Random People Who Married Serial Killers After They Were Caught (12 items)

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  (#1) Carol Spadoni Married Phillip Carl Jablonski

  Philip Carl Jablonski was a serial rapist who was apprehended in 1978 for the murder of his former girlfriend and the mother of his child, Linda Kimball. While serving his sentence, Jablonski married Carol Spadoni in 1982. The couple initially became pen-pals after Spadoni responded to a newspaper ad Jablonski had written from prison, in which he depicted himself as "a gentle giant."

  After his release in 1990, Jablonski would go on to assault and murder four more women, including his new wife, Carol Spadoni, as well as her mother, Eva Petersen. Jablonski was then sentenced to death. 
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  (#2) Rosalie Martinez Married Oscar Bolin

  Truck driver and former carnival worker Oscar Bolin, known as "Needles" on the road, was convicted in the deaths of three women in Florida. He was famously married to Rosalie Martinez, who was a member of his own legal defense team, while he was on death row in 1996.

  Martinez left her husband, also a lawyer, to marry Bolin. Martinez said she made the dramatic move in part to demonstrate Bolin's innocence, which she never stopped believing in. The two remained married until his 2016 execution in Florida. 
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  (#3) Doreen Lioy

  Richard Ramirez was the infamous "Night Stalker" serial killer and rapist, who terrorized the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas from 1984 to 1985. Ramirez received hundreds of letters from women in prison, including more than 75 letters from Doreen Lioy, a former magazine editor.

  Ramirez proposed to Lioy in 1988, and the two married eight years later, in 1996. They wed in San Quentin Prison. Lioy insists that her husband is innocent: "He's kind, he's funny, he's charming [...] I think he's really a great person. He's my best friend; he's my buddy." They remained wed until Ramirez passed in 2013 while on death row. 
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  (#4) Carole Anne Boone

  Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy was infamous for taking the lives of more than 30 women between 1974 and 1978. He was also known for being extremely handsome and charming. Perhaps that's why in 1980, a former coworker of Bundy's, Carole Ann Boone, married him after he famously proposed to her in court.

  In fact, Bundy married her right then and there, using a bizarre loophole in Florida law stating that just a declaration of marriage in the presence of a judge constitutes a legal marriage. In 1982, Boone gave birth to Bundy's alleged daughter, even though conjugal visits weren't allowed in his Florida prison. Bundy was executed in 1989, but his marriage dissolved in 1986 at Boone's request.
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  (#5) James Whitehouse Married Susan Atkins

  Susan Atkins is another infamous member of the Manson Family. She was convicted for eight of the nine "Helter Skelter" murders committed by the group. Atkins would go on to marry twice while imprisoned. First, she married Donald Lee Laisure in 1981 - after Laisure had previously been married 35 times. Atkins had the marriage annulled after learning Laisure planned to marry yet another woman.

  Then, in 1987, Atkins married James Whitehouse, a man 15 years her junior. He was a Harvard Law graduate - who actually represented Atkins during parole hearings. Their marriage continued until her passing in 2009.
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  (#6) Afton Elaine Burton Planned to Marry Charles Manson

  Charles Manson was the leader of the Manson Family, a group of young people who infamously took the lives of nine people in Los Angeles. The deaths occurred over the course of five weeks, during the summer of 1969, though Manson was never convicted of killing anyone personally.

  Manson reportedly started corresponding with Afton Elaine "Star" Buron when she was 17. The notorious cult leader intended to marry Buron, who was 53 years his junior, but their wedding was called off after it was discovered that Burton was attempting to make money from Manson by allegedly planning to display his corpse in LA once he had passed.
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  (#7) Kristin Joan Svege Married Tex Watson

  Tex Watson was a member of the Manson Family and was convicted in the death of actress Sharon Tate. After converting to Christianity and publishing the 1978 book Will You Die For Me?, Watson married Kristin Joan Svege in 1979.

  Together through conjugal visits, they had four children. The couple divorced in 2003 after being married for 24 years, though the two reportedly remain friends.
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  (#8) Tammi Ruth Saccoman Married Erik Menendez

  Erik Menendez, the younger of the Menendez Brothers, who took the lives of their own parents for financial gain in 1989, married Tammi Ruth Saccoman 10 years later in the waiting room of Folsom State Prison. Tammi Menendez described the marriage as "something very special that [she] never thought that [she] would ever have." Although Erik is not allowed conjugal visits, Tammi has remained supportive:

  Not having sex in my life is difficult, but it's not a problem for me. I have to be physically detached, and I'm emotionally attached to Erik.

  Tammi and her daughter, Talia, drive 150 miles every weekend to visit Erik. Talia calls her stepfather "Earth Dad," in contrast to her deceased biological father. Tammi also published the 2005 book, They Said We'd Never Make It - My Life With Erik Menendez, covering her relationship with Erik - who was sentenced to life without parole.
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  (#9) Christine Kizuka Married Angelo Buono

  One half of the infamous "Hillside Stranglers," who claimed the lives of 10 women in the late 1970s, is Angelo Buono, Jr. In 1986, Buono married Christine Kizuka, a California State Employment Development Department supervisor. Kizuka met Buono in prison while she was visiting her first husband, who spent a short stint in the cell next to Buono's. 

  The was couple denied conjugal visits based on the severity of Buono's crimes. They remained married until he passed in 2002 from a heart attack. 
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  (#10) Anna Eriksson Married Lyle Menendez

  Lyle Menendez - who with his younger brother, Erik, took their parents' lives in 1989 - also got married while incarcerated, twice. Mendendez married prison pen-pal and former model Anna Eriksson on July 2, 1996. The two were subsequently divorced on April 1, 2001, after Eriksson discovered that Menendez was "cheating" via corresponding with another woman.

  Two years later, Menendez remarried, this time to his long-time friend Rebecca Sneed, at a ceremony in the maximum security visiting area of Mule Creek State Prison. They remain married as of 2018, although Menendez is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
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  (#11) Shirlee Joyce Book Married Kenneth Bianchi

  Kenneth Bianchi, who along with Angelo Buono Jr., is known as one of the "Hillside Stranglers." In 1979, Bianchi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. A decade later, in 1989, Bianchi married his pen-pal Shirlee Joyce Book. The couple kept in touch through phone calls, and they reportedly met for the first time just prior to the prison chapel ceremony.

  Book allegedly tried to pursue Ted Bundy before contacting Bianchi. As of 2018, Bianchi and Book are still married. 
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  (#12) Asha Bandele Married Zayd Rashid

  Zayd Rashid received a sentence of 20 years to life for taking the life of a woman during a botched robbery in New York. The then-17-year-old publicly accepted responsibility for his actions. While imprisoned, Rashid read poetry at a class his future wife, former Essence Editor-at-large Asha Bandele, was taking. Rashid and Bandele corresponded for several years prior to deciding to wed in 1995.

  Bandele wrote a 1999 memoir detailing their romance called The Prisoner's Wife. She later wrote another memoir discussing her struggle as a single mother during Rashid's incarceration. The couple reportedly remained married for 10 years before separating, as Rashid was deported to Guyana after his release from prison. 

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