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(#4) Idoia Lopez Riano's Reputation Earned Her A Fearsome Nickname
Though Idoia Lopez Riano has since renounced violence, that doesn't erase the 23 people she's accused of assassinating in the 1980s in her quest for Basque independence from Spain. Lopez was given the nickname La Tigresa – the tigress – because of her rumored sexual prowess, as she was known to seduce policemen prior to attacks.
Her numerous killings led to a 1,500-year prison sentence in 2003 (when she was finally apprehended in France and tried for her crimes). ETA, the organization to which Lopez belonged, has since disbanded.
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(#15) Valerie Solanas
- Dec. at 52 (1936-1988)
Valier Solanas, a radical feminist writer of the late 1960s, became involved with artist Andy Warhol after she pitched a play to him. He rejected it but did not return the copy, paying her $25 to appear in one of his films as compensation. Later, Solanas entered into a bad contract with the owner of Olympia Press that she believed foreced her to sign over all of her rights, leading her to believe that the owner of the press and Warhol were conspiring to steal her work.
The day of the assassination attempt, Solanas visited several people to talk about her play, even telling one that she would shoot Warhol to make herself famous in order to get her play produced. When she finally got in contact with Warhol, she fired three shots at him, one of which hit. She was found to be mentally unstable and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, shortening her sentence to three years, of which she served only one before release.
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(#3) Shi Jianqiao Assassinated Her Father's Killer In Public And Wasn't Punished
Shi Jianqiao isn't famous for killing loads of people; rather, she's known for offing one specific person who had wronged her family. In 1925, Sun Chuanfang, a warlord in China, beheaded Shi Jianqiao's father for leading an opposition force against him and paraded the head in public. Shi Jianqiao tracked Sun Chuanfang for 10 years before shooting him three times.
Instead of fleeing, she stuck around the scene to explain her actions by means of pamphlets, and, instead of being punished, she was freed because the act was determined to be an example of filial piety.
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(#14) Sara Jane Moore
- 89
A mere 17 days after Lynette Fromme attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford, Sara Jane Moore also attempted to shoot him. She'd previously been a target of the Secret Service but had been found not to be a threat and had had her weapon and ammunition confiscated by police just one day before the assassination attempt.
Moore fired once but missed due to her gun being faulty, and a bystander attempted to take the gun from her, causing a second shot to fire and hit someone else, who survived. She pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison, but was released after 32 years in 2007.
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(#10) Kim Hyon-hui
- 57
Kim Hyon-hui, like many of the assassins on this list, is a fascinating person who committed deplorable actions. In 1987, as part of the North Korean spy network, she was tasked with blowing up Korean Air Flight 858, which was flying between Baghdad, Iraq, and Seoul, South Korea. She was told that this would be her last assignment, and that, if she was able to pull it off, she could live in peace with her family.
She, along with another spy, successfully left a bomb aboard the plane and disembarked in Abu Dhabi. The two were apprehended, and Kim was unable to commit suicide with cyanide, unlike her co-conspirator. She was sentenced to death but ultimately pardoned as she was believed to be brainwashed by the North Korean government.
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(#5) Mistress Marcia Helped Murder A Roman Emperor
Marcia was not solely responsible for the death of Emperor Commodus, an inept leader of ancient Rome, on New Years Day in 193 CE, but her actions as part of a murder plot proved important nonetheless. Commodus, believing himself to be the reincarnation of Hercules, planned to fight in the arena despite his advisors' urgings. He threatened to accuse them – including his mistress, Marcia – and add them to a list of people he wanted executed for subversion.
Their response was to launch an orchestrated assassination attempt. Marcia slipped him poison in his wine, which failed to kill him as he vomited it up, but, in his weakened state, he was strangled by his fitness coach.
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About This Tool
Recently, Killing Eve, a thrilling spy movie produced by the British BBC, has aroused heated discussion. One of the heroines is a beautiful female killer. People have lingering fears about the beautiful assassin. Cruel and wise female assassins may not be common in real life, however, some female figures in history were no less inferior to men, and with their beauty, it may be easier to succeed.
The random tool counts the 15 most ruthless and fascinating female assassins in history, including a Chinese woman who avenged her father. The stories of some of these historical figures have even become the best topics in Hollywood movies.
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