Nova Scotia prosecutors drop charges against Internet ‘black widow’
HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia prosecution service has dropped charges against an 81-year-old woman best known for killing and poisoning her intimate partners.
Melissa Shepard — often referred to as the Internet black widow — was released from prison in March after serving a full sentence of just under three years for spiking newlywed husband Fred Weeks’s coffee with tranquilizers in 2012.
In April, she was charged with violating court release conditions by allegedly using a computer at the Halifax Central Library. An Internet ban had been one of several conditions placed upon her, based on her prior record of using the web to meet men.
But on Thursday, a Crown spokeswoman said prosecutors had determined there wasn’t a reasonable prospect of convicting Shepard and withdrew the breach of conditions charges against her on Tuesday.