A British nurse, Lucy Letby, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday after killing seven newborns and attempting to kill six more.
Letby’s name has been etched in the history books for committing one of the most horrendous crimes in history. The 33-year-old was sentenced to a rare whole-life order, the most severe penalty, typically reserved for the gravest offenses. Letby is only the fourth woman to receive such sentence. A whole-life order means a convicted criminal can never be released from prison.
In this report, PUNCH profiles the other women who were recipients of “whole life order” sentence.
- Myra Hindley: Myra Hindley was an English serial killer. In partnership with Ian Brady, she committed the rapes and murders of five children. Hindley’s victims were between ages 10-17. Hindley’s misdeeds were revealed to authorities by her brother-in-law, who is only 17 years old. Hindley has denied culpability in every homicide case. She was convicted responsible for three killings and given a life sentence. She remained behind bars until her death in 2002.
- Rose West: Rose West was considered one of the most wicked women in Britain for the torture and murder of at least nine young women between 1973 and 1987. In addition to murdering her stepdaughter Charmaine, then eight years old, in 1971, she and her husband Fred West tortured and killed at least nine young women between 1973 and 1987. She was found guilty of 10 murders in 1995.Rose is currently incarcerated at HM Prison New Hall in Flockton, West Yorkshire. The couple raped, tortured and murdered their victims.
- Joanna Donnehy: In 2013, Donnehy was arrested after a ten-day killing spree, which left three men dead and two more fighting for their lives. She and her partner Gary Richards planned to kill nine people in an effort to emulate the notorious crime team of Bonnie and Clyde. Although she attempted to kill two more men, she failed and fell way short of her intended number.
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