Deadly Women: How Investigation Discovery Profiles Female Murderers
The long-running true crime series examines cases of women who killed, hosted by former FBI profiler Candice DeLong
Deadly Women premiered in 2005 as a three-part miniseries on Investigation Discovery, introducing audiences to a documentary format centered entirely on murders committed by women. The series was produced by Beyond International Group and hosted by Candice DeLong, a former FBI criminal profiler whose expertise shaped the investigative narrative throughout the show's 16-year run.
The original 2005 miniseries was subtitled with three thematic categories: "Obsession," "Greed," and "Revenge." These themes would become a hallmark of the program's structure. Each episode unified multiple cases around a central motive, helping viewers understand the psychological and circumstantial factors that drove women to commit murder.
When Deadly Women transitioned to a regularly scheduled series on December 24, 2008, the format underwent significant changes. The production team reduced the number of cases covered per episode from four to three, allowing for deeper storytelling. Narrator Lynnanne Zager replaced the original narrator Marsha Crenshaw, bringing a fresh voice to the series. The show also adopted a widescreen format, modernizing its visual presentation for contemporary audiences.
The series' production was based in Sydney, Australia, with filming conducted throughout nearby suburbs. This international production model meant that Australian and New Zealand actresses portrayed the subjects in dramatized re-enactments, bringing a distinct production approach to American true crime narratives.
One notable episode exemplifies the show's investigative approach: Season 11, Episode 2, titled "Blood for Money," which aired on September 28, 2009. The episode's first case examined Eva Coo and Martha Clift, two women involved in the 1934 murder of Henry Wright in Oneonta, New York. According to the investigation, Coo bludgeoned the disabled coworker with a mallet while Clift ran over him with a car. The motive was financial: they sought to collect Wright's life insurance. Clift pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for testifying against Coo and received a 20-year prison sentence. Coo was convicted and executed by electric chair in August 1935, representing one of the era's rare executions of a woman for murder.
