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Mrs. Tillie Klimek, 50, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on March 31, 1923 for poisoning her third husband, Frank Kupczyk, to death and sending her fourth, Joseph Klimek, to the hospital with arsenic poisoning. Klimek was described by the Chicago Tribune as the “Poison Widow” and the “High priestess of the 'Bluebeard clique'” for the poisoning of over 20, including husbands, relatives and friends. Fourteen of those poisoned died, six lived, and Klimek was only charged with one of the murders. The Tribune called Klimek a “squat little Polish storekeeper” who confessed to killing her first three husbands and one sweetheart with arsenic. A neighbor said of Klimek's third husband, “after his death, it is said, she played dance music on a phonograph in the room in which the body lay”. Klimek gathered insurance payouts from each of her husbands' deaths. (Photo by Chicago Tribune Historical Photo)
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