Black Widow

Black Widow

The spellbinding true story of obsession and power, of money and arsenic, of multiple personas and multiple murders: of the ghastly web that Audrey Marie Hilley wove around her family to obtain material security and the social prestige she imagined it brought - a story which culminated in one of the nation's most sensational murder trials. Written by the reporter who covered the trial and became the confidante of the Hilley family. In 1983, Marie Hilley, by appearances a normal small-town housewife, was convicted of murdering her husband and attempting to murder her teenage daughter, presumably for their life insurance. Hilley skipped bail and lived as a fugitive for three years, remarrying and changing her identity twice, before her capture. Suspected of the arsenic poisonings of other relatives, Hilley maintained her innocence, and there was no psychiatric testimony at her trial. McDonald, a newspaper reporter, has written a workmanlike account of the case, without attempting an explanation of Hilley's psyche. Although not nationally publicized, the trial was a local sensation in Anniston, Alabama. For true crime collections.Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. Used Book in Good Condition