Poisoned Vows [Mass Market Paperback]

Clifford L. Linedecker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2004

Jill Coit was a voluptuous, dark-skinned beauty--as sultry and unfathomable as the Louisiana bayou where she was born and raised. But beneath the glamour of the one-time fashion model was a woman of insatiable desire who used her cover-girl looks to prey on eligible, well-meaning men.

Married ten times, she vowed her undying love. But her life was a series of betrayals involving flagrant adultery, and even bigamy. She battled to get her hands on her ex-husbands' back accounts, family inheritances and valuables.

Across at least five states, she used more than a dozen names to spin a tangled web of marriages and money. But was she on a heartless quest for more and more wealth--one that led to the cold-blooded murder of two of her husbands and attempts on the life of another? And did she go so far as to try to involve her own son in a plot to murder husband number nine?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clifford Linedecker is a former daily newspaper journalist with eighteen years experience on the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rochester (N.Y.) Times-Union, Fort Wayne News-Sentinal, and several other Indiana newspapers. He is an experienced investigative reporter who has covered police and the courts on each of the papers where je was employed. He is a former articles editor for National Features Syndicate in Chicago, and for Country 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.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (February 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312955138
• ISBN-13: 978-0312955137
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Bad This Woman Pursued A Murderous Life, May 21, 2000

By 

"kayepable" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poisoned Vows (Mass Market Paperback)

I am fascinated by the criminal mind, and the story of Jill Coit is fascinating. I recommend the book to true crime enthusiasts. It is well written. I like the way the author chronicles a little bit of the history of each place that Jill Coit finds herself. Not too much--just enough. This woman was so intelligent had she pursued a more "legal" lifestyle, she might have become the first woman President of The United States. The author shows through out the story how focused, single-minded, and intent she is on using up and destroying every man she decides to date and/or marry. But after all was said and done, I don't think the author even knows what makes this woman tick. I know that I don't. It is no fault of the author, because Jill Coit is too complicated. It is extememly sad how her own sons had to testify against her in order to put a stop to this woman. Now that she is behind bars in one of the Countries toughest prisons, maybe she will begin to figure herself out. What is amazing to me is that she has absolutely no remorse, and I do not believe that she even realizes that she has lead her life in the wrong way. She is not crazy. She is just without conscious. Thanks to the author, I enjoyed this book immensely.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of a Lying, Serial Marrying Female Fatale, September 20, 2006

By 

Kim Cantrell "Soap Box Bandit" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poisoned Vows (Mass Market Paperback)

Jill Lonita Billiot was destined to be a coniving woman. By the time of her arrest for the murder of Gerald "Gerry" Boggs, her name "techincally" was as follows: Jill Lonita Billiot Ihnen Moore Coit Brodie Dirosa Metzger Steely Boggs Carroll. And one must not forget that Billiot (her birth maiden name) should actually be dropped and "Johansen" added as she manipulated an ederly gentleman to adopt her, whose fortune she later inherited.

Many of Jill's marriage overlapped one another, making her a bigamist along with (most likely) being the record holder for number of marriages!

Poisoned Vows offers a extremely detailed account of the path most traveled by Jill that lead to her convincing her boyfriend (an adultrious affair, nonetheless) to assist her in murdering the one man who was ready to expose her for what she was: a lying, cheating, manipulating, greedy female fatale. Gerald Boggs was distraught and angry when he learned that not only was she remained married to Carl Steely while they were married but she had also lied about being pregnant with and giving birth to a daughter belonging to him. Of course, this wasn't the first time Jill had lied about phantom children. Nor would it be the last time she would play a role in the death of one of her husbands....

While I found the book to be difficult to read, offering details that are confusing; this is not an issue that can be blamed on the author. Clifford Linedecker did an excellent job in attempting to keep the facts sorted for the reader, even if the information is often repititious. I was a bit disappointed that Jill and co-defendant, Michael Backus, was still weeks away from sentencing at the time of writing this book; I feel that the book should not have been published with that info. Otherwise, however, this is an excellent read for any true crime fan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This is the true story of Jill Coit, January 12, 2008

By 

C. Tschiemer (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poisoned Vows (Mass Market Paperback)

The author describes Jill Coit's life as it was - however, I liked the book "Charmed to Death" better. I had to deal with Coit while working at the correctional facility and all I can say this that she continues to play her games with everybody in prison... if she does not get want she wants she finds ways to mess with the staff and threatens with law suits! She plays the staff against each other - but else is there to do for her? She got life without parole, that is her way of keeping busy in prison. There is also a movie out about her, but I was only able to get it from the United Kingdom on a European format DVD.