A Maryland woman dubbed the “Black Widow” who was suspected of killing two of her ex-husbands and another lover was freed by President Biden on Wednesday in his latest clemency initiative intended for non-violent criminal offenders — a move that left her former prosecutor “pissed off.”
Josephine Gray, a grandmother who was known for wearing flashy clothing, was put behind bars for 40 years in 2002 for insurance fraud relating to the deaths of three men between 1974 and 1996.
Investigators at the time said she either assisted or killed her lovers — and found voodoo materials like dolls filled with needles.
She was initially charged with murder but was convicted on federal insurance fraud charges and avoided another murder trial after her attorney argued she would likely die in prison, as she was 55 at the time.
But, to prosecutors’ surprise, she was freed after she found herself on Biden’s long list of 1,499 commutations, which the White House celebrated as the largest presidential clemency in modern history.
“This doesn’t feel like a ‘rule of law’ moment for the Biden administration,” James Trusty, who prosecuted Gray in Maryland, told The Washington Free Beacon.
“It pisses me off, as you can imagine.”
All of Gray’s suspected victims were found shot dead in their cars, including a lover of six years and two former husbands.
Prosecutors at the time claimed that Gray, a former custodian and a grandma, was practicing voodoo and had her lovers kill for her through her charm and influence.
“Like the black widow spider, she basically kills her mates – and in this particular case, she did it three times,” Douglas Gansler, Montgomery County state’s attorney, told NBC’s “Today” show in 2002.
Clarence Goode was Gray’s lover before he was found dead. His brother Lenron Goode said he was not surprised about the charges in 2002, given her past behavior.
“Sometimes you can sit in church and look at a person and see something else in them,” he said. “You can see the devil come out of Josephine.”
Gray was also suspected of killing two of her husbands. Norman Stribbling, her first, was found dead in his car in Maryland in 1974. Her second husband, William Gray, was also found dead in the trunk of his car in 1996, with investigators claiming she had convinced Clarence Gray to kill him.
Clarence Gray was also found dead in his car in 1996.
The White House did not respond to why Gray was on the list.
“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a statement about his clemency initiative. “I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities.
“I will take more steps in the weeks ahead. My administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law.”
