Stacey Castor: Poisonous and Pathological

A story that I just can't help but be fascinated with involves Stacey Castor, a twice married mother of two who was, in actuality, a greedy and depraved murderess. I actually remember hearing about Stacey on the news, and I had also seen the Forensic Files episode centering on Stacey Castor a number of times. The more I watch that episode and think about that story, the more I'm amazed by everything. Here's the story.

Stacey Castor was born Stacey Ruth Daniels on July 24, 1967, to Judie Eaton and Jerry Daniels. In 1985, 17-year-old Stacey Daniels met Michael Wallace, and three years later, they became husband and wife. The marriage resulted in the birth of two daughters, Ashley Wallace (1988) and Bree Wallace (1991), though the family had very little money. Michael became ill at some point in 1999, with his condition worsening throughout the holiday season, leading to his death in early 2000. It was led to believe that Michael died of a heart attack, though his sister demanded an autopsy, only for Stacey to refuse and state that the doctors were correct.

In actuality, Stacey had murdered Michael with the use of antifreeze, doing so for his life insurance benefits. Three years after Michael's death, Stacey married David Castor, and would be known as Stacey Castor for the remainder of her life. Two years after becoming Stacey's second husband, David would become Stacey's second victim as well, using antifreeze to poison him. One August 2005 afternoon, Stacey called local police under the claim that David had locked himself in his bedroom, with the result seeing police break down the door and find David deceased, with a glass half-full of a bright green liquid, and a bottle of antifreeze nearby.

Stacey had been in the clear again; she poisoned both of her husbands, benefited financially, and the deaths weren't deemed suspicious--emphasis on weren't, as Stacey's demeanor began to be placed under a proverbial magnifying glass. At Stacey's request, David Castor was buried next to Michael Wallace, but she never visited her husbands' graves. Believing that Stacey had killed both husbands, authorities decided to exhume Michael Wallace and search for traces of antifreeze poisoning. Sure enough, they found it.

In the fall of 2007, Stacey had found out that her first husband's body was exhumed, and that meant that she would be exposed as a villainess and double murderess. It was at that moment that Stacey devised an evil plan to set up her own first-born daughter, Ashley Wallace, in the murders, which included inviting Ashley to her family home after she phoned Stacey about how distressed she was that questions were being asked about the murders. The villainous Stacey then gave Ashley an alcoholic beverage laced with painkillers, with Ashley drinking the concoction and noticing a nasty taste, but drank it anyway because she trusted her mother--as well as the fact that Stacey was letting her drink alcohol.

17 hours later, Ashley was found comatose by Bree, leading to Stacey calling 911, but also typing a suicide note where Ashley "confessed" to the murders of her father and stepfather, completing her plan to portray Ashley as a murderous villainess. Ashley was hospitalized and survived, but faced questions about her role in the murders of her father and stepfather, with Ashley--who was only 11 when her father died, and 15 when her stepfather died--denying the claims against her.

Stacey was arrested later in 2007, after all of the evidence against her was collected. During her trial, Stacey was revealed to be motivated by greed in her murderous acts, as she planned to collect on each of her husbands' life insurance benefits and estates, and regarding the attempt to kill Ashley, it was concluded that the "suicide note" was devised by Stacey while Ashley was at school--as several drafts of the note were found on Stacey's computer. The trial ended on February 5, 2009 with Stacey convicted of second-degree murder in regards to David's death, as well as attempted second-degree murder for her plan against Ashley. A month later, Stacey was sentenced to 25 years to life for David's murder, an additional 25 years for attempting to kill Ashley, and 1 1/3 to 4 years for forging David's will.

A story in 2010 gave a suggestion that Stacey may have killed her father, Jerry Daniels, who died on February 22, 2002. Daniels was hospitalized for a minor lung complaint, though it was documented that on that day, Stacey brought her father an open can of soda, with the family of Michael Wallace using that to suspect that Stacey killed her own father. She ended up as the executor of her father's estate following Daniels' passing. Stacey's earliest release date was June 15, 2055, over a month prior to what would have been Stacey's 88th birthday; however, on June 11, 2016, Stacey died of a heart attack in her prison cell--she was only 48. On February 1, 2020, Lifetime aired Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story, centering on the murderess' life and criminal actions, with Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) as Stacey Castor.

The main thing that fascinates me about this story is Stacey Castor's immense depravity and callousness. She murdered not one, but both of her husbands for money, and when she was in danger of being exposed, she even resorted to having her own daughter killed and setting her up as the killer of the two main father figures in her life--all so she could continue to get away with her crimes scot-free. Stacey Castor was, without question, a truly demented and monstrous villainess.