Meet the ruthless women who prey on vulnerable men earning the title of the 'ultimate black widows'
The crimes of two women who seduced men in order to get them to do their murderous bidding have been laid bare.
Michelle Burgess and Melissa Shaw wielded a certain control over males that was so powerful they were able to convince them to do almost anything they asked - including murder for them.
Charming Adelaide housewife Michelle Burgess developed an intimate relationship with her husband's boss Kevin Matthews at a tyre retailer in 2001.
By July of the same year, she had convinced Matthews that she was in love with him and plotted to murder his wife, Carolyn.
She told him she, too, would murder her husband Darren so they could be together.
But Matthews had no idea Burgess had a legion of other men who were also enthralled by her - and believed her lies.
Charming Adelaide based housewife Michelle Burgess (pictured during questioning) developed an intimate relationship with her husband's boss Kevin Matthews at a tyre retailer
'She was very cold and calculating,' Major Crime Detective John Keane told Sunday Night.
'She was just the epitome of a black widow. Someone who uses men, devours them, has sex with anybody, then kills them afterwards.'
She convinced Matthews to draft a 'murder contract' for each of the targets, complete with a recent photograph, contact numbers, details of where they worked and their movements during the day.
She then enlisted another of her boyfriends, career criminal David Key, to commit the murders.
She told him he would kill Carolyn Matthews if he truly loved her.
Key later told police he had qualms about carrying out the act, but that Burgess continued pressuring him throughout the week until, finally, the pair made the trip to the Matthews' family home together.
Burgess and Matthews had already plotted his alibi, and he had taken the three children he shared with Carolyn to the video store only minutes earlier.
She and her hired hit man muscled their way into the home and confronted a terrified Carolyn.
By July of the same year, Burgess had convinced Matthews that she was in love with him and plotted to murder his wife, Carolyn (pictured)
Burgess offered Key a knife and said: 'If you wanna [sic] be with me, you prove to me how much you love me and kill her,' Key later confessed to police.
They then drove to a nearby beach and rinsed off the blood as Matthews arrived home with his three children, aged 12, 13 and 16.
Despite knowing the gruesome scene he was about to walk into, he sent his children in first.
'I think it's one of the most cold-blooded acts that I ever came across in my experience as a police officer, for a father to send his boys in to do that,' Detective Mick Standing added.
Despite Matthews' later attempts to play the grieving widower in the public eye, police were closing in on his wife's murderer.
Detective Standing said they had multiple witnesses confirming the affair between Matthews and Burgess, and footprints left at the scene led police directly to Key.
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Gold Coast mother-of-two Melissa Shaw's crimes are eerily similar to that of Burgess
Her ex-husband, Beau Shaw, told the publication she had always been a 'witch'
The lies quickly unravelled, and while both Burgess and Matthews maintained their innocence, they were each sentenced to 30 years behind bars - the longest sentence ever recorded in Adelaide to date.
Key received 20 years for his role as hitman.
Behind bars, Burgess reputation as a black widow remains.
The prison where she currently resides has been forced to enforce new rules, in which male prison guards aren't allowed near her alone.
True crime author Derek Pedley said she attempted to have multiple affairs with prison guards.
'It's almost a reverse Hannibal Lecter-style situation. You can't leave a man alone with Michelle or she'll devour them.'
Gold Coast mother-of-two Melissa Shaw's crimes are eerily similar to that of Burgess.
The former prostitute enlisted the help of her secret lover Adam Gooley to murder her new boyfriend, Sam Dohdy
Her ex-husband, Beau Shaw, said she had always been a 'witch'.
'She totally messed with every part of me,' Beau told Sunday Night.
'I was a broken shell. I started off with this idea that I would help her fix her little broken wing, and I ended up far more broken than I ever thought possible.'
He eventually found the strength to leave her, and took the couple's two daughters with him.
Almost immediately, she found a new boyfriend. He was a wealthy client whom she had met at a brothel, and she poised herself to take his money.
The former prostitute enlisted the help of her secret lover Adam Gooley to murder her new boyfriend, Sam Dhody.
Miraculously, Dhody (pictured) survived. But just three months later, in July 2013, he was gunned down at point blank range in the bed he shared with Shaw
Her body builder lover, Gooley, was hopelessly devoted to her and agreed. He arrived at her home with a cross bow and carried out a savage attack.
Miraculously, Dhody survived. But just three months later, in July 2013, he was gunned down at point blank range in the bed he shared with Shaw.
With mounting evidence against him, Gooley confessed to the murder. But he never once implicated his lover.
Police were able to convict both parties, and they were both sentenced to life in prison.
But to this day, Gooley remains caught in Shaw's web.
The lovesick murderer refuses to acknowledge Shaw had any part in the plan, and places all blame on himself.
She does the same.
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