Alfred Leonard Cline

Alfred Leonard Cline (1888 – August 5, 1948), also known as "Buttermilk Bluebeard", was an alleged American serial killer responsible for murdering at least nine of his wives by poisoning them with buttermilk laced with heavy overdoses of sedatives after persuading then to sign all of their possessions over to him in their wills, sometimes forging the women's signatures when this failed. After the murders, the local doctor would misidentify the deaths as heart failure, and Cline would create the body in order to prevent the real cause of death from being discovered.

After nine murders, the police became suspicious and investigated, but were unable to prove murder because Cline had cremated all of his wives. However, Cline was convicted of forging his wive's signatures on some of their wills, and was sentenced to 126 years in prison. He died of a heart attack while serving his sentence in 1948.

Biography

Cline was born on March 12, 1888, in Frederick, Kansas. He was never convicted of murders, as no supporting evidence was found. He married women of status, convinced them to will their possessions to his name, and persuaded them to drink a glass of poisoned buttermilk that contained powerful sedatives. After a fatal dose of drugs, a local doctor would issue a death certificate citing the cause of death to be heart failure.

Cline cremated his later wives to hide any evidence of murder. He acquired over $82,000 in possessions from eight of his wives. Cline was prosecuted for a murder charge, but jailed for forgery. He was sentenced to 126 years in Folsom Prison, California. Cline died of a heart attack in the prison on August 5, 1948.