Another Top 10 Most Evil Women in History

Working as a prostitute can be a dangerous profession, and no one knows that quite like American serial killer Aileen Wuornos. While working as a lady of the night in Florida between 1989 and 1990, Wuornos murdered seven individual men. She claimed all the acts were committed in self defense, though evidence put much doubt on her claims. In 1990, she was convicted for six murders, and later executed via lethal injection in 2002. The following year, Charlize Theron portrayed of Wuornos in the crime drama “Monster,” for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Our next entry takes the meaning of a double life to the next level. During the day, Enriqueta spent her time assisting charities and abandoned children in Barcelona, Spain. When nightfall came, she would often murder or prostitute those same children out to the socialites of Barcelona. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as she began practicing witchcraft using the remains of the children in her concoctions. She was eventually arrested in 1913 and was lynched by her fellow convicts a few months later.

There is a long line of emperors and empresses who were bad, but none was quite as evil as our next pick: Wu Zetian, the proud empress that ruled during the Zhou dynasty. She struggled to keep her supreme power and left a trail of blood and broken corpses in her wake. She eliminated her political rivals and, along with her lovers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong – who also happened to be brothers - corrupted the Zhou dynasty. She was eventually removed and died of an unknown illness, while Yizhi and Changzong were executed for treason. As the only female emperor in four millennia, she most certainly left her mark.

Sometimes it takes a woman to run a cartel. Griselda Blanco, also known as the Black Widow or the Cocaine Godmother, was the driving force for cocaine trafficking in Miami during the 1970s and '80s. She was the face of the Medellin Colombian Cartel in the United States, with her return to the States from Colombia triggering the Miami Drug War - increasing gang violence and mass murder in the city. After trying to steal a shipment of cocaine from the cartel, which resulted in the death of a member of the powerful Ochoa family, she went the run. She was later murdered in a drive-by shooting in Columbia.

Let’s face it: many of the female Nazi officers could be horrible, if not worse, than their male counterparts. We were going to give this spot to Dorothea Binz,an SS officer at the Ravensbruck concentration camp who tortured prisoners, but Irma Grese takes it this time. Grese was a warden stationed at Ravensbruck and Auschwitz, and was in charge of prisoner selection. If you were sick, weak, or prettier than her, off to the gas chambers you went. She was eventually caught by British forces and tried for war crimes in 1945. Interesting fact: Grese was the youngest woman to be executed under British law in the 20th century.

Every revolution needs just the right female touch. Born in Tokyo, Fusako Shigenobu attended Meiji University and became radically involved in protesting, like many students do. Sparking this controversial protesting feeling, Shigenobu moved to the Middle East in 1971 and formed the Japanese Red Army. A terrorist group in all senses of the term, they are responsible for multiple attacks on airports and even claimed responsibility for the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States. Their goals included intentions to take over Japan’s government and the world. While the Japanese Red Army has disbanded since 2001, Shigenobu is still alive and kicking – though she is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence given to her in 2006.

It’s time for us to move up the ladder into the presidency. In 1992, Biljana Plavsic served as acting president of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Besides the normal political corruption, Plavsic played a major role during the Bosnian War by leading an ethnic cleansing against six million non-Serbs in her own country. She eventually became the 2nd president of Republika Srpska, one of the reigning governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the mid-‘90s and was later tried for her war crimes. She defended her actions with the statement: “Six million Serbs can die so that the remaining six million remaining can live in freedom.” She was sentenced for eleven years and was released in 2009.

Sometimes true love takes us down some dark paths. Born Rosemary Letts, Rose had a difficult childhood. Starting with a complicated pregnancy and a violent and sexually abusive father, Rose was driven into the arms of English serial killer Fred West. The pair would pick up girls from bus stops from around their home in Gloucester, imprison them for a short period of time, then kill them. Rosemary would also moonlight as a prostitute and even had her father as a client. The Wests were eventually arrested, resulting in Fred West’s suicide. Rosemary claims she is innocent to this day and is currently her life sentence.

Sometimes being a socialite gets boring, and you have to do something to pass the time. Madame Lalaurie was a prominent figure in 1800s New Orleans and like other high-ranking individuals, owned slaves. Everything was peachy for the pictures, but behind the scenes, Lalaurie would torture and murder her slaves. One famous account is that upon entry into the mansion in 1834, authorities found women with their stomaches cut open and entrails wrapped around them to hold them closed. This discovery came about after her mansion caught fire and exposed her crimes, causing her to flee to Paris where she spent her final days. Yes, “American Horror Story: Coven”’s Delphine Lelaurie is based off a real person. Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?

Before we are appalled by our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.
- Isabella I of Castile
1451 - 1504

- Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova
1730 -1801

- Jane Toppan
1857 - 1938

- Caril Ann Fugate
1943 -

- Dorothea Puente
1929 - 2011

#1: Williamina ‘Minnie’ Dean
1844 - 1895