Poisoned Vows

by Clifford L. Linedecker

This is a non-fiction Book

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1995

About the author

Clifford L. Linedecker is a former daily newspaper journalist with eighteen years experience on the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rochester (N.Y.) Times-Union, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, and several other Indiana newspapers. He is an experienced investigative reporter who has covered police and the courts on each of the papers where he was employed. He is a former articles editor for National Features Syndicate in Chicago, and for "County Rambler" magazine. He is the author of numerous true crime titles, including The Man Who Killed Boys, Night Stalker, Killer Kids, Blood in the Sand, and Deadly White Female.

Reviews

[Pamela Beckford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have an interesting perspective on this story. I was a a new mom of 21 and worked for Jill at the State Farm office. She treated me quite well and was always giving me clothes from her (fictitious) daughter for my baby girl. Her then husband, Eldon Metzger was always so nice. I only met her boys briefly.

Anyway, this is a tragic story of a sociopath. I think there were a few holes in the story, but I found rang true to much of what I learned. Jill will never rehabilitate and it is good she will never be free again, although she was always nice to me.

[Ashley Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

True story. Crazy!

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of notorious black widow Jill Coit, who murdered her 8th husband in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Much of the book is devoted to Coit's life before her fateful move to Colorado, and the trial is dealt with in one chapter at the end. Stephen Singular's CHARMED TO DEATH (also published in 1995) covers this same case.

[Lavinia Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One woman. Eleven marriages to nine men. Three kids. Two murders. Countless webs of tangled lies and lives and personas and masks.

Some would call the life of Jill Coit fascinating. Full, even. Some might call her adventurous, others might say relentless. In “Poisoned Vows”, Clifford L. Linedecker explores the life of this vivacious, stunning, and conniving woman. Written during her trial, and weeks before the sentence hearings, Linedecker takes the reader through each of Jill’s marriages, children, various plots to get money, different job and career changes, and finally, a trial that exposed her bigamist and selfish ways.

From each husband, she’d swindle money and affection until she no longer had a use for them, then leave them for the next shiny toy in the form of another man who would fall for her attractiveness and charm. Her third husband, Clark Coit, whose last name she would use throughout her life, and her ninth husband, Gerry Boggs, were both shot to death by an assailant who entered their homes. Coit met his fate in 1972, and a hauntingly similar murder would rob Boggs of his life in 1993. Jill was convicted of Boggs’ murder in 1995, and while it is believed she also killed Coit, she was never brought to trial for the first murder.

Linedecker does an excellent job of unravelling the messy details of Jill’s life. The emphasis on Jill being “sexy” in the first part of the book was a bit much, but otherwise, it provided a riveting read for true crime fans, for a case that was massively overshadowed at the time by the OJ Simpson trial.

[Laura Porritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's as good as to be expected for a minor true crime nonfiction. The author seems slightly preoccupied with the "seductive" nature of Jill Coit and gets overly verbose with his descriptions of her sex appeal, snake-like cunning, and deceptiveness. You really get the feeling that the author has been burned by women in his past, or at the very least was personally offended when learning about Jill Coit's nefarious activities.

However, the book was well researched and informative. I learned things I had never realized before.

[Sandra Oldfather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jill Billiot and I were friends in high school in Indiana, so this account of her life was especially of interest to me. It is well written and fairly comprehensive and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the True Crime genre.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Donna Humble · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book about a woman who married multiple men in order to manipulate them and scheme her way into a lot of money. This book is filled with multiple twists and turns.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a true story. It was very interesting.