Anjette when she was young. Photo: Ranker
Anjette used Gabbert’s insurance money to buy a house and a new car. Just a few months after becoming a widow for the second time, this woman started dating another pilot.
Not only did Anjette poison her two husbands, she also poisoned her first husband’s mother and forced her to leave a will. Mrs. Julia Lyles, Ben Lyles’s mother, moved to live with Anjette shortly after her second husband passed away. Anjette plays the role of a dutiful daughter-in-law but the reality seems to be different.
In August 1957, Julia was sick and Anjette often brought food and drinks – most likely poisoned – to her mother-in-law. In September, Mrs. Julia Lyles passed away and soon after, Anjette quickly forged a will, in which Mrs. Julia left her daughter-in-law most of her savings.
Anjette and Ben Lyles had a daughter, Marcia, but she often expressed hatred for her and repeatedly threatened to kill the child. In 1958, when Marcia was hospitalized, people in Macon became even more suspicious of Anjette. When Marcia finally died of kidney failure at age 9, Anjette remained indifferent.
An anonymous letter sent by an employee at Anjette’s restaurant helped justice be served.
This employee said that Anjette’s maid said that when she cleaned the house, she found poison scattered everywhere. Anjette said it was insecticide at the restaurant but the restaurant was not threatened by any harmful insects. Along with Anjette’s strange behavior, the above employee informed the authorities and based on clues, the investigation agency discovered that Marcia’s body had traces of poisoning.
The true face of beauty
In the eyes of the people of Macon, Anjette is a charming, friendly woman and generally loved by the community. Initially, when she worked as a waitress in her husband’s restaurant, which she later owned, customers found her charismatic and kind.
However, no one could have imagined that Anjette would eventually become known throughout the country as a cold-blooded murderer.
According to friends and family, Anjette Lyles displayed a strange passion for the occult and witchcraft. Anjette regularly visits fortune tellers for advice. The police report said she also kept items in the house for voodoo and other rituals, such as roots, powders and poisons.
Anjette lights candles in a ritual to influence the fate of others and even does so in a restaurant. The black candles are the most terrifying because she lights them to bring death to her enemies.
In 1958, a jury found Anjette guilty of murder and sentenced her to death, making her the first white woman to be executed in the state of Georgia. However, soon after, Anjette was found to be insane and was sent to a mental institution instead of prison. In 1977, Anjette Lyles died of a heart attack at the age of 52.