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In most societies, women have been viewed as life-givers; they create children and care for them. With the exception of some cultures, life-taking has not been a role bestowed upon women. Men have usually gone to war, while women stay at home, and even if women have a significant role in a war-time society, their contribution is usually domestic. In the traditional sense, man is viewed as the life-taker. Although this may be the case for many societies and cultures around the world, the following list highlights some very striking deviations from the norm. Here are five examples of powerful, and sometimes ruthless, female criminals.

1. Aileen, Wuornos

Convicted of killing six men, Aileen Wuornos was sentenced to death by lethal injection on October 9th, 2002. Aileen had a troubled childhood. When she was younger, her father was convicted of raping a seven year old girl, and by the time Aileen was four, her mother had abandoned her, leaving Aileen to be raised by her maternal grandparents. Aileen’s criminal career started with a few DUIs, armed robbery of a convenience store, and prostitution. But Aileen had not committed murder until the age of 33, when her taste for blood began with the murder of Richard Mallory, whom she had claimed was raping her. Five murders followed. Aileen’s story has been featured in the film, “Monster,” starring Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci, a film that makes Aileen a more sympathetic figure and focuses mostly on her lesbian relationship with Tyria Moore.

2. Sandra Avila Beltran

Considered the most significant female drug cartel leader in the world, Sandra Beltran was connected to the murder of countless figures in the violent drug wars that plagued Mexico for decades. Mexican and U.S officials consider her to be an important link between the famous Colombian cartel Norte del Valle and the infamous Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. She is dubbed “La Reina del Pacifico” (The Queen of the Pacific) by the media and is considered to be a folk hero in Mexico for her unique rise to power and elegant demeanor. Sandra was finally busted in 2001 when authorities seized a shipment of nine tons of cocaine. Although it is uncertain how many murders were the result of Beltran’s actions, her presence and success in the Mexican drug trade most certainly leaves much to the imagination.

3. Omaima Aree Nelson

Recently denied a plea for parole, Omaima Aree Nelson was sentenced to life-in-prison in 1991 for killing her husband, dismembering him and eating his remains. She insisted in her plea that her husband William was trying to strangle her, and that she stabbed him with scissors in self defense. It was said that Nelson told psychologists that she had skinned William’s back, cooked the meat and dipped it into barbeque sauce. In her recent plea, she denies any sort of cannibalism, saying “I am not a monster.”

4. Leila Khaled

Often referred to as the “Poster girl of Palestinian Militancy,” Leila Khaled is accountable for numerous deaths due to her propagation of violence as a means of political change. Aside from her current role as member of the Palestinian National Council, she is also famous for her infamous hijackings in the late 1960s. Although no blood was shed on her behalf during the hijackings, the use of airplanes as a means of terrorism was brought to the public’s attention.

5. Ulrike Meinhof

A left-wing German militant and co-founder of the Red Army Faction, Meinhof was charged with numerous murders in 1972. The Red Army Faction was a violent left wing terrorist group in Germany that was a proponent of Communist change through any means possible. Meinhof was a political idealist, and believed that bringing political change required the use of force, even if violence was necessary.

Kristoph Oedman found this list intriguing and thought pursuing a criminal justice degree would make great conversation in class.