Marie Fikáčková (nee Schmidlová)

Czech Republic

Born: September 9, 1936

Died: April 13, 1961

Active: 1957 to 1960

Method of Disposal: Crushing/beating

Consequence: Hanged

Unfortunates:

• Two newborn children in Susice District Hospital maternity ward

Some women take to children easily.  They have a knack for knowing how to hold a baby, how to soothe a newborn who is fretting, and generally make the whole process of child rearing look like the most natural thing in the world for a woman to do.

Marie Fikáčková was not one of those women.  

Marie was born into a poor German family in September 1936.    When the Second World War ended in 1945, a number of families were reported for their German nationality, Marie’s family among then.  Marie was never close to her father, who was an alcoholic.  He would often talk of his hatred of the Czechs.  It is unknown whether Marie was affected by his intolerance of this particular nationality.  However, it’s unlikely that his ideals had a positive effect on the woman would later be responsible for helping to bring Czech babies into the world.

Marie graduated from a medical school in Klatovy in 1955, gaining good results.  She began her nursing career in a hospital laundry.  She then joined the National Institute of Health in 1957, before being transferred to the Susice District Hospital, in the Obstetrics department.  She quickly endeared herself to her fellow staff members, and was soon being considered for the position of Head Nurse. 

There was just one problem.  She didn’t like the sound of babies crying.  It ruined her concentration.  Newborn babies seemed to cry all the time.  Marie first noticed her lack of patience soon after being sent to work in the delivery ward.  She would grit her teeth and try to block out the noise, but it was no use.  The noise always broke through. 

Despite the annoyance, Marie really loved working in obstetrics.  She wasn’t about to let a simple issue of her inability to stand being in a room with a crying child for longer than a few minutes stop her from becoming the best maternity ward nurse she could be. 

If Marie hadn’t worked out a sensible solution to the problem, she might very well have given up on her dream.  But work out a solution she did.  She found that by applying enormous amounts of pressure to the skull with a well-placed thumb , the child quickly stopped crying.  It worked the first time she tried it on 23 February 1960.  Worked so well that later on that same day, when another newborn baby started crying, she used the same technique again.  And it worked again. 

Marie was ecstatic.  It was a whole revolution in child-quieting.  One quick application of 'pressure point therapy' and the child never cried again.

Marie’s actions might have gone unnoticed, with two babies buried and two sets of parents grieving over the senseless accidental deaths of their respective children.  It was accepted that children would die on occasion from this reason or that.  It was the time of Polio; many a child death was being attributed to this disease (maybe to the detriment of all other conclusions).  The medical fraternity also would explain away some deaths to carelessness in the delivery room.  Generally, there was no specialised department of the hospital to investigate the death of a child.

In fact, it was only due to some hard-to-explain anomalies surrounding the deaths of the babies on that day that the possibility of murder was even considered.  During an autopsy on the babies, it was found that both children had suffered multiple broken bones in their arms along with the head trauma which had led to their deaths.  The hospital staff considered this to be highly irregular since newborn babies generally didn’t suffer such injuries without some immediate explanation.  Authorities were contacted to conduct interviews on all the staff involved in the delivery of the children.  Marie was among those with whom they wished to speak.

Marie was interviewed four days after the suspicious deaths.  She finally admitting to causing the deaths of the children after the interview evolved into a six-hour interrogation. 

Despite Marie confessing to at least ten more injurious attacks against other children (some of whom survived, according to Marie), she was arrested and charged only with the two murders upon which there was sufficient evidence. 

The hospital had the authorities keep quiet about Marie’s assertion that her murderous actions extended further than the two deaths for which she was charged.  After all, no hospital wants to be linked to what would have be considered to be one of the Czech Republic’s more prolific multiple murderers, if Marie was to be believed. 

Inevitably, as is usually the case when insufficient details are given to the public, rumours spread throughout Czechoslovakia that she was responsible for perpetrating up to a dozen similar attacks on children.  There was also speculation about the true nature of the injuries sustained, including injections into the eyes and heads.

At her trial for the two murders, a number of people testified to her volatile nature.  Her brother was mentally handicapped, and she terrorised him on a regular basis.  Neighbours also reported that she had a violent streak.  On her own admission, Marie admitted that after causing the death of one child, she then turned her mind to such important tasks as inspecting and folding nappies.

After being sentenced to death on 6 October 1960, Marie twice appealed against her sentence.  She was ultimately unsuccessful and she was executed on 13 April 1961.

Her motives were never fully explained.  However, it is believed she blamed her inability to control her murderous impulses on the onset and duration of her menstrual cycle.  Psychiatrists deemed her to be sane and fit to stand trial because, really, to do otherwise would be to set a dangerous precedent.  Women would be blaming the waxing of the moon if the madness was allowed to continue.

