Judias Anna Lou "Judy" Buenoano (born Judias Welty, also known as Judias Goodyear and Judias Morris; April 4, 1943 – March 30, 1998) was an American serial killer who was executed in Florida for the 1971 murder of her first husband James Goodyear. She was also convicted of the 1980 murder of her son, Michael Buenoano, and of the 1983 attempted murder of her boyfriend, John Gentry. Buenoano is also acknowledged to have been responsible for the 1978 death of another boyfriend, Bobby Joe Morris, in Colorado. But by the time authorities tied Buenoano to Morris, she had already been sentenced to death in the state of Florida.[1]
Judy Buenoano | |
|---|---|
 Buenoano shortly before her execution | |
| Born | Judias Anna Lou Welty April 4, 1943 Quanah, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | March 30, 1998 (aged 54) Florida State Prison, Florida, U.S. |
| Other names | Judias Goodyear, Judy Morris, Judias Buenoano, Judy Goodyear, Judias Morris |
| Criminal status | Executed by electrocution |
| Spouse |
James Goodyear (m. 1963–1971) |
| Children | 3 |
| Motive | Life insurance money |
| Conviction(s) | First degree murder (2 counts) Attempted second degree murder Grand theft |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment (June 6, 1984) Death by electric chair (November 26, 1985) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 3 |
Span of crimes | 1971–1983 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Florida and Colorado |
Date apprehended | January 11, 1984 |
| Imprisoned at | Broward Correctional Institution |
Buenoano is also believed to have been involved in a 1974 murder in Alabama, and in the 1980 death of yet another boyfriend, Gerald Dossett. After her arrest, Dossett's body was exhumed and analyzed for signs of arsenic poisoning. No charges were laid in that case. Buenoano was the first woman to be executed in Florida since 1848, or electrocuted in the United States since 1976.[2]
Early life
editShe was born Judias Welty in Quanah, Texas, on April 4, 1943. She was the third of four siblings. Her mother died when she was four, and she and her younger brother, Robert, were sent to live with her grandparents.
Their father remarried, to a woman with two sons of her own. The two Welty children moved to join him and the step-family in Roswell, New Mexico. Judias was reportedly abused by her father and stepmother, who starved her and forced her to work as a slave. When she was fourteen, she spent two months in prison for attacking her father, stepmother, and two stepbrothers.
Upon being released, Welty chose to attend reform school where she graduated in 1960. She subsequently became a nursing assistant. She gave birth to Michael, a son, the following year.[1]
Crimes
editJudias first married James Goodyear, a sergeant in the United States Air Force. He died on September 16, 1971, in Orlando, Florida. His death was initially believed to be due to natural causes.[3]
Two years later, she moved in with Bobby Joe Morris, a resident of Trinidad, Colorado. He died by poison in January 1978. Later that year, she legally changed her name to "Buenoano" (corrupted Spanish for "good year").[4]
In 1979, Buenoano's son Michael became severely ill, with symptoms including paraplegia.[5] On May 13, 1980, Buenoano took Michael out in a canoe; the canoe rolled, and Michael, with no life jacket and weighed down by his arm and leg braces, drowned. Following his death, Buenoano opened a beauty salon.[1]
In 1983, Buenoano was in a relationship with John Gentry. Gentry was severely injured when his car exploded in Pensacola, Florida.[6] While he was recovering from his injuries, police began to find several discrepancies in Buenoano's background. Further investigation revealed that in November 1982, she had begun telling her friends that Gentry was suffering from a terminal illness.[3][7]
Authorities found that the "vitamin pills" that Buenoano had been giving Gentry contained arsenic and paraformaldehyde. Exhumations of Michael Goodyear, James Goodyear, and Bobby Joe Morris showed that all had been given arsenic. James Goodyear and Bobby Joe Morris both were found to have died of arsenic poisoning. Buenoano received substantial life insurance payouts after each death.[citation needed] She was arrested in 1983 on multiple counts.
Conviction, imprisonment, and execution
editIn 1984, Buenoano was convicted for the murder of her son Michael and the attempted murder of Gentry.[7] She received a 12-year sentence for the Gentry case, and a life sentence for the Michael Buenoano case.
In 1985 she was convicted of the murder of her first husband James Goodyear.[7] She was sentenced to death for his murder. She was convicted of multiple counts of grand theft (by insurance fraud). She is thought to have committed multiple acts of arson (again, for purposes of insurance fraud).
She was incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections Broward Correctional Institution's death row for women. On March 30, 1998, Buenoano was executed in the electric chair at the Florida State Prison.[8]
Her last meal consisted of steamed broccoli, asparagus, strawberries, and tomato wedges, together with hot tea and lemon.[9] When asked if she had any last words, Buenoano said "No, sir." Buenoano's body was cremated.
She was the first woman to be executed in Florida since 1848. She was the first woman in the United States to be electrocuted since 1976.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Judy Buenoano". crimemuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2017-12-03. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
- ^ "Judias (Judi) Buenoano - Florida's 'Black Widow'". Fight the Death Penalty USA. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
- ^ a b Buenoano v. State, 527 So.2nd 194 (1988).
- ^ "Florida Executes 'Black Widow'". cbsnews.com. 30 March 1998. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ "'Black widow' trial set to begin". Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. Associated Press. 1985-10-21. Archived from the original on 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
Michael Goodyear's partial paralysis of his arms and legs was caused by arsenic poisoning, [prosecutors] charged.
- ^ "Judy Buenoano". Crime Museum. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ^ a b c Newton, Michael (1990). Hunting Humans: An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers. Loompanics Unlimited. ISBN 978-1559500265.
- ^ Trischitta, Linda, Ariel Barkhurst and Kathleen Haughney. "Broward women's prison to close May 1 Archived 2015-08-01 at the Wayback Machine." Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. January 12, 2012. Retrieved on April 21, 2013.
- ^ "The Last Supper: Judy Buenoano". 2 July 2019.
Further reading
edit- Anderson, Chris; Sharon McGehee (1992). Bodies of Evidence: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Chilling Serial Murderess... From Crime Scene to Courtroom to Electric Chair. St. Martin's True Crime. ISBN 0-312-92806-8.
- https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1097413.html