Sociology and Criminology-Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Love Affair Gone Bad Leads to Violence: The Gonzalez-Angulo Story

Kristyan M Kouri

The case of Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo, a woman who was convicted of poisoning her lover George Blumenchein, demonstrates how crime is intertwined with gender roles. While men’s violent crimes are often connected with money, women’s violent crimes are usually aimed at people who reside in their domestic sphere. Gonzalez-Angulo’s crime fits this pattern. She did not poison her former lover for want of money, but instead appears to have assaulted him in anger as she had recently learned that Blumenchein would not be leaving his live-in girlfriend for her. Her all encompassing anger was at least partially fueled by her failure to meet cultural dictates for marriage and children. Despite widespread changes, marriage to a successful male is the culminating event in a whole host of cultural narratives, and Gonzalez-Angulo could not have escaped the pressure to achieve this goal.