Canada: "The Black Widow" Strikes Again

Story here. Named "The Black Widow" by the media, she gets off with another light sentence in what should have been attempted murder. Female charging and sentencing discount in full use here:. Excerpt:

'SYDNEY, Nova Scotia — A 78-year-old Canadian woman dubbed the "Black Widow" was sentenced Tuesday to 3 1/2 years in prison for drugging her newlywed husband.

The sentence for Melissa Ann Shepard, who pleaded Monday guilty to administering a noxious substance and failing to provide the necessities of life, will be reduced to two years and nine months because of time served in pretrial custody. Shepard was charged last year after Fred Weeks fell ill at a bed and breakfast while the couple was on a honeymoon.

An agreed statement of facts says Shepard slipped tranquilizers into the 76-year-old man's coffee and he was later taken to hospital. He survived.'