Euphemia Mondich

Euphemia Mondich (1884 – August 20, 1961), known as Lady Bluebeard, was a Polish–American bigamist, murderer and suspected serial killer who killed at least one husband, and later a lover, in Detroit, Michigan in 1921. Convicted for the final murder, she was sentenced to life imprisonment and remained imprisoned until her death in 1961.

Early life and marriages Little is known of Mondich's background. Born in 1884 in Austrian Galicia, she was first married there to a man named George Woodwood, who died three years later under mysterious circumstances. Sometime during the 1910s, she emigrated to Toronto, Canada, where she married a man named George Woropchuk. Their marriage lasted for some time until she deserted him in 1914 and moved to the United States, settling in Detroit. While living there, she married Joseph Sokolsky on June 14, 1921. The couple lived in a small house on Osborne Street, where a third man, a 39-year-old fellow emigrant named John Udurovich, also resided. Along the way, Udurovich stopped the car, claiming that a tire had gone flat. Sokolsky then exited the car to help him out, but Udurovich then hit him on the head with a wrench, killing him on the spot. Afterwards, both he and Mondich dragged the body to a nearby brick manufacturing company and dumped the body into a hole used for unloading building materials, covering it with some rubbish. Distressed by this, Steve went to the police station and begged the officer in charge to find his wife, mentioning that she had taken some clothing and all the money. In an attempt to bring further attention to his pleas, he mentioned that she had previously been questioned in the disappearance of a previous husband, whereupon Steve was brought to the Homicide Division's room to give further details. Mondich was then brought back to the police station for further questioning, where they learned that she had been in a total of nine relationships across Poland, Canada and the United States, but authorities were unable to locate all of her husbands and suitors.

Trial, imprisonment, and death In the end, Mondich was charged solely with the Udurovich killing, as authorities were unable to locate Sokolsky's body. While awaiting trial, she stated that she hoped for an acquittal. At the trial, she entered a plea of self-defense, arguing that she was deathly afraid of Udurovich and had no choice but to kill him; to counter this, the prosecution brought parts of Udurovich's skeleton to show where he had been shot, indicating that the killing had been premeditated. Upon seeing them, Mondich burst into tears.

Mondich was eventually found guilty of the murder charge and sentenced to life imprisonment. After her trial, her two surviving husbands met up and congratulated one another on staying alive before bidding her farewell. Mondich was then transferred to the Detroit House of Correction in Plymouth Charter Township, where she remained until her death of a heart attack on August 20, 1961, aged 77. According to Superintendent Jonathan Goldsmith, Mondich had no visitors during the last ten years of her life and spent most of her time tending to the prison flower garden and feeding stray animals. She apparently turned religious during her imprisonment, and would occasionally receive letters from The Salvation Army.