnes, there was Mary Ann Cotton, an English serial killer for profit. After marrying William Mowbray at the age of 20, she and her husband built a home in Plymouth, Devon. They had five children together, but four died of typhoid and stomach pain. Even when they moved to the Northeast, the drama did not let them go. All three children who were born died prematurely. Then her husband William also left her because of an intestinal disorder, in January 1865. The British insurance company Prudential quickly paid her 35 pounds in dividends. However, her second husband, George Ward, as well as one of her two remaining children, also died of intestinal disease. The press simultaneously reported on incidents about her family. Local newspapers also reported that Mary Ann had moved to the north of England, losing three husbands, a lover, a friend, a mother and 12 children, all of whom died of stomach fever. On March 24, 1873, she was hanged in Durham County Gaol for murder by arsenic poisoning. To carry out a neat execution, a very short rope was used to hang her.
View Details