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Canadian Woman With A History Of Drugging Lovers Is Arrested Again

A Canadian woman, dubbed "Black Widow," was arrested on accusations she broke the terms of her release. She has a history of poisoning past lovers.
Posted at 2:35 PM, Apr 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-13 14:35:00-04

An elderly Canadian woman known as the "Black Widow" is back in police custody after authorities say she violated conditions of her release.

Halifax Regional Police say 80-year-old Melissa Ann Shephard was taken into custody after she was accused of getting on the internet at a library in the city.

The terms of her release are so strict because of her history of drugging romantic partners.

Those conditions included not getting on the Internet, abiding by a curfew, informing police before she enters a romantic relationship and more.

 Authorities say she's been a high-risk offender for a while.

"We believe that she poses a risk going forward to the particular group of elderly males that she has prayed upon in the past," Crown prosecutor James Giacomantonio told The Advocate.

Shephard is a convicted killer. In 1991, she was found guilty of drugging and repeatedly running over her second husband with a car.

She remarried, but her third husband died about a year into the relationship.

She then got into a relationship with a man in Florida who says she tried to poison him.

"I would go to sleep, and if i had to get for something, go to the bathroom or something, that's when I would get up and fall over," ex-boyfriend Alex Strategos told ABC.

She didn't serve any time for the allegations, but did serve time for snatching $20,000 from his bank account.

She most recently was behind bars for trying to poison her fourth husband during a honeymoon. She's due in court for the most recent allegations May 24.

This video includes an image from the Halifax Regional Police.