Betty Neumar

Background

Betty Neumar (November 1931 – June 13, 2011) was an American woman charged with arranging the murder of her fourth husband, Harold Gentry, who died in 1986. She died in a Louisiana hospital of an undisclosed illness on June 13, 2011, before facing trial.

Neumar was associated with the nickname “Black Widow” in U.S. media after it emerged that her five husbands had died. Al Gentry, brother of Neumar's fourth husband Harold Gentry, urged police to investigate Harold Gentry’s death for 22 years prior to Neumar's arrest in 2007. The case attracted media interest in the United States after her arrest.

Other details

Betty Neumar was born Betty Johnson in November 1931 in Ironton, Ohio, to Odis and Elizabeth Walden Johnson. She graduated from South Point High School in 1949.

Neumar was married five times:

• Clarence Malone (1950–1952)
• James Flynn (?–1955)
• Richard Sills (?–1965)
• Thomas Harold Gentry (1968–1986)
• John Neumar (1991–2007)

Additional names and family details included:

• Gary Flynn, Neumar’s first child, whose 1985 death was ruled as suicide
• John Neumar, Jr., who told authorities he was not informed of his father’s death until reading about it in a newspaper
• Peggy, the daughter she had with James Flynn
• Peggy and Kelly, described as Neumar’s two daughters who were convinced of her innocence
• Terry Sanders, identified as Neumar’s son-in-law, who said Neumar died in a hospital in Louisiana
• Stanly County, North Carolina Sheriff Rick Burris, who said authorities would look into her death
• Stanly County District Attorney’s Office figure Ginger Efrid, who said the case was still pending
• Charles Parnell, described as Neumar’s attorney

Neumar’s deaths of husbands and other related investigations included:

• Investigators examined the ashes of her fifth husband John Neumar for traces of arsenic; the results were negative.
• Georgia authorities closed their re-examination of the death of John Neumar, saying they had no evidence Neumar was involved, and his family criticized that conclusion.
• As of December 23, 2012, none of the deaths of her five dead husbands were actively being re-investigated, and the death of her first child, Gary Flynn, was included as part of the case background; that 1985 death was ruled as suicide.

The offence

In May 2008, Neumar was charged with hiring a hit man to kill her husband, Harold Gentry. The indictment alleged that Neumar “sought out a former police officer and her neighbor to kill her husband in the months before his death,” with the motive allegedly being Harold Gentry’s $20,000 life insurance policy.

Neumar was charged with three counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.

Investigation

Al Gentry pursued investigation into Harold Gentry’s death for 22 years before Neumar’s arrest in 2007. After Neumar’s arrest and extradition, investigations examined her other husbands’ deaths.

Authorities discovered Neumar had been married five times since the 1950s and each union ended in her husband's death. Investigators in three states reopened several of the cases but later closed them.

Investigation details included:

• Investigators seized the ashes of Neumar’s fifth husband John Neumar and analyzed them for traces of arsenic.
• The ashes analysis returned negative results.
• A look into her other husbands included multiple violent deaths and consideration of suspicious circumstances, including a death reportedly involving symptoms that could point to death by arsenic poisoning.

Arrest

In May 2008, Neumar was taken into custody by Richmond County Sheriff's deputies. Later that month, deputies returned to Neumar’s Cambridge Court home in west Augusta to serve a search warrant and seize items, including an urn containing the ashes of John Neumar.

Neumar was extradited to Albemarle, North Carolina in June 2008, about a month after her arrest.

Trial

No trial date had been set as of November 2009.

Neumar remained free on bond while she awaited trial as of May 2009.

On July 14, 2008, Neumar was described as sitting in a North Carolina jail while accused of hiring a hit man to kill her fourth husband, Harold Gentry. A North Carolina judge refused to lower Neumar’s bond at a hearing in Stanly County.

Neumar was released in October 2008 on a $300,000 bail bond.

Sentencing

No sentencing occurred because Neumar died before trial.

Appeals

No appeal outcome was stated. No trial date had been set.

