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  • Published: 15 August 2016
  • ISBN: 9780143574309
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $38.00

The Black Widow

How One Woman Got Justice for Her Murdered Brother




The Black Widow almost got away with murder. But then her sister-in-law became suspicious...

The Black Widow almost got away with murder. But then her sister-in-law became suspicious...

The infamous Black Widow case shocked the nation. An average-looking suburban housewife carefully staged her husband's 'suicide'. At first it looked like she might get away with murder, but then her sister-in-law, Lee-Anne Cartier, became suspicious and started gathering evidence and presenting it to the police. Unfortunately they didn't believe it was enough to get a conviction and signed the death off as suicide. Lee-Anne then drove the case at the inquest and a finding of 'No proof of suicide' was pivotal in getting the police to reopen the case. Helen Milner, who became known as the Black Widow, was eventually convicted of murder and is now serving out her sentence in Arohata Prison.
This book tells how Lee-Anne persevered and put together many strands of information to crack the case wide open.

Also available as an eBook.

  • Published: 15 August 2016
  • ISBN: 9780143574309
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $38.00

About the author

Lee-Anne Cartier

Lee-Anne Cartier solved her brother's murder case. She is a single mother of four, based in Australia. After her fight for justice, and inspired by people she met along the way, Lee-Anne is now studying for a Bachelor of Criminology and Justice at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. She hopes to eventually work within the criminal justice system to improve the long and stressful journey of other victims.

Praise for The Black Widow

Lee-Anne Cartier is the sister of the Christchurch man found to have been murdered by his wife, Helen Milner, after an initial assumption by police that his death, in 2009, was suicide. The case created a lot of interest when it eventually came to court four years later and was one of New Zealand's most publicised murder trials. The fact that this book is listed in the top ten for sales and that New Zealand on Air is funding a movie shows there is still much interest... Cartier is to be congratulated both for her thorough, and eventually successful, investigation and for her lucid account of it. It documents a case that is likely to remain of interest for years to come.

Judith Morrell Nathan, Scoop Review of Books