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TV PREVIEWS
Black Widow Granny?, Tuesday 10.35pm, BBC One 
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To lose one husband in suspicious circumstances is unfortunate; to lose five is just plain careless. This fascinating documentary tells the story of Betty Neumar, a 76-year-old grandmother from Georgia who's currently awaiting trial, charged with soliciting the murder of her fourth husband, Harold Gentry, 22 years ago.
And that's not all. When Betty was arrested, it emerged that Harold was just one of Betty's former husbands. She had in fact been married five times – and all five husbands appear to have died in suspicious circumstances. The US media had a field day and branded her "The Black Widow", but could this 76-year-old grandmother really have got away with murder, not just once but five times?
Made by acclaimed director Norman Hull, whose notable previous works include programmes about comedian Bernard Manning and foul-mouthed toff Francis ‘F***ing’ Fulford, the film attempts to answer this question. He tracks down some of the surviving relatives of the dead husbands, some of Betty's own children from these marriages, and finally the Black Widow herself.
Husband No.1 was shot, husband No.2 apparently froze to death while sleeping in his van, and husband No.3 died of gunshot wounds during an argument with Betty (his death was ruled a suicide, despite the fact he was shot twice – once in the heart and once in the liver). Husband No.5 allegedly died from natural causes following a long illness. The first his son knew of his death was when he read his obituary in the newspaper – by which time Betty had already had him cremated. Police now suspect he might have been poisoned.
Betty's arrest was all down to one man: Harold's brother Al Gentry, who suspected Betty almost from the time Harold's body was found with gunshot wounds inside their home, and spent more than two decades trying to persuade detectives to reinvestigate his death. "If she had tears in her eyes, or asked why anybody would want to kill him, I'd never have suspected," Al explains. "That's where she slipped up."
As for Betty herself, she continues to protest her innocence. "I could not control when somebody died," she says, looking as if butter wouldn't melt. "That's God’s work."
by Liberty Jones, Tuesday 10 November 2009
Picture: BBC
