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Tonight, ABC News’ 20/20 will examine one of New York’s most notorious murder cases.
Stacey Castor, also known as the Black Widow killer, killed two of her husbands and also tried to murder her daughter. Tonight’s broadcast will feature David Muir’s prison interview with Castor, along with new interviews with investigators and even family members of David Castor.
Interested in learning more about the Black Widow killer? Here’s what you need to know.
1. She Is Suspected of Having Mudered Her First Husband Michael Wallace
Castor was only 17 when she met her first husband, Michael Wallace. The couple had their first daughter, Ashley, in 1988, and their second daughter, Bree, in 1991.
It was in late 1999 that those around Michael began to notice he was consistently coughing and seemed swollen. His family urged him to visit a doctor, but he died in early 2000 before he had time to do so.
At first, doctors determined that Castor died of a heart attack.
In her 2009 interview with David Muir, Stacey Castor says that although Wallace was “the life of the party,” their marriage had many problems. Wallace reportedly struggled with drugs and alcohol “for a long time in his life.”
According to ABC, a friend of Castor’s told ABC News that she was considering divorce at the time of his death. When he passed, Castor collected $55,000 in life insurance policy.
Although it has never been proven, Castor is suspected of poisoning Wallace herself.
2. She Was Found Guilty of Murdering Her Second Husband David Castor
In 2003, Castor married her second husband, David Castor. Two years later, in August 2005, Stacey called the police saying that her husband had locked himself in their bedroom and would not come out. When the police were able to finally knock down the bedroom door, they found David Castor dead with a container of antifreeze next to him.
His death was ruled a suicide via a lethal dose of antifreeze. However, investigators were eventually able to find Stacey’s fingerprints on a turkey baster that had David’s DNA on it. At that moment, they started to suspect Stacey may have killed her husband.
After the case failed to progress, police decided to have the body of Michael Wallace exhumed. Reports of the exhumation revealed that Wallace also died via antifreeze.
In the words of Local Syr, “[Castor] wanted people to believe that her life had been crippled by tragedy — that her first husband had died of a heart attack, her second husband had died by poisoning himself with antifreeze, and that her daughter had also attempted suicide.”
3. She Was Found Guilty of Attempting to Murder Her Daughter
Watch what happened during ‘Black Widow’ testimony and don’t miss our new look at the sensational true-crime case that stunned the nation – Black Widow – Friday on a special 2-hour #ABC2020. #2020BlackWidow t.co/i5gmICeDON
Not long after her second husband was exhumed, investigators visited Ashley at college, where they informed her that her father had died of poison and not of a heart attack. Castor then invited her daughter to come over for a drink. She did so, and that’s when Castor offered her daughter a strange looking drink.
Less than one day later, Ashley was found comatose on her bed. Next to her was a suicide note in which she ‘wrote’ that she killed her father and stepfather.
Ashley, fortunately, was able to recover. When paramedics asked her if she tried to commit suicide, she said she had not. She also admitted to having no idea where the suicide note came from.
When forensics searched Castor’s computer, they found drafts of the suicide note that was found next to Ashley’s body. The investigators used timestamps to deduce that the letter had been written while Ashley was in school; she could not have been the one behind the letter.
4. Castor Was Sentenced to 51 1/3 Years-To-Life
In new 20/20 interviews, family members of ‘Black Widow’ victim recall their shock at his last will and testament and refute the idea that he would leave nothing to his son.
#ABC2020 #2020BlackWidow – Friday at 9|8c on @ABC. t.co/i5gmICeDON
In 2007, Castor was arrested for second-degree murder in David’s death, along with framing her daughter for the deaths of David and Wallace. In court, Ashley testified that she did not murder either her father or stepfather. She also stated she did not write the suicide note.
Stacey was sentenced to more than 51 years in prison.
5. She Died at Age 48 from a Heart Attack at a Maximum Security Prison for Women
For the third time in eight years, Stacey Castor called for help, saying her daughter had consumed pills and a bottle of vodka. She was later found guilty of attempting to murder her daughter.
#ABC2020 #2020BlackWidow – Friday at 9|8c on @ABC. t.co/i5gmICwfdn
In 2016, Stacey Castor died from natural causes from a heart attack. At the time, she was incarcerated at a maximum security prison for women in Westchester County. There were no signs of suicide or foul play.
She would have been first eligible for parole in 2055 at age 87.
According to a press release, tonight’s 20/20 will include a jailhouse interview with Castor before her death, as well as interviews with detectives on the case.
The “20/20” special on Castor airs this Friday, Feb. 8, from 9-11 p.m. ET on ABC.