Episode list

At 31, Donna Yaklich was married to a Pueblo Colorado narcotics detective, and raising a son and four stepchildren on the family's farm. One December evening in 1985, shots rang out, killing her husband Dennis. The authorities struggled to find clues to the execution style shooting. They suspected it was linked to Dennis' work as a narcotics detective. After months of dead ends, a tip led them to two teenage gunmen... and eventually back to Donna Yaklich, herself. But Donna had another surprise for the authorities. Her attorneys argued she was a battered woman and the murder was her last desperate attempt to end the abuse. It was a controversial legal move, claiming that she hired the hit men in self-defense. After one mistrial, and a grueling second trial, Donna Yaklich was acquitted of first-degree murder. But she was convicted on the charge of conspiracy. She was sentenced to forty years in prison. Now eligible for parole, Donna says she is sorry for her crime.

Yesenia Patino was the other woman. The exotic 34-year-old brunette was living very comfortably, thanks to her generous, and married, lover Daniel Willoughby. In February of 1991, Dan's wealthy wife was brutally murdered while on vacation in Mexico. Arizona authorities opened their own investigation, suspicious of husband Dan and his mistress. While delving into the murder, cops uncovered Yesenia's big secret: she was a transsexual. Not even her lover knew that she had been born a man. When Yesenia was arrested, she admitted that she had helped Dan kill his wife so she could start a new life with him. Yesenia delivered the testimony that put Dan on death row. For her involvement, Yesenia was sentenced to 35 years in a Mexican prison. Five years later, Yesenia claimed that she had committed the murder on her own. At Dan's retrial, however, Yesenia reverted to her original story, landing Dan behind bars for two life sentences. Yesenia remains in prison.

German native Manuela Garcia had fallen in love with an American serviceman and moved to Colorado. But 15 years into her marriage, the mother of three wanted to return home. Instead, in July of 1996, Manuela landed in a Colorado police station, after hacking her husband to death with an axe. She told officers her husband had forced himself on her and she had grabbed the axe to protect herself. Investigators found flaws in Manuela's story, most notably evidence that her husband had been drugged and unable to fend off the deadly axe attack. Prosecutors say she planned the attack in an attempt to free herself from her husband and return to Germany. Defense attorneys, however, described her as a battered woman, driven to kill after more than a decade of abuse. The jury found Manuela guilty of second-degree murder, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. Facing a second trial, Manuela pled guilty and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Jeena Han had overcome a difficult childhood to become co-valedictorian at her high school, just like her twin sister Sunny. The South Korean native seemed headed for success. Then, 23-year-old Jeena developed a gambling habit and began stealing and forging checks to pay her debts. When she needed help, her sister Sunny took her in. But sibling rivalry and close quarters proved too much. Their volatile relationship drove them apart. In November of 1996, two assailants bound and gagged Sunny and her roommate, but police intervened before they were harmed. Cops quickly traced the murder attempt back to Sunny's twin sister, Jeena. Prosecutors say it was part of a devious plan to assume Sunny's identity and leave the country. Jeena and her two accomplices were tried and convicted. She is serving 26 years to life in prison.

A doctor's wife and mother of five, Dora Cisneros led an ordinary suburban life in Brownsville, Texas. She lavished attention on her youngest daughter, Christina. So when Christina's heart was broken, Dora took matters into her own hands. In 1993, Christina's ex-boyfriend was gunned down outside his home. A clue at the scene led police to a fortuneteller and Mexican faith healer named Maria Martinez. She had hired the gunmen, at the request of her longtime client, Dora Cisneros. The city of Brownsville was shocked to see what the obsessed mother was willing to do to avenge her daughter. Dora was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. A successful appeal set her free, but persistent prosecutors won a second conviction in federal court. Dora Cisneros is currently serving a life sentence in federal penitentiary.

Kimberley Kondejewski had married her high school sweetheart. But, John, a Canadian Army instructor, soon became an abusive, controlling husband. After two children and 17 years of abuse, Kim decided to end the marriage. On May 14th, waiting with a loaded shotgun, she killed John and turned the gun on herself. Her suicide attempt failed. Investigators soon discovered that Kim's husband had given Kim a deadly ultimatum. John had threatened to kill her and the children, if she did not kill herself by the time he returned that fateful night. Faced with no other options, Kim killed him to protect her children. She was charged with murder under Canadian law. At the trial, jurors listened, horrified by Kim's story. They found her not guilty and sent her home to take care of her children.

Mary Thompson was a prominent figure in the Eugene community. She was outspoken about her son's struggle to stay out of gangs and about the dangers other children in the community faced. She even teamed up with a popular high school senior, Aaron Iturra, to educate other students on gang violence. But when Aaron was executed in his home, police began to suspect that Mary wasn't leveling with them. Two teenagers were convicted of the shooting, but wiretaps on Mary's phone revealed a startling secret. Eugene's anti-gang activist was actually running a street gang out of her living room. And as police had suspected, Mary had ordered the hit on Aaron. She was tried and convicted of aggravated murder and hindering prosecution. Mary was sentenced to life in prison, but on appeal that sentence was reduced to 25 years.