Outcome

Betty Neumar died before trial on June 13, 2011, in a Louisiana hospital of an undisclosed illness.

Police stated they would look into her death.

Aftermath

Al Gentry continued to press law enforcement authorities for answers after Neumar’s death. Sheriff Rick Burris said the case was no longer active even though it was still open.

Timeline

• November 1931 — Betty Neumar was born as Betty Johnson in Ironton, Ohio.
• 1949 — Neumar graduated from South Point High School.
• 1950 — Neumar married Clarence Malone in November 1950.
• March 13, 1952 — Gary was born.
• 1955 — James Flynn was shot dead on a pier in New York in 1955.
• 1960 — Neumar enrolled in beauty college in Jacksonville, Florida under the name Betty Flynn.
• April 18, 1967 — Police found Richard Sills’ body in the bedroom of the couple’s home in Big Coppitt Key, Florida.
• July 1986 — Harold Gentry was found shot to death in their rural North Carolina home.
• May 2008 — Neumar was charged with hiring a hit man to kill Harold Gentry; Richmond County Sheriff's deputies took Neumar into custody.
• May 30 — Richmond County investigators seized the ashes of her fifth husband John Neumar from their home in Augusta.
• June 2008 — Neumar was extradited to Albemarle, North Carolina.
• July 2008 — Authorities indicted Neumar on three counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
• October 2008 — Neumar was released from the Stanly County Jail after posting a $300,000 bond.
• January 2008 — The case was reopened after Al Gentry asked Burris, then newly elected sheriff, to look into it.
• February 2009 — A BBC documentary crew arrived in Augusta and traveled to North Carolina and Florida as part of a documentary on Neumar.
• April 18, 1967 — Police found Richard Sills’ body in Big Coppitt Key, Florida.
• May 2009 — Her attorneys were reviewing nearly 9,000 pages of discovery; a trial date had not been set.
• October 2007 — John Neumar died; his death was listed with causes including sepsis, ischemic bowel, and ileus.
• November 2007 — John Neumar was found dead from apparent natural causes (context stated that he died in 2007).
• June 13, 2011 — Neumar died in a Louisiana hospital of an undisclosed illness.
• 3 November 2009 — “Black Widow Granny?” first aired on BBC One.
• 6 June 14, 2011 — Neumar’s death was covered in reporting, including an assertion she died after an illness.
• January 2008 — The case was reopened after Al Gentry asked Burris to look into it.
• December 23, 2012 — It was stated that none of the deaths of her five dead husbands were actively being re-investigated.

HUSBANDS

All five of Neumar’s husbands had died; three deaths involved guns.

1. Clarence Malone

• Neumar and Clarence Malone married in 1950.
• Their son Gary was born March 13, 1952.
• Malone remarried twice after their split.
• Malone was killed with a gunshot in the back of the head outside his auto shop in a small town southwest of Cleveland in November 1970.
• His death was ruled a homicide.
• In December 1951, Neumar claimed in court papers that Malone abused her.
• A claim also described that there were no signs of robbery.

2. James Flynn

• James Flynn was shot dead on a pier in New York in 1955.
• Neumar told investigators that he “died on a pier” somewhere in New York in the mid-1950s.
• Neumar and Flynn had a daughter, Peggy.

3. Richard Sills

• Neumar married Richard Sills in the mid-1960s; Sills was in the Navy.
• On April 18, 1967, police found Sills’ body in the bedroom of the couple’s home in Big Coppitt Key, Florida.
• Neumar told police they were alone and arguing when he pulled out a gun and shot himself.
• Police ruled his death suicide.
• Florida authorities later took another look after Neumar was charged in North Carolina.
• Navy medical examiner documents revealed Sills may have been shot twice—one bullet from the .22-caliber pistol pierced his heart, while a second may have sliced his liver.
• No autopsy was performed.
• Investigators planned in 2009 to exhume Sills’ body for an autopsy but determined a statute of limitations applied.
• After Florida authorities closed the case, Richard Sills’ son Michael Sills asked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service cold case squad to investigate; the investigation ended with Neumar’s death.
• In one account, Sills was described as having committed suicide with a shotgun in Florida in 1965, with Peggy described as 11 at the time and in another room.

