"The Blood Countess" was called the most prolific female serial killer of all time, but researchers have a new theory
CBSN
More than 400 years after her death, the truth about "the Blood Countess," a Hungarian noblewoman alleged to have been the most prolific female serial killer of all time, remains elusive.
From her castle atop a rugged peak in what is today Čachtice in western Slovakia, Elizabeth Báthory was alleged to have tortured and killed up to 650 young women and girls, sparking gruesome legends that she delighted in bathing in the blood of her victims in the belief it would help her retain her youth.
Rumors of Báthory's cruelty spread throughout the Kingdom of Hungary in the early 17th century, and after a royal inquiry, four of her servants were convicted of murder and brutally executed. The Blood Countess was arrested and confined to the walls of her castle until her death in 1614.
