Anjette Donovan was born on August 23, 1925, in Georgia. Not much is known about her early life, but by the late 1940s, she had married Ben F. Lyles Jr., a respected businessman who owned the popular Lyles Restaurant in downtown Macon. The couple had two daughters—Marcia in 1948 and Carla in 1951—and from the outside, they appeared to live a picture-perfect Southern family life.

After Ben’s sudden illness and death in 1952, Anjette continued to manage the restaurant, becoming a charming and respected figure in the local community. She dressed impeccably, kept up appearances, and earned a reputation as a strong, elegant woman. However, beneath the polished surface, there were signs of something far darker.

By 1955, she had begun dating Joe Neal Gabbert, a pilot with Capitol Airways. Their relationship moved quickly, but within the year, Gabbert had also fallen mysteriously ill and died. His death allowed Anjette to collect money from insurance and inheritance, which she used to buy a new house and a flashy new car.

As time passed, tragedy continued to follow her: her mother-in-law, Julia Lyles, died in 1957, and soon after, her own daughter Marcia became ill and passed away in 1958. These string of deaths, all from seemingly unrelated illnesses, began to raise eyebrows—especially when it was discovered Anjette had taken out insurance policies or stood to benefit financially in each case.

The deaths in Anjette Lyles' life began to appear not only frequent, but suspicious. Investigators looked into the pattern and in 1958, forensic testing revealed that arsenic had been administered to her husband, her partner, her mother-in-law, and her daughter. Each had been poisoned slowly over time, their symptoms dismissed as common illness until toxicology revealed the truth.

Authorities arrested Anjette on May 6, 1958, and charged her with four counts of murder. The victims were:

• Ben F. Lyles Jr. – Her first husband, who died in January 1952.
• Joe Neal Gabbert – Her second partner, who died in December 1955.
• Julia Lyles – Her former mother-in-law, who passed in 1957.
• Marcia Lyles – Her own daughter, who died in 1958.

The common thread? All had died slowly, showing symptoms that aligned with arsenic poisoning. The poison had been slipped into food and drinks over time. And in every case, Anjette was the one who stood to gain—through inheritance, insurance, or the removal of an obstacle.

Her trial gripped Georgia and the entire country. The image of the poised, elegant Southern woman accused of such cold-blooded crimes was difficult for many to comprehend. But the evidence was overwhelming. In 1959, she was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

However, shortly after sentencing, psychiatrists diagnosed her with paranoid schizophrenia. Due to her mental condition, her sentence was commuted, and instead of facing execution, she was committed to Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia. She remained institutionalized for the rest of her life.

On December 4, 1977, Anjette Lyles died at the age of 52. She was never released and never publicly confessed to the murders.