Editing Mary Ann Cotton (section)

{{Villain_Infobox
|Image = Photo_of_Mary_Ann_Cotton.jpg
|fullname = Mary Ann Cotton
|alias = The Black Widow
|occupation = Dressmaker <br> Nurse <br> Housekeeper
|origin = Low Moorsley, Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, England
|goals = Kill her stepson (succeeded)
|crimes = [[Murder]] <br> [[Familicide]] <br> [[Misandry]] <br> [[Xenophobia]]
|type of villain = Greedy Serial Killer
}}
'''Mary Ann Cotton''' was an English woman and convicted murderer. She is believed to be a for-profit serial killer, predating Belle Gunness by thirty years. She is known for her execution following the poisoning of her stepson.

Married at age twenty to William Mowbray, the newlyweds settled in Plymouth, Devon, to start their family. The couple had five children, four of whom died of ‘gastric fever and stomach pains’.

Moving back to the north-east, tragedy seemed to follow them; three more children born, three more children died. William soon followed his offspring, dying of an ‘intestinal disorder’ in January 1865. British Prudential promptly paid a 35-pound dividend, and a pattern was established. Her second husband, George Ward, died of intestinal problems as well as one of her two remaining children. The power of the press, always a force to be reckoned with, caught up with Mary Ann. The local newspapers discovered that as Mary Ann moved around northern England, she lost three husbands, a lover, a friend, her mother and a dozen children, all dying of stomach fever. She was hanged at Durham County Gaol, March 24, 1873, for murder by arsenic poisoning. She died slowly, the hangman using too short a drop for a ‘clean’ execution.
[[Category:Femme Fatale]]
[[Category:List]]
[[Category:Early Modern Villains]]
[[Category:Execution]]
[[Category:Serial Killer]]
[[Category:Misandrists]]
[[Category:Deceased]]
[[Category:Female]]
[[Category:Greedy]]
[[Category:Tragic]]
[[Category:Fallen Heroes]]
[[Category:Wolves in sheep's clothing]]
[[Category:Chaotic Evil]]
[[Category:Emotionless Villains]]
[[Category:Psychopath]]
[[Category:Xenophobes]]
[[Category:Murderer]]
[[Category:Successful]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:European Villains]]