VIENNA — 1995 · Serial Murder

Vienna's 'Black Widow'

SolvedSources: ALast updated: 14 October 2026

Elfriede Blauensteiner was a serial killer who used newspaper advertisements to reach wealthy elderly people, took over their care and then caused their deaths with medication poisoning in order to inherit their estates. A compulsive gambler, she lost the money in casinos. Her lawyer was found to have forged wills. At her trial in Krems, where she drew attention with her theatrical behaviour, she was sentenced to life for one murder on 7 March 1997; her lawyer received seven years for complicity and forgery. Four years later she was convicted of two more murders. Police suspected there may have been at least ten victims. Blauensteiner died of illness in custody on 16 November 2003.

Date: 1995
Place: Vienna, Austria, Vienna, AT
Category: Serial Murder
Case Status: Solved
Coordinates: 48.2100, 16.3700 ↗

Timeline of Events

1990sBlauensteiner began caring for elderly people she found through advertisements.
7 March 1997She was sentenced to life for one murder in Krems.

2001She was convicted of two more murders.
16 November 2003She died in a Vienna hospital.

Sources

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