Marie Hilley (nee Frazier)

United States of America

Born: 4 June 1933

Died: 26 February 1987

Active: 1975 to 1979

Method of Disposal: Arsenic Poisoning

Consequence: Life Imprisonment (plus 20 years)

Unfortunates:

• Frank Hilley (first husband)
• Lucille Frazier (mother)
• Carrie Hilley (mother-in-law)

Fortunates:

• Mike Hilley (son)
• Carol Hilley (daughter)

Marie loved shopping.  She had been brought up by parents who both worked long hours and they saw new clothes, toys and other niceties as a suitable replacement for hugs and boundaries.  She grew up believing that shopping solved everything.


Luckily her parents also thought their little girl was special enough to receive the best education. There would be no manual or factory labour for her.  Marie spent her high school years amongst the financially and socially privileged girls in Anniston, Alabama, and after graduation looked towards a cushy secretarial job.  And of course she had Frank Hilley, her high school sweetheart.  The couple were so keen on each other that they married before Marie had even finished high school.  Soon there were two children, Mike and Carol, to complete their perfect family.  


All the while, Marie maintained her spending habits.  It may have bothered Frank that Marie's spending seemed to always leave them with little money at the end of the week, but he never said anything to her.  Whatever made her happy couldn't be that bad.  Even when the banks and credit unions started taking legal action, Frank indulged her.  He had no reason to complain, because Marie always made sure she was by his side when he needed her.  Especially when he got sick, which was happening on a regular basis lately.


However, he couldn't look the other way when he came home from work sick one day, and caught Marie in bed with her boss.  Marie knew this time she couldn't buy her way out of her problems.  She knew Frank wouldn't stay with her after this.  Oh, everything was suddenly such a mess!


It certainly seemed like the marriage was unlikely to last.  Until Frank's illness began to get a hold of him, and within a short while he was bedridden.  As she had done countless times before, Marie dropped whatever she was doing and stayed by his side.  She knew he had to keep his strength up, and argued with him when he told her he was too sick to eat.


Mike, now living away from home, travelled back to the family home to help his mother and sister care for Frank.  He knew about his mother's infidelity, but seeing how she fussed over him made him hopeful for a reconciliation.  However, all their efforts were in vain; his liver finally gave out in late May 1974.  His death was attributed to hepatitis.


Frank was gone, and so was the income he brought into the home.  The $31,000 life insurance policy that Marie had fortuitously arranged not long before his death would not last long, not once Marie paid the insurance and other costs associated with her new car.  There was also the car for Carol, the diamond ring for her mother Lucille and the new niceties for Mike and his wife Teri.  


Soon after Frank died, Lucille was diagnosed with cancer.  Marie moved her mother into her home, and also invited Mike and Teri to stay, since Mike had a new job closer to home and needed somewhere to stay while they found a new home.  Suddenly Marie's home was full of family again.  She couldn't have been happier.  This is how it should always be.


That's when a mysterious fire bug attached him or herself to those close to the family.  First Marie's home was gutted, just one day before Mike and Teri were due to move into their new home.  This forced Marie and her mother and daughter to move into Mike's new apartment with him while Marie's home was rebuilt.  The fire bug then struck at Mike's next door neighbour's house which damaged Mike's own home, rendering it unliveable and forcing Mike and Teri to move with Lucille back to Marie's home.  It was so lucky that Marie's home had been fixed just in time.


Lucille, whose cancer had progressed significantly during this time, quickly worsened and she died.  Soon after, Mike and Teri found a new home and moved to Florida.  The fire bug persisted though.  This all became too much for Marie, who was once again forced to moved in with Mike and Teri for a few months while things settled down.  


However, her welcome was beginning to wear a little thin this time.  She was constantly fighting with Carol, who insisted on having her own personality.  Mike had a new baby, and the disharmony was not helping Teri cope as a new mum.  Not only that, but Marie had run up a large bill under Mike's name and the debt collector's were now calling him for the money.  He tried to talk to her about it, but she refused to pay him back.  That day he came down with one of the most severe stomach spasms he'd ever experienced.  He could only remember one other time he'd felt so sick; when he was 18 years old, he'd made plans to leave home for college, and had struggled through the same illness from which he now suffered.  Both times the pain went away eventually, but there seemed no explanation for it.


Meanwhile Marie had been shopping again...for insurance.  Just in case something awful happened to Mike or Carol.


She found she may need the insurance where Carol was concerned.  The girl had become a hypochondriac, complaining every day about small tummy aches and such.  It was no surprise though.  Carol was now nineteen