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.