Women were literally the death of Airman William Newell, of the Royal Canadian Air Force. At 27 he had been married three times and had children from two of his marriages. He had also had a number of affairs.
Desperately trying to sort out his money problems, he asked his second wife Aune to waive her financial rights. She refused, so he took her to a forest in Centre Island, Ontario, and strangled her with a rope. As she died, a couple chanced to come by, whereupon Newell held up the corpse pretending she was alive.
Juries at two trials failed to agree that Newell had murdered Aune. A third trial, in October, 1942, was presented with new evidence which overwhelmingly condemned him, and he was hanged at Toronto Prison on Thursday, February 12th, 1942.