She ran a household that functioned as a criminal enterprise, recruiting young, vulnerable men and organizing them into a working outfit that she controlled entirely — financially and otherwise. What distinguished her from many of her contemporaries was the calculated removal of anyone who posed a threat from within, including the murder of one of her own gang members to prevent a potential confession. The case that brought her down involved two killings: a robbery victim and then the silencing of a witness she considered a liability. When California executed her in 1941, she became the first woman the state had put to death.

What made Edwards particularly difficult to detect was the ordinariness of his position — a working tradesman embedded in suburban Los Angeles communities, with access to children through horses, camping trips, and neighborly familiarity. His crimes spanned nearly two decades, and some of his victims' remains were concealed beneath freeway infrastructure he himself had helped build. He ultimately surrendered voluntarily, expressing relief that three potential victims had escaped, and repeatedly sought the death penalty, which was imposed and which he preempted by his own hand.