Top 3 Female Killers Who Should Have a Lifetime Film

Lifetime has featured some compelling true crime films as of late, mostly centering on notorious real life female killers. In February 2020, Lifetime released a film about Stacey Castor, fittingly titled, Poison Love: The Stacey Castor Story, starring Nia Vardalos as the titular murderess. Stacey Castor murdered both of her husbands via antifreeze poisoning, and in 2007, she even resorted to attempting to poison her own daughter, Ashley Wallace, and framing her for the murders of her father and her stepfather. Ashley survived the attempt, and Stacey was arrested and later convicted of the murder of her second husband and the attempt on Ashley. She was sentenced to serve 51 years in prison, though Stacey died in prison in 2016.

Several real life villainesses either have received or will receive the Lifetime film treatment this year. Diane Neal (of SVU fame) played beauty queen turned murderess Peggy Sue Thomas in Ann Rule's Circle of Deception, and on June 13, Lifetime will air Secrets of a Gold Digger Killer, which will star Julie Benz (Darla from the Buffyverse, as well as a Lifetime film actress in her own right) as Celeste Beard, the woman who married Fox executive Steven Beard, but later seduced a woman by the name of Tracey Tarlton into killing Steven under the claim that he was abusive. In actuality, Celeste enjoyed her lavish lifestyle and was angry over Steven reprimanding her over her spending, leading her to plot her husband's murder. After realizing that she had been manipulated by Celeste, Tracey confessed everything, leading to Celeste being arrested in 2002 and convicted of capital murder in 2003.

I didn't know about Peggy Sue Thomas until I saw the movie, but Celeste Beard and Stacey Castor are stories I did know and have been fascinated with for a while. With those stories being told via Lifetime movies, I've come up with three more female killers who should get the Lifetime treatment.

3. Juana Barraza

The tale of Juana Barraza is a wild one; she actually worked as a professional wrestler known under the name, "La Dama del Silencio" ("The Lady of Silence"), and in an interview, Barraza stated that she was "rudo to the core"; for those not familiar with lucha libre wrestling terms, a "rudo" ("ruda" for females) is the term used for a heel (villainous character). Despite her wrestling career being short-lived, Barraza really did undergo a heel turn in the late 1990s, when she became a serial killer who targeted elderly women all over Mexico City. She committed her killing spree for years scot-free due to Mexican authorities suspecting a male killer, but in 2006, Barraza was caught murdering an 82-year old woman in her home.

Barraza ended up arrested afterwards, and by her own admission, her killing spree was motivated by her long-standing hatred of her mother, who sold her to a man who later raped her. She added that she saw her mother in her victims, and that she did society a favor by killing them. The number of Barraza's victims varies from 24 to 49, though it was uncovered that Barraza's DNA was found on 11 murders. Barraza was sentenced to--get this--759 years in prison, and she'll be eligible for parole in 2058.

Regarding a portrayer for Barraza, the only actress that comes to mind is Constance Marie.

2. Valerie Cincinelli

Another real life villainess made news in 2019, and this one was a police officer. Valerie Cincinelli was arrested on May 17 of that year and charged with the murder-for-hire plot against her husband, Isaiah Carvalho, as well as the 14-year-old daughter of her boyfriend, John DiRubba. Valerie--a 12-year NYPD vet--was in the process of divorcing Carvalho, but she didn't want her estranged husband to get her police pension. In addition, Valerie was also jealous of DiRubba's daughter receiving gifts from her father, and those factors motivated Valerie's heel turn and murder-for-hire plot.

It was also revealed that Valerie actually did an online search for Amy Fisher, the notorious "Long Island Lolita" known for her affair with Joey Buttafuoco and her attempt to kill Joey's wife, Mary Jo, decades prior. Valerie enlisted another boyfriend of hers to carry out her murderous plot, but the boyfriend went to the FBI with recorded conversations of the couple plotting the murders. Valerie was charged for her crimes, but in April of 2021, Valerie accepted a plea deal where she would only admit to obstruction of justice. Because of the deal, Valerie will only face up to 63 months (barely over five years) in prison.

I could see Jana Kramer (whose own film, Soccer Mom Madam, is set to air on Lifetime on June 6) playing Valerie Cincinelli in a Lifetime film about her. Some more good choices are Kramer's former One Tree Hill co-star, Hilarie Burton, as well as Sara Canning.

1. Stephanie Lazarus

It's been 12 years since I learned about this story and I'm still fascinated by this. I've said for a long time that Lifetime should do a film about Stephanie Lazarus, because the story itself is just amazing. In the 1980s, Stephanie Lazarus was a detective with the LAPD, and was also dating John Ruetten, a former college acquaintance. At some point, Ruetten ended his brief relationship with Lazarus and began one with Sherri Rasmussen, which drew jealousy from Lazarus, who made many attempts to get close to Ruetten, who ended up marring Rasmussen in 1985.

On February 24, 1986, Lazarus entered Rasmussen's home and beat her down before shooting her perceived romantic rival to death, and later staged the murder as a robbery. When it came to suspects, Nels Rasmussen, Sherri's father, informed police that Lazarus confronted his daughter months prior and gave a veiled threat to Sherri, uttering the chilling words, "If I can't have John, no one else will." Those nine short words served as a sign of Lazarus' eventual heel turn, but despite this, Lazarus avoided suspicion for 23 years. It was in 2009 that DNA evidence from a bite mark finally exposed Lazarus as Sherri Rasmussen's killer, and she was arrested that year and later convicted in March 2012. Lazarus was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison, and she'll be eligible for parole in 2034.

I've had Lazarus' portrayer in my mind for years. There's only one actress who I would cast in the role of Stephanie Lazarus, and that's Mariska Hargitay. It would be amazing to see the actress who has spent over 20 years playing the ultimate hero cop in Olivia Benson, going on to play a real-life villainous policewoman and murderess in Stephanie Lazarus. Plus, we have seen some SVU female names in these Lifetime real crime movies; not only the aforementioned Diane Neal, but Stephanie March as well, appearing in A House on Fire.

I truly hope Lifetime will do movies on all three of these notorious women. I just know that they will be done very well.

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