Candice DeLong, 'Facing Evil' with 'Deadly Women'

Candice DeLong had a long and decorated career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a top criminal profiler, has often been rumored to be the real life Clarice Starling from "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal." Since retiring from the FBI, DeLong became involved in several Investigative Discovery channel series, that you may have already had occasion to watch, such as "Deadly Women"

In 4 seasons of "Deadly Women," Candice DeLong has used her profiling and investigative skills to take a deeper look into crimes committed by females in over 400 years, all around the world. There are women who would not have committed heinous crimes were it not for the evil influence of a man, such as the women in Charles Manson's cult, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten. Then there are women like Valmae Beck, who lured 16 year old Sian Kingi into a trap where she would be sexually abused and murdered by Valmae's husband, Barrie Watts.

"Revenge is the number on motivator for murder. It is a very powerful force," says Candice DeLong as she profiles the case of Clara Harris, the wealthy Houston woman who killed her orthodontist husband by repeatedly running over him with her Mercedes Benz in broad daylight in front of his mistress, their daughter and an investigator Harris had hired to spy on her husband.

Ms. DeLong ably differentiates between a woman like Clara Harris, who totally lost control over her actions and Valmae Beck, who premeditated her actions and planned out how she would trick an innocent child into a position where she and her husband could abduct the girl to satisfy her husband's perversions.

"Deadly Women" doesn't limit itself to women, per se. It also investigates into females who commit murder when they are still minors. As to what is going on in their minds and why they get caught, Candice DeLong says: "Most young people think they're not going to get caught -- at anything -- shoplifting a candy bar, let alone murder. They tend to think they're smarter than everyone else and also they tend to not cover up their crime so well, and they're oftentimes surprised when they get caught."

Over the 2010 Thanksgiving weekend, the Investigative Discovery channel ran a marathon of "Deadly Women" episodes, as well as premiering a miniseries that will be re-run through December 15, 2010 called "Facing Evil with Candice DeLong." In this 4 part series, Ms. DeLong sits down and speaks with some of these deadly women. The women she interviewed include Susan Grund, a woman convicted of murdering her husband, who still claims to be innocent; Belinda Van Krevel, who had her father killed because he was allegedly molesting her young daughter; Jennifer Reali, who killed her lover's wife at his insistence; and Jennifer Hyatte, who killed a prison guard while breaking her husband out of a Tennessee prison.

Sources:
Investigative Discovery Channel
Investigative Discovery press release