Police Seek Public Help in Solving the "Black Widow" Case

By Erin Peterson

Police in Brunswick, NC are hoping for public assistance in solving the case of the "Black Widow." The 62-year-old woman with the moniker is being held on $1.5 million bond in a North Carolina jail. Police fear that they will not solve the mystery surrounding her and several unexplained deaths before she is due to be released from custody.

Investigators 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.

It is believed that Powers may have had a hand in the "suicide" death of her first husband, the death of a female friend, and the unsolved murder of her third husband.

Brunswick County Sheriff’s detective Marty Folding compares this case to a fictional novel. "She’s kind of like a chameleon, changes colors and changes shapes according to whatever the situation is." Folding is leading this investigation and its attempt to bring the case to a close.

Powers was born and raised in Sedalia, MO by an adoptive family. She was a shy student who attracted little attention during school. However, several years after graduating from high school in 1962 she "reinvented" herself by creating stories of college and boyfriends. She portrayed herself as a Southern belle searching for someone to take care of her and keep her in the lap of luxury.

In 1967 Powers moved to Dallas, TX under her first new name and married dentist David Stegall. It was with Stegall that she discovered the materialistic lifestyle that she would do anything to keep. Powers had three children with Stegall. They lived what many considered an ideal life with an expensive home in the best neighborhood and even a live-in maid. However, Powers nearly drove her family into debt trying to create the life she thought she deserved.

Investigators say that while Stegall explored divorce options with his lawyer Powers inquired if his life insurance paid out in the case of a suicide. David Stegall was found with his wrists slashed and a .22-caliber bulled in his head in 1976. The insurance company paid more than $100,000—enough for Powers to pay off all of her debts.

After Stegall’s death, Powers dated many wealthy and successful men. She even blackmailed some of them, telling them that she was pregnant and asking for money for an abortion. However, a close friend of Powers, Glenna Whitley, reports that Powers had a hysterectomy a year after Stegall’s death. Whitley has kept close watch of Powers and her actions over the years.

Powers’ next husband was Bobby Bridewell, a member of a wealthy Dallas oil family and a racehorse owner. They were married in 1978 but in 1980 Bridewell was diagnosed with cancer. Even during Bridewell’s treatment, Powers continued to focus on remodeling their home and climbing the social ladder.

After Bridewell’s death in 1982, Powers attached herself to Bridewell’s oncologist, John Bagwell, and his wife Betsy. The couple tried to distance themselves from her overbearing personality and possible romantic interest in John. Unfortunately, Betsy Bagwell was found dead less than two months after Bobby Bridewell’s death. Cause of death was a .22-caliber bullet to the head. Evidence leads police to believe that her death was a suicide and that Powers was the last person to see her alive.

Come back tomorrow to read the final chapters in the story of the "Black Widow" and why the police are appealing for help from the public before their time runs out.