Join Books.org — it's free

Murder - General & Miscellaneous, True Crime - Family Violence, Women's Biography - General & Miscellaneous, Criminals - Murderers - Biography, Murderers, Suspects & Victims - Biography
Mommy Deadliest by Benson, Michael — book cover

Mommy Deadliest

by Benson, Michael
Write a review
Log in to track your reading progress.

Overview

Case Featured On 20/20

Anti-Freeze For A Husband

It looked like a suicide. A man's corpse on the bathroom floor—next to a half-empty glass of anti-freeze. But fingerprints on the glass belonged to the deceased's wife, Stacey Castor. And a turkey baster in the garbage had police wondering if she force-fed the toxic fluid down her husband's throat.

Pills For A Daughter

In desperation, Stacey concocted a devious plan. She mixed a deadly cocktail of vodka and pills, then served it to her twenty-year-old daughter Ashley. The authorities would find Ashley with a suicide note, confessing to the anti-freeze murder. But Stacey's plan backfired—because Ashley refused to die...

A Killer For A Mother

Charged with murdering her second husband—and attempting to kill her oldest daughter—Stacey Castor sparked a media frenzy. But when police dug up her first husband's grave—and found anti-freeze in his body, too—this New York housewife earned a nickname that would follow her all the way to prison. They called her "The Black Widow." And with good reason.

Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Stacey Castor had everything: two loving daughters and a great husband. One morning, she called the police from her office. Her husband David been suicidal, and now he'd apparently locked himself in their bathroom. When police arrived at the house, they found him beside a bottle of antifreeze, dead. Though it did appear to be a case of suicide, police became suspicious that David was murdered. Further investigating showed that Stacy's former husband may have also been murdered. As the investigation dragged on, Stacey's daughter, Ashley, fell ill after drinking heavily with her mom; she'd been poisoned, but she didn't die, and Stacey was convicted of murdering David, attempting to murder Ashley, and forging a suicide note wherein Ashley took the blame for killing both of her mother's husbands. Veteran true crime scribe Benson (Betrayal in Blood) does best when he sticks to the facts, especially in a case as sensational as this. Stacey's behavior, demonstrating a chilling lack of remorse and a startling methodology, needs no adornment, and Benson's editorializing (particularly his personification of her drive to kill as "It") detracts from the story's impact. (Dec.)

Book Details

Published
June 8, 2026
Publisher
Kensington Publishing Corporation
Pages
375
Format
Paperbound
ISBN
9780786022069

More by Benson, Michael

Similar books