Police Seek More Possible Victims in "Black Widow" Case

By Erin Peterson

Police in Brunswick, NC, are hoping to find more possible victims of Sandra Camille Powers, who has also been know as Sandra Stegall, Sandra Bridewell, Sandra Rehrig, Camille Bridwell, and many other aliases. Over the years, Powers has been know as a self-described Christian missionary, con artist, manipulator, and target of numerous lawsuits from stretching across the entire country. Police fear that they will not solve the mystery surrounding her and several unexplained deaths before she is due to be released from custody.

After the mysterious deaths of her first husband in 1976 and a female friend in 1982, Powers headed to Oklahoma City where she married her third husband in 1984. Alan Rehrig was a banker and real-estate investment executive who was 11 years her junior. Reports say that the couple was married because of Powers’ claim to be pregnant. However, shortly after the wedding she told Rehrig that she had miscarried.

Rehrig and Powers were separated in November of 1985, but not before Powers convinced Rehrig to take out a $100,000 life insurance policy. Rehrig moved out partially because of Powers’ uncontrollable spending habits and quest for a lavish lifestyle.

In December 1985, Rehrig called Powers to arrange a meeting to collect his things. He told his roommate of this meeting and was therefore reported missing when he did not return. Four days later, Rehrig was found shot to death in his car in Oklahoma City. Powers collected over $100,000 from the life insurance policy. She only told investigators that Rehrig did not arrive to collect his things; she then stopped cooperating with investigators.

Shortly after reports of the latest murder began circulating, the Dallas media coined the moniker "The Black Widow" for Sandra Powers.

Powers spent the next several years in Marin County, CA scamming more men and eventually becoming pursued by lawyers representing men who claimed that they had loaned Powers hundreds of thousands of dollars that were never repaid. She left California and virtually disappeared until 2002.

When she reappeared, Powers was using the name Camille Bridwell and claimed to be a Christian missionary who had spend time in Third World countries. She believed her closeness with God would help her regain the lavish lifestyle to which she had become accustomed. However, her once pristine appearance and expensive tastes were replaced by a noticeable lack of personal hygiene and leftover meals.

Powers took advantage of the kindness of those she met through churches. She would ask to stay with them for a few weeks and instead stay for many months while stealing Social Security cards and other items.

She also fooled people into investing in real-estate ventures with her or in a mission she claimed to be opening nearby. Powers was married one more time, this time to a religious man who filed for divorce shortly after she emptied his bank account.

Powers was next found in Southport, NC where she was living with 77-year-old Sue Moseley as a live-in caretaker. She used Moseley’s credit card and checking account to purchase clothing and other things for herself. She also tried to isolate Moseley from her family and tampered with her prescription pill intake.

The continued investigation of Glenna Whitley and a suspicious real-estate agent in Moseley’s area helped convince Moseley’s son that Powers was dangerous. Moseley’s son worked with police investigators to arrange a meeting in Charlotte, NC where police arrested Powers for the first time in her "career."

Powers was charged with one count of obtaining property under a false name, two counts of forgery of an instrument and two counts of uttering a forged instrument. Her bail is set at $1.5 million because she is considered a flight risk.

Since reports of her arrest, other people have come forward with stories of how they were scammed by Powers. Brunswick County police are hoping that more people will continue to come forward with similar stories to bring additional charges of false pretense against Powers so they finally close the case of the "Black Widow" before her bail expires and she is free to leave.