title: Bodenfelde Black Widows
text: # Bodenfelde Black Widows
  
  The Bodenfelde Black Widows were two German serial killers, who committed four murders from 1994 to 2000 in the Bodenfelde municipality. Bodenfelde is in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany.
  
  ## Murderers
  
  The couple were Lydia L., a former prostitute born in 1939, and her assistant, Siegmund S.
  
  Lydia invited older men to live with her in a relationship or as care for the elderly. She later murdered the men with Siegmund S.'s help. However, a turnaround occurred when her aide himself reported the crimes to the police, confessing his participation in them as well.
  
  ## Victims
  
  The following relationships were assigned to Lydia L.:
  
  * Ludwig G. from Biebertal. In 1983, he met the woman at the age of 82. In September 1985, he appointed Lydia his sole heir. He died in a hospital on January 5, 1986.
  * Wilhelm S., a master mason from the Sauerland.
  * Paul P., who died at the age of 83 in February 1991.
  * Alois M.
  * Günter S., 74, strangled in June 1994.
  * Adolf B. from Melsungen, was suffocated with a pillow in September 1994.
  * Paul G., first stunned by Lydia L. and then strangled by Siegmund S., in April 1995.
  * Gerhard G., smothered with a plastic bag by the two offenders in his house in Völksen, near Hanover, on July 13, 2000.
  
  ## Trial
  
  The court recognized the last four cases as murders. Lydia L. was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 by the District Court of Göttingen, and she is now serving in Vechta Prison. A revision submitted by her was unsuccessful.
  
  Siegmund S. was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, which he served in the Rosdorf correctional facility. By his own account, he said that he had been afraid of being poisoned.
  
  In 2014, Lydia L. sued the new owner of her house, who was said to have disposed of personal belongings without her permission. The claim was dismissed by the court.
  
  