A duo from Los Angelos, originally natives of Hungary, has been dubbed as the ‘Black Widows.’ Helen Golay, 77 and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, sat stony faced in court, as they heard the sentence of life imprisonment, with no possibility of parole. (Whatever that means to elderly women in their late seventies.)

The duo were found guilty, after befriending two homeless men, aged 73 and 50, at an Eastern European church. They found somewhere for the men to live and then proceeded to take out insurance policies on the men, (insurance-with-intent-to-murder). The women had found an insurance company which would pay out, heelless of illness, or accidental cause. ‘No Hassle, No investigation’, said the company slogan.

The two women used rubber stamps, onto which they had transferred the signatures of the men. They used these to sign the insurance forms. Next the women arranged for the two men to be killed in hit-and-run accidents, in dark alleys.

Both women claimed relationship with the victims. Rutterschmidt said she was a cousin, while Golay claimed she was the fiancée of both men. The women collected just under $US3 million, before their scheme was disclosed. The homeless men had only been looking for some neighbourly assistance. Sadly they received a lot more than they bargained for.

In his closing comments Judge Wesley said, “The two men you killed needed a helping hand. They thought they were getting this from you. Instead these unfortunate men were sacrificed on your altar of greed.” Wesley said he had looked up the word greed. Among other things, he found the definition, ‘A selfish desire for money, with no intention of using it, just the desire to have it’.

What was it the two aged women were going to do with all that money? Even more alarming is the unanswered question of whether or not the women are responsible for other deaths, which involved six life insurance policies. These were not paid out, because of suspicious circumstances. Paul Vados and Kenneth McDavid both died when accidentally crushed by cars, in 1999 and 2005. They were also insured by Golay and Rutterschmidt.

When it was first put on Broadway, ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’, was a startling break-away from the usual run of the mill theatre. Mr. Crouse and Mr. Lindsay, the producers, understood what all successful entrepreneurs understand. It only takes one whacky idea to make or break you. They knew the risk they were running. The play would either be a rip roaring success, or they would be run out of town by outraged citizens.

‘Arsenic and Old Lace’, with 1,444 performances, proudly takes its place among some of the longest running shows on Broadway. It paid its backers 40 to 1. It has constantly been ranked among the most constantly produced plays over the last four decades, even in countries as far away as Brazil and Rumania. In 1986 it was seen once more on Broadway, costing far more than the original play did.

The central characters of the comedy were the Brewster sisters. They were those who were renowned for the neighbourly attentions they lavished on all who needed them, as well as their devotion to each other and their charities. A dozen old men, who had no families, were put out of their lonely miserable existence, by the kindly sisters. The women believed their self-appointed task was to assist the men get eternal peace. This was achieved through the Brewster’s delicious concoction of homemade elderberry wine, liberally dosed with cyanide, arsenic and strychnine. They buried their victims in the cellar, making sure they gave them a proper funeral, accompanied with appropriate hymns, according to the religious preference of the men. The graves were dug by their unsuspecting nephew.

“Arsenic and Old Lace” was converted by Frank Capra, into the much admired movie, starring Carey Grant. The film script was considerably different to the original play script. It had a sugar-coating ending, where the play had a dark foreboding feeling to the comedy.

Down through the years, thousands have enjoyed a good laugh watching the movie, which has been carefully preserved and copied.

Was it after watching the movie several times, or only once, that Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt copied it? Did the Black Widows operate from the motivation of a lunatic, with no use for logic, as everything a lunatic does, or discovers, confirms the lunacy? Perhaps some would have called the widows merely eccentric, but for the unsuspecting victims it was a lethal nightmare.

For unknown reasons some things become classics, like the 1934 song ‘Blue Moon’, or films such as ‘Arsenic and Lace’. Very few classics have the opportunity to become real life. You be the judge of whether Golay and Rutterschmidt were extremely clever, or plain mad? Perhaps they are lunatics, who have no logic, morons with twisted logic, or fools who were simply confused and only looking for entertainment.