Melissa Joan Hart to Play “The Black Widow” Serial Killer Judy Buenoano in Lifetime Movie (Exclusive)

Sabrina never quite went this dark. Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Melissa & Joey) is coming back to Lifetime to play serial killer Judy Buenoano, aka “The Black Widow,” The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Hart will also executive produce the cable brand’s new true crime movie, Black Widow Killer: The Judy Buenoano Story, which is a working title. The movie is part of the channel’s winter “Ripped From the Headlines” slate. Black Widow Killer will also stars Chris Bauer (True Blood, The Wire) as Detective Chamberlain and Matthew Settle (Gossip Girl, Band of Brothers) as Judy’s fiancé, John Gentry. The movie premieres on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2027, at 8 p.m. on Lifetime.

“Set in the 1970s and 1980s, Black Widow Killer: The Judy Buenoano Story is based on the true story of Judy Buenoano (Hart), a successful Florida salon owner and mother whose carefully cultivated image begins to crack after her latest fiancé, John Gentry (Settle), survives a car bombing,” the synopsis reads. “As Detective Chamberlain (Bauer) and his partner, Detective Steele (Cronin Cullen, The Equalizer), investigate the attempted murder, they uncover a disturbing pattern surrounding the deaths of those closest to Judy. As the investigation delves deeper into her past, mounting evidence raises a troubling question: are these tragedies simply a series of coincidences — or part of a calculated plan?”

Black Widow Killer: The Judy Buenoano Story is directed by Agam Darshi from a script by Taylor Martin. The film is produced by Hart’s Hartbreak Films Inc., Tiny Riot and Fox Entertainment Studios and distributed internationally by Fox Entertainment Global. Hart’s mom, Paula Hart, also executive produces for Hartbreak Films Inc.; Jason Egenberg executive produces for Tiny Riot; and Fernando Szew, Hannah Pillemer, Larry Grimaldi and Julianna Hays exec produce for FES. Gordon Gilbertson also executive produces.