Internet Black Widow has to serve out remainder of prison sentence

An 80-year-old woman who poisoned her husband in Nova Scotia and was dubbed the Internet Black Widow for crimes she committed against former partners has been denied early release from prison.

Melissa Ann Shepard should serve the remaining four months of her sentence behind bars, the National Parole Board decided on Thursday.

On June 11, 2013, Shepard was sentenced to 3½ years, less time served, for administering a noxious substance and failing to provide the necessaries of life to her then husband, Fred Weeks, who fell ill at at a bed and breakast in Cape Breton in 2012. He survived.

Shepard has an extensive criminal history, including a conviction for manslaughter related to the death of a previous husband, and theft and forgery involving another partner.

At Thursday's parole board hearing at the Nova Institute for Women in Truro, N.S., Shepard's parole officer said there's little chance she will fully integrate into society. There's also a moderate to high likelihood she would re-offend in her remaining four months.

Halfway house can't manage risk

Shepard told the parole board she wanted to live in Halifax, but the halfway house she applied to said it can't manage her risk. Police also said they were against her release.

Shepard became flustered at times during the hearing, telling the parole board she's changed and has completed all her courses and therapy.

She even said she doesn't want a relationship once released from prison, because she'd have to tell her new partner about her past. Shepard believes that information would most likely scare men away.

Shepard said there is nothing to be gained by keeping her in prison. The parole board disagreed. 

Shepard acquired the Black Widow moniker due to her criminal record involving former partners, some of whom she met online. She has been married several times and has gone by several different last names.

Manslaughter and theft

In 1991, she was convicted of manslaughter and served two years of a six-year prison term after killing her husband, Gordon Stewart, on a deserted road near Halifax. Stewart was heavily drugged when she ran over him twice with a car.

Shortly after her release from prison, she travelled to Florida and met Robert Friedrich at a Christian retreat. They married in Nova Scotia in 2000.

A year later, Friedrich's family noticed his health was faltering. He had mysterious fainting spells and slurred speech and was in and out of hospitals.

Friedrich's family also alleged his money had started to disappear. Friedrich died in 2002 of cardiac arrest. No one was charged.

In 2005, Shepard was sentenced to five years in prison for a slew of charges stemming from a relationship she had with another Florida man she met online.

She pleaded guilty to three counts of grand theft from a person 65 years or older, two counts of forgery and two counts of using a forged document.