Martha Marek was a black widow before her time, seeing murder as a means of collecting insurance money. She murdered her husband, daughter, and elderly relative all of whom had benefits that would be bequeathed to her after their deaths. After she killed one of her roommates, the state sentenced her to death by way of guillotine.

But what inspired her murders? Her own husband had initially coached Martha on how to defraud insurers…by chopping off his own leg so they could collect over $30,000 in accident insurance. That amount would not be enough for Martha, who now had dollar signs in her eyes, an axe in one hand and a bottle of poison in the other.

A truly gruesome True Crime tale…