The Twisted Tale of Black Widow Serial Killer Mary Cowan: “The Borgia of Maine”
Labeled by the press as “The Borgia of Maine,” for her murderous ways, the tale of Mary Cowan is particularly heinous due to the extreme cruelty inflicted on her own children
Though not widely known, Mary Cowan was one of the most cold-blooded and deadly female serial killers of the 19th century. Her willingness to murder her husbands and children without a seeming shred of remorse makes her a fascinating case study.
Mary Knight was born in Plymouth, Maine, in 1863. Her father, Johnathan Knight, was a Civil War veteran. The Knight family lived in a rural, quiet area of Maine. Mary grew up in the family home, where she remained until she married Willis Bean, a farmer who lived in the neighboring town of Dixmont.
