Lyda Southard
| Lyda Trueblood | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 16, 1892 Keytesville, Missouri, United States |
| Died | February 5, 1958 (aged 65) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Other names | "The Black Widow" |
| Criminal penalty | 10 years to life imprisonment |
| Motive | Life insurance |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 6 |
|
Span of killings
|
1915–1920 |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State(s) | Idaho, Montana |
| Weapon | Arsenic poisoning |
|
Date apprehended
|
May 1921 |
Lyda Southard (also known as Lyda Anna Mae Trueblood) was born on October 16, 1892, and died on February 5, 1958, of a heart attack. She is considered one of America's first female serial killers, preceded by Jane Toppan. It was suspected that she had killed her four husbands, a brother-in-law, and her daughter by using arsenic poisoning, or rat poison to poison them in order to attain life insurance money.
Lyda was born on October 16, 1892 in Keytesville, Missouri, sixty miles northeast of Kansas City and in the central flatlands of Missouri.
Lyda married Robert Dooley on March 17, 1912. The couple settled with his brother Ed Dooley on a ranch in Twin Falls, Idaho and had a daughter, Lorraine, in 1914. In 1915, Lorraine died unexpectedly, Lyda claimed, as a result of drinking water from a dirty well. Edward Dooley died soon afterward in August 1915; the cause of death was ruled ptomaine poisoning. Robert Dooley subsequently fell ill and died of typhoid fever on October 12, 1915, leaving Lyda as the sole survivor in the family. Lyda collected on the life insurance policies of each person shortly after their death.
Within 2 years after Robert's death Lyda met and married William G. Mchaffle. Shortly afterward, Lyda's three-year-old daughter fell ill and died, prompting the McHaffles to move to Montana. A year later, McHaffle suddenly fell ill of what was thought to be influenza and died in Montana on October 1, 1918. The death certificate ruled the cause of death as influenza and diphtheria.
In March 1919, she married Harlen C. Lewis, an automobile salesman from Billings, Montana. Within 4 months of their marriage, Lewis fell ill and died from complications of gastroenteritis.
Lyda married for a fourth time in Pocatello, Idaho, to Edward F. Meyer, a ranch foreman, in August 1920. He mysteriously fell ill of typhoid and died on September 7, 1920.
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