Laura Rogers was trapped in an unhappy marriage. Her husband, Walter, was controlling and abusive and had used his contracting work to move the family often and isolate them from friends and relatives. Then, in April of 2004, Walter was killed by a single shotgun blast. Laura claimed it was suicide, but police saw through her story. When her pregnant 16-year-old daughter tried to take the rap for Walter's murder, Laura confessed. She had killed Walter and she had a reason. Laura's daughter had told her a shocking story. Walter had been raping the 16-year-old and was the father of her baby. Even worse, there was a video tape to prove it. After watching the graphic images of her husband raping her own daughter, Laura was devastated. That night, she walked into the bedroom and shot Walter as he slept. Under a deal with the state's attorney, Laura pled guilty, facing up to 10 years in prison. The judge sentenced her to the maximum, and then reduced the sentence to time served, saying Laura had rid the world of a horrible human being. Laura Rogers was free to return home to her children and move on with her life.

Linda Lou Charbonneau orchestrates the murder of her ex-husband in September 2001, and her third husband in October 2001.

Stella Nickell was settled into a comfortable life with her husband, Bruce. They lived together in a trailer on a few acres with a view of Washington's Mt. Rainer. But Stella wanted more. Then, in June of 1986, Bruce dropped dead on the deck of the trailer. Doctors said it was emphysema; Stella swore it was the Excedrin he'd taken just moments before his collapse. Six days later, a local woman died of cyanide poisoning from tainted Excedrin capsules. More tainted pills were found on a drugstore shelf, which led to a nationwide recall. That's when Stella Nickell called police. She said she had some of the recalled Excedrin and believed that tainted capsules had killed her husband, too. A test confirmed cyanide in his system, making Stella eligible for an extra hundred thousand dollars from Bruce's life insurance. But that money, coupled with flecks of algae found in the tainted capsules, also made her the prime suspect. The blockbuster testimony of Stella's own daughter, who claimed Stella had been trying to get rid of Bruce for years, sealed Stella's fate. Stella was arrested and charged with federal product tampering. A jury convicted her and sentenced her to 90 years in a federal penitentiary.

Blonde, beautiful and ambitious, Kim Anderson never had any trouble finding success or successful men. In fact, by the time she was 34, Kim had been married to two of them, and had given birth to two children by each. Her second husband, Brent Anderson, was a successful divorce attorney from the nearby town of Celina. Shortly after the birth of her fourth child, Kim's marriage to Brent began to falter. Brent filed for divorce in October of 2000, and a bitter custody battled ensued. Just a few days before the divorce was to be final, Kim called 911 and told police that she had shot her husband. Cops found Brent lying dead in a bedroom closet with eight bullets in him. According to Kim, when she confronted her husband about his alleged molestation of their son, he became enraged and lunged at her. She claimed she instinctively picked up her handgun and shot. At trial, her attorneys argued she had acted in self-defense. But, prosecutors argued that the shooting was premeditated, pointing out that Kim had never claimed spousal abuse during the divorce proceedings. In a controversial verdict, the jury acquitted Kim of all charges in the killing. Brent's family sued her in civil court and the civil jury didn't believe she was in imminent danger at the time of the shooting. They ordered her to pay $540,000 to her husband's family.

Gail Bennett had led a life of hard choices. Raised on a Texas farm, she had spent her childhood taking care of her siblings. When she left home, she began a string of bad marriages. By 1990, she was filing for her third divorce. With one daughter grown, and a son living with her second ex-husband, Gail was at a crossroads in her life. That's when ex-husband number three, Tony, convinced her to come back to him. She did, and immediately regretted it. During a drunken rage, Tony brandished a rifle and threatened Gail. She pulled her pistol and shot him, wounding him. But that wouldn't be the worst part of the night. Sheriff Presley Lamar Pippin decided to let her go and even gave her a ride home. He offered to stand guard, in case Tony came back. Later that night, Pippin came into Gail's bedroom and forced himself on her. Fearing the Sheriff's power, and the pending charges in the shooting of her husband, Gail kept quiet about the rape. But when a grand jury decided not to indict Gail for shooting Tony, she went to the Austin Police about the rape. The case went before a grand jury, but Sheriff Pippin claimed the sex was consensual. Pippin wasn't indicted, and was soon re-elected. But Gail wasn't finished. She filed a civil suit, claiming the Sheriff had violated her civil rights. The federal judge didn't buy Sheriff Pippin's claim of consensual sex and admonished him for his abuse of police authority. The Sheriff and Archer County were ordered to pay $2 million in damages, though the award was reduced on appeal.

Deidra lane claims that abuse is what caused her to shoot her football player husband, but police find that years earlier she had committed the crime of larceny as well.

Michelle Theer, a marriage counselor, resorted to murder to get out of her own marriage in December 2000.