On August 22, 2005, Stacey Castor called 911. She said she was worried about her husband.
“My husband just locked himself in the bedroom for the last day… I’m really scared, you know?”
An officer arrived shortly after to the Castor’s home in Syracuse, New York. They gained entry to the locked bedroom and found 48-year-old David Castor naked and unresponsive in bed. On the bedside table was a glass of green liquid. A jug of antifreeze was found on the floor. It seemed that David had committed suicide, though no note was found.
Stacey and David met in 2001 when David hired Stacey to work at his heating and air conditioning company. Both of them had been married previously, with Stacey’s first husband having passed away in 2000. Stacey had two teenage daughters with her first husband, Ashley and Bree. The couple seemed happy but it was said that David’s dad passing away had caused him to sink into a depression. This was just a few months before his own death.
A medical examiner concluded that David had died from antifreeze poisoning and ruled it a suicide, however investigators weren’t convinced. They found Stacey’s lone fingerprints on the glass of antifreeze next to David’s body, as well as a turkey baster with David’s DNA and traces of antifreeze, suggesting it had been used to force the liquid into David. The case was then ruled a homicide.
Investigators needed more evidence, so they turned their attention to Stacey’s first husband Michael Wallace.
Just 38 at the time, it was believed that he had a heart attack. At the request of Stacey Castor, no autopsy was performed. Three months before his death, Michael told his doctor that he felt drunk but hadn’t had any alcohol.
Ethylene Glycol poisoning, the official term for antifreeze, leaves crystals in the body, so in September 2007, investigators carried out a secret exhumation to ensure Stacey was not aware. Crystals consistent with antifreeze poisoning were found in Michael Wallace’s body.
Still, investigators needed more evidence. They interviewed Stacey about David Castor’s death. During this interview Stacey said:
“I poured him the antifree, I mean cranberry juice.”
When called out on what she said, Stacey claimed investigators had confused her. When shown a photo of the turkey bastor, she terminated the interview.
Then a week after the exhumation of her first husband, Stacey Castor made another 911 call.
“Um my daughter I believe has taken some pills.”
Ashley Wallace, Stacey’s daughter had taken a mixture of pills and alcohol, and left a suicide note. In it she confessed to killing her father Michael Wallace, and her step-father David Castor. The note mentioned “antifree” multiple times.
Ashley was taken to hospital where she recovered. Detectives questioned her about the note, but she had no idea what they were talking about.
“I did not kill my father… I did not kill my stepdad. I did not try to kill myself. You need to talk to my mom for answers.”
Stacey Castor had decided to frame her own daughter for killing David and Michael. She drugged her with sleeping pills and then over the course of 17 hours force fed her Vodka and prescription pills.
When investigators searched the home computer they found the note, but Ashely was at school during the time it was typed so she wouldn’t have written it. The use of the word “antifree” throughout the note matched the previous interview Stacey had given where she said “antifree”.
Four years after David’s death in 2009, Stacey Castor was arrested for his murder and for the attempted murder of her daughter Ashley Wallace.
At the trial, the jury deliberated for three days before finding Stacey guilty. She was sentenced to 51 years to life, without the possibility of parole.
As she was already sentenced to life behind bars, charges were not pursued against her for the alleged murder of her first husband Michael Wallace.
The Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey said:
“In my 34 years in the criminal justice system as a lawyer and a judge, I have seen serial killers, contract killers, killers of every variety and stripe… but I have to say, Mrs Castor, you are in a class all by yourself.”
Ashley Wallace said:
“She was my best friend, too. She was. And then she took that all away. I would have done anything for her, but she decided she wanted to kill me instead.”
Stacey Castor said:
“I did not kill Michael Wallace, I did not kill David Castor, and I did not try to kill my daughter, period. And I will never say that I did, ever.”
Stacey maintained her innocence and consistently appealed her case.
In 2016, just seven years into her sentence, 48-year-old Stacey Castor died of a heart attack.
Sources:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/detectives-caught-black-widow-deadly-web-lies/story?id=60854018
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-who-poisoned-husband-with-antifreeze-dies-in-prison
https://allthatsinteresting.com/stacey-castor
https://criminaldiscoursepodcast.com/black-widow-stacey-castor/
