Overview

Between 1939 and 1940 Leonarda Cianciulli murdered three women. Cianciulli's son was drafted into the Italian army during World War II. She was an extremely protective mother and believed that the only way to keep her son safe was through human saccrifice. All three of her victims entered her home to say their farewells and then died a tragic death. The women were either moving for love or a new job and before departing they wanted to say goodbye to their personal match maker. Cianciulli would give her victims drugged wine to relax them into a lathargic or unconcious state. She would then kill the women by chopping their bodies into nine peices with an ax. She would place the body parts into caustic soda, which would decompose the bodies. Cianciulli did not let anything go to waste; after killing the women, she used her victim's bodies for soap and teacakes. She would remove the women's fat and boil it down for soap and in one case she drained the body of blood and used the blood in teacakes. To top it off she would give her neighbors and loved ones her special soaps and cakes.