Police: Woman scams ex-husbands

GLOUCESTER, Va. (WAVY) - A Gloucester woman is accused of marrying ten times and then scamming her husbands for money.

71-year-old Shirley Smith Smart is charged with bigamy, fraud, stealing money, and more charges may be on the way.

One of Smart's ex-husbands, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she took more than $300,000 from him.

Partly embarassed, partly afraid, Smart's ex-husband spoke out to protect himself and others from the woman he married. "You look at her, you see her, you think she's a sweet old lady. Meanest lady that God has ever made."

He claimed he married Smart, then she took him for everything he had. The ex-husband showed WAVY.com their marriage license dated two days before Christmas in 2004. Smart's box was marked divorced.

"She's a sweet little lady when she gets her way, but when she doesn't get her way, the little lady turns evil," said the ex-husband.

He said six months into the marriage, she showed her true colors. She shut him off from his son and grandson, took over their finances, then had him arrested for spousal abuse. He had a copy of the protective order she took out against him.

"I've never laid a hand on a woman my whole life. I was brought up with seven sisters. I was raised, you never raise your hand to a woman."

He claimed Smart sold his house and everything in it. He filed for divorce, but later learned their marriage was not legal. She was still married to another man at the time, and he was not husband number four as he thought - but husband number eight.

York County filed charges earlier this year against the woman for forging public records, perjury, and bigamy.

Gloucester filed four counts of computer fraud and four counts of obtaining money under false pretenses.

She got out of jail on a $12,000 bond on October 8.

"I gotta watch myself, because I don't trust her," said husband number eight.