True crime lovers know that when it comes to famous criminals, men seem to dominate the field. Just think about it — we’ve all heard of Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Al Capone, but aside from a few notable female criminals, the ladies are nowhere near as famous or well-known.
Is it because women are less capable of committing crimes? Are we less inherently drawn to wrongdoings? Probably not. But it goes to stand that the more high-ranking criminals tend to be dudes. So in an effort to bring a little gender equality to the table (and really, let’s not be glib, committing a crime like murder is no laughing matter) we’ve compiled a list of famous female criminals. Take a look at these dangerous ladies.
Lizzie Borden
One of the most infamous alleged killers in all of history, Lizzie Borden was technically acquitted of the charges against her in connection to the deaths of her father and stepmother. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Borden was accused of the crime after it was found that she purchased prussic acid (a poison), but was acquitted when it was decided the evidence against her was circumstantial.
Patty Hearst
Famous for being the granddaughter of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Patty became infamous after getting kidnapped by a group of armed radicals called the Symbionese Liberation Army. According to the FBI, Patty was then brainwashed and decided to join their ranks, even helping the SLA commit an armed robbery of a bank.
Aileen Wuornos
From 1989 to 1990, Wuornos posed as a hitchhiking prostitute and killed seven middle-aged male motorists. She then left their bodies strewn across highways in Florida and Georgia. Wuornos was later convicted of three of the murders and her life of crime was turned into a movie, Monster, starring Charlize Theron.
The Manson 'Lost Girls'
Everyone is familiar with the infamous serial killer Charles Manson, but the women who followed Manson, or the “Lost Girls” are often lumped together. According to A&E, Leslie Van Houten, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian are the most well-known women of the “Manson Family.”
Bonnie Parker
Half of the crime duo known as Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Parker was 19 when she met Clyde Champion Barrow. According to the FBI’s website, together they committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries. But in 1934, the couple was shot dead by police in an ambush near Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, in “one of the most colorful and spectacular manhunts the nation had seen up to that time,” the website states.
Andrea Yates
Andrea Yates committed one of the most gruesome and heartbreaking murders in recent history. In 2001, Yates killed her five children by drowning them in the bathtub after her husband, who worked for NASA, left for work. After committing the crime, Yates then called her husband and told him what happened. She later confessed to police and told them she heard voices and believed she was saving her children's souls.
Juana Barraza
Known as the “Little Old Lady Killer,” Juana Barraza is responsible for the deaths of more than 30 women — all of them over 70 years old. Inside Edition reports that Barraza rose to infamy after killing women across Mexico City, choking them with a stethoscope. In 2015, she was sentenced to 759 years in prison, having been convicted of 16 murders.
Mary Kay Letourneau
Mary Kay Letourneau was at the center of one of the '90s greatest scandals — and for good reason. Letourneau raped her then-13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau, and had two children with him before he turned 15, the New York Times reports. The two defended the relationship and Letourneau even married Faulaau after she was released from prison. She died in 2020 at the age of 58.
Dorothea Puente
A convicted serial killer in the 1980s, Dorothea Puente took advantage of the boarders who lived in her Sacramento home — many of them elderly or disabled. Crime Museum states that Puente killed her boarders, buried them in the yard, and cashed their Social Security checks. Puente was only discovered when the social worker of one of her boarders, Alvaro Montoya, reported that he was missing. She was later charged with nine counts of murder.
Velma Barfield
After a childhood filled with poverty and sexual abuse, Velma Barfield’s life of crime started when a mysterious fire killed her husband, but spared her two young children, Crime Museum states. Her second husband also died of mysterious circumstances after a fight, as did two couples who employed Barfield as a caretaker, her mother, and a boyfriend. She later confessed to four of the murders and was sentenced to death.
Leonarda Cianciulli
Nicknamed “the soap-maker of Correggio,” Leonarda Cianciulli was infamous in Italy for killing three women and turning one of their bodies into soap. Cianciulli committed the crimes after a string of miscarriages and a fortune teller telling her that her children were at risk — so she decided she needed to sacrifice others to save them, Insider reports.
Nannie Doss
According to Insider, Nannie Doss almost got away with her crimes, until the death of her fifth husband raised alarms to police. Before his death, Doss killed four out of five of her husbands, two children (two others died of suspicious “food poisoning”), her mother, her two sisters, and one of her mothers-in-law. Doss later confessed about the killings to police, but was only convicted of one count of murder. She remained in jail until her death in 1965.
Karla Homolka
Along with the man who later became her husband, Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka was a Canadian serial killer. Crime Museum states that together, Bernardo and Homolka raped and killed several women as part of their sexual play, including raping Homolka’s younger sister, Tammy. Bernardo would come to be known as the “Scarborough Rapist,” and was caught. She eventually confessed to her role in the rapes and murders and was sentenced to prison.
Amelia Dyer
Known for “baby farming” in England, Amelia Dyer was a prolific murderer in the 1890s. According to Insider, Dyer would take in infants on the promise that she would “care” for them but instead she would starve the babies or feed them liquid opiates. One of the infant’s bodies was found and traced back to Dyer, who confessed to killing the child in 1896. She is suspected to have killed hundreds of babies, but the exact number will never be known.
