Gambling Addiction Drove These Deadly Women to Kill

A cold-blooded aunt whose niece helped kill her husband with the promise of payment for a sex change.  A mother and daughter trade a family member for money.  And a wife tries to bury her debts along with her husband.  (Original Publication Date August 2015)

All of these women had one thing in common in addition to committing murder.

They each loved to gamble and, when the money was all gone, the stakes turn deadly.

“Deadly Women” is the long running Investigation Discovery series featuring former FBI profiler Candice DeLong.  The new season (9) airs Friday nights at 10 pm EST and this past week’s episode focused on the women who kill because of gambling.  You will be able to catch it again this coming Friday (August 28) at 11 pm EST or you can watch it below.

Vonlee Titlow is one of those featured.  Her wealthy aunt promised Vonlee $100,000 to complete a sex change if she would help in the disposal of her alcoholic husband.  At first, the two got Don, 74, drunk then, after he had passed out, attempted to finish him off by forcing an excessive amount of liquor down his throat.  When that didn’t work, his wife smothered him.  By this time, Vonlee could no longer go through with the act.  A guilty conscience caused her to confess to the crime.

Vonlee’s aunt, Billie Jean Rogers, insisted she had nothing to do with the scheme.

Rogers would never serve any prison time.  She died of cancer six months after the murder.  Vonlee was sent away to the slammer where she is serving a 20 to 40 year sentence.

“Deadly Women” and other Investigation Discovery real crime television programs continue to offer up a regular dose of guilty pleasure.

Emma Reynolds of the Courier Mail writes:”:

Some see ID as tacky, and it certainly appeals to some our baser instincts with its lust for blood and violence as entertainment. But its basis in fact means it provides a genuine opporunity to learn more about the world, whether it’s crime, religious fanaticism, desperate poverty, mental illness or just the undeniable dark side of human nature.  If ID tells us anything, it’s that truth really is stranger than fiction.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com