Melissa Ann Shepard : Internet Black Widow (2012) - the fifth estate
3,981,661
Published 2016-08-03
Alexander Strategos did what any lonely 73-year-old retiree in Florida looking for love would do -- he logged on to a seniors' website and made a date. The 69-year-old brunette from Canada who answered his call arrived in a new white Cadillac and quickly made herself at home in his condo. Over the next two months, police believe Melissa Ann Friedrich drugged Strategos, took control of his home, stole his life savings and was already searching for her next victim on Internet dating sites.
the fifth estate's Linden MacIntyre investigated Sheppard 's remarkable and complex story, including a lengthy and dramatic interview with her in prison. After police arrested Sheppard on charges of exploitation of the elderly, they learned she had at least 13 aliases and at least 30 prior convictions for various kinds of fraud dating back to 1970. They also learned that she was convicted of manslaughter in 1992 after running over, not once but twice, her 44-year-old husband on a dirt road near the Halifax airport. Another husband died in 2002, and while Friedrich was not charged, to this day family members suspect her in his death. And in March 2005, Sheppard was convicted on seven charges of theft and forgery. She was released from prison in Florida in 2009, and until this 2012, had apparently been living a quiet life for three years.
Shepard left prison in 2016 after serving an 3.5 year sentence for administering a noxious substance and failing to provide the necessaries of life to Fred Weeks, who was her newlywed husband. Weeks fell ill at a bed-and-breakfast in Cape Breton in September 2012, just a few days after marrying Shepard.
---
Subscribe for more videos from the fifth estate : bit.ly/25W8cpn
Connect with the fifth estate online :
Website : bit.ly/1d0FBxq
Facebook : bit.ly/1UO9B8S
Twitter : bit.ly/237VM8P
Instagram : bit.ly/25W8SLs
About the fifth estate : For four decades the fifth estate has been Canada's premier investigative documentary program. Hosts Bob McKeown, Gillian Findlay and Mark Kelley continue a tradition of provocative and fearless journalism. the fifth estate brings in-depth investigations that matter to Canadians – delivering a dazzling parade of political leaders, controversial characters and ordinary people whose lives were touched by triumph or tragedy.
All Comments (21)
-
This is why tissue samples should ALWAYS be taken before cremation and kept for at least 10 years
-
She said in the interview, she can't promise she'd be able to behave herself out of prison, wow, that speaks volumes on the kind of person she is!
-
I am a female in my seventies and this makes me sick that she could treat men like this
-
This woman is a piece of work. She can't stop herself. She's a psychopath. Unbelievable. God bless the victims family.
-
When she said, 'I can't promise I will change" I was like are the cops listening?????
-
"not a gold digger but a grave digger" I nearly spat out my chocolate bar.
-
As a Canadian I’m appalled by our court’s letting her out, time and time again. Terrible!
-
I've been on my OWN for years.....I AM FINALLY starting to realise why...... NOT SAFE out there anymore🤗👍❤️
-
It's okay to be lonely. And sometimes you're better off.
-
i feel bad for the family of the husband she ran over, soiling his name with accusations of domestic violence is ultimate insult to injury
-
How is she able to get away again and again! Where is the justice for the victims
-
Dude do not bring a woman home with you who "doesn't have a place to stay" and into your only bed and think her motives are entirely pure.
-
I wouldn't marry someone with that many dead husband's/ wives..... especially if they liked cooking.
-
Notice how she knows exactly to the penny how much money the guy had
-
Her type often uses threats to intimidate people so that they’ll back off. Don’t let them do it. She also lies as easily as she breathes. What a snake.
-
Melissa’s story has more holes in her story than a sieve. God help the men that had the misfortune of meeting her
-
The elderly suffer from loneliness and often end up being taken advantage of, breaks my heart. I pray for good people around if I live to be elderly.
-
Thank God that guy's son was on the ball. He really looked out for his father.
-
Hard to believe that one person can have so much evil within them.
-
Her real personality came out with the call to the son to tell him the will was being changed - Sociopath that should never have been allowed to be out of prison.
