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Norman Hull

Black Widow Granny?

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Factual: Crime & Justice

03/11/2009

BBC One - Black Widow Granny?Close menu

All of Betty Neumar's five husbands appear to have died in suspicious circumstances.

Betty Neumar married five times and all five husbands appear to have died in suspicious circumstances. Could this 76-year-old really have got away with murder five times?

In the autumn of 2008, Al Gentry from Albemarle, North Carolina, achieved his goal of 22 years hard work - he had Betty Neumar arrested for the murder of his brother Harold who was Betty's husband back in 1986.
 
Only then did it emerge that Harold Gentry was just one of Betty's former husbands. She'd in fact been married five times in total - and all five husbands appear to have died in suspicious circumstances. The US media had a field day and labelled her 'The Black Widow', but could this 76-year-old grandmother really have got away with murder, not just once but five times? 

Made by acclaimed director Norman Hull, this film seeks the answer, tracking down some of the surviving relatives of the dead husbands, some of Betty's own children from these marriages, and finally the alleged 'The Black Widow' herself who completely denies all the accusations and presents a very plausible defence. 

Betty has been charged with solicitation to murder Harold Gentry. As her trial approaches the film pieces together a trail of destruction and broken lives through investigation and reportage in a journey which is not over yet.

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