Abbess Mariam, better known as “Mother Rasputin,” has been described as one of the most prolific female serial killers in modern history. She cloaked herself in the authority of a Greek Old Calendarist Orthodox abbess while running something far darker than a monastery. Between 1939 and 1950, she was found guilty of a staggering range of crimes, including multiple murders and fraud, but the charges barely capture the reality inside her compound in Keratea, Greece. Hundreds of people - mostly women - arrived there seeking refuge, faith, and safety, and instead found solitary confinement, empty plates, and discipline that escalated into ritualized cruelty. Mariam ruled with a mix of spiritual theater and calculated brutality, presenting herself as divinely guided while systematically breaking down (and killing) the very people who trusted her. Sadistic, controlling, and untethered from any moral boundary, she has been described as one of the most prolific female serial killers in modern history.

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EP180: Serial Killer Nun: Holy Hellhouse