Bestselling true crime author John Leake tells the full story of a Dallas socialite long suspected of serial murder, presents new evidence, and exposes how she evaded scrutiny by law enforcement. Sandra Bridewell was a beguiling Dallas socialite in the seventies and early eighties. Her first husband was a prominent dentist who was found shot to death in their home in 1975. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. Her second husband, Robert Bridewell, developed the Mansion on Turtle Creek—the first property of Rosewood Hotels and Resorts. Shortly after Mr. Bridewell died of lymphoma in 1982, his treating doctor’s wife was found shot to death in her car at Love Field a few hours after giving Sandra a ride to the airport. The medical examiner ruled the woman’s death a suicide. Three years later, Sandra’s third husband was found shot to death in his car in which he was last seen driving to meet her. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide and Sandra became the prime suspect but was never arrested. In 1987, Sandra was the subject of a D Magazine feature titled “The Black Widow” that suggested she had indeed murdered her third husband—as well as her first husband and the wife of the prominent cancer doctor who had treated Mr. Bridewell. Author John Leake grew up in Highland Park, down the street from Sandra Bridewell, and often visited her at her home to play with one of her children. He began his multi-year investigation in 2007, when Sandra was arrested for aggravated identity theft. Assuming the guise of a Christian missionary, she ingratiated herself with an elderly lady in Southport, North Carolina (near Cape Fear) to steal the unsuspecting victim’s identity and to plunder her financial assets. Leake visited Bridewell in pretrial detention and began documenting her life and wanderings. He then investigated the three gunshot deaths reported in the D Magazine feature with the assistance of former Los Angeles County criminalist Lynne Herold and former FBI forensic psychologist, Gregg McCrary. Dallas police photos of the first two death scenes display physical evidence that they were not suicides, but murders that were staged to look like suicides. These murders bear striking similarities to the murder of Sandra Bridewell’s third husband, and she was the last known contact of all three decedents. After serving two years in a federal penitentiary for aggravated identity theft, she was released in 2010 and now roams free. Writing about a serial killer who has never been indicted, much less convicted, of murder, is not an easy task. As an investigative reporter in Dallas who has written extensively for decades about the con woman known in Highland Park as the "Black Widow," I know only too well the difficulty of the task. But in his fourth book, John Leake has managed to accomplish what I thought was impossible—writing an intimate, accurate and detailed book about Sandra Camille Bridewell. He knew her while growing up in Highland Park and his new book, The Meaning of Malice , skillfully dissects not only her character and shocking crimes, but the social milieu of the town known as "the Bubble." This atmosphere of wealth and social tension in large part are the reason Bridewell has gotten away with three, possibly four, murders. Leake skillfully paints a fascinating portrait of a beautiful female predator who meticulously plans and carries out her schemes. Her sexual appetites were legendary among her peers and her ruthlessness in targeting men—and in some cases, their wives—were whispered about at country clubs and church alike. But no one warned Alan Rehrig, the man who would become her third husband. She is still the only suspect in his 1984 murder. And with this book, Leake presents meticulous forensic evidence that makes it clear she should be considered a suspect in three other mysterious deaths ruled suicides in the 1980s by hasty Dallas investigators. Leake presents compelling photos, reenactments, and analysis to argue these three cases should be reopened and reinvestigated. There is no statute of limitations when it comes to murder. Cold cases older than these have resulted in convictions. Bridewell's last three decades of roaming the United States scamming gullible men and ripping off vulnerable seniors pale in comparison to the devastation of families she wreaked in Highland Park. It's long past time for people with information that could bring her to justice come forward. --Glenna Whitley, investigative reporter for D Magazine and the Dallas Observer