4. Thomas Harold Gentry

• Neumar married Harold Gentry in January 1968.
• Harold Gentry was found dead in the couple’s Norwood, North Carolina home, shot multiple times, in 1986.
• Reporting described he was shot six times in his home in North Carolina in July 1986.
• Al Gentry had urged police to investigate the death for 22 years.
• Authorities said Neumar tried to hire three different people to kill Gentry in the six weeks before his bullet-riddled body was found.
• Neumar was reportedly in Augusta at the time of the shooting.
• Neumar collected about $20,000 in insurance money after Gentry’s death.
• The indictment alleged the motive was his $20,000 life insurance policy.

5. John Neumar

• Neumar married John Neumar in 1991.
• John Neumar died in October 2007.
• John Neumar’s cause of death was listed as sepsis, ischemic bowel, and ileus.
• Additional reasons his death were considered suspicious included that symptoms could point to death by arsenic poisoning.
• Investigators seized the ashes of John Neumar and analyzed them for traces of arsenic; results were negative.
• Neumar’s son John Neumar, Jr. stated he was not informed of the death until reading about it in a newspaper.
• When he contacted the widow, he was told his father had already been cremated despite previously buying a burial plot.
• Georgia authorities closed their re-examination of John Neumar’s death, saying they had no evidence Neumar was involved, and his family criticized the conclusion.
• In reporting, John Neumar was described as having died of sepsis after a long illness, and as being 79.

Other details (finances, aliases, and media)

• Neumar was accused of needing cash and attempting to collect her husband Harold Gentry’s $20,000 life insurance.
• She was released on bond after posting a $300,000 bond, with one account also stating she had a $500,000 bond before a judge refused to lower it.
• The Associated Press described prosecutors calling Neumar a flight risk.
• In one account, after her 2008 arrest, U.S. authorities would allege she used more than two dozen aliases, including on drivers licences and passports.
• There were claims of secret overseas bank accounts held by Neumar.
• One description stated her income was social security.

BBC documentary and direct quotations

The case was the subject of a BBC television documentary, “Black Widow Granny?”, first aired on BBC One on 3 November 2009. The film featured interviews with friends and relatives and included an interview with Neumar.

In the “Black Widow Granny?” documentary, Neumar said:

“I cannot control when somebody dies. That’s God’s work.”

In another BBC-related segment, Al Gentry said:

“This is something I've been waiting a long time for,”

Al Gentry also said:

"If she had gotten out of that car with tears in her eyes and asked me why would anybody kill Harold, I would never have suspected her at all,"

He further said:

"Brother, we got her."

Neumar said:

Neumar described her accusers as "nuts".

Neumar said:

“Later on it's going to eat their heart out. The hate and discontent that they are living in now will make them miserable,”

Neumar said:

“I got no insurance from the first one, no insurance from the third one. After Harold died I got $50,000. But as far as all this money and all this stuff goes, there wasn't none,”

Neumar also said:

“If you're going to heaven you have to forgive. You don't have to forget, but you do have to forgive,”

John Neumar, Jr. said:

“I'm sitting there at work. I found out he was dead when I saw his obituary. When I went to check on him, she had already had him cremated,”

John Neumar, Jr. also said:

“I mean, it's just strange, why do you do that? I don't think my daddy ever said he wanted to be cremated.”

Death-related quotations and statements

Stanly County, North Carolina Sheriff Rick Burris said:

“We're going to make sure we examine the death certificate.”

Al Gentry said:

'The question I have is, who killed my brother?'

Sheriff Rick Burris said:

'We're really at a dead end,'

Gentry said:

'I'm going to fight to my last breath until I find out who killed him.'

Terry Sanders said:

'She was tough country girl and fought through a lot of pain.'

Betty Neumar’s alleged remarks about forgiveness were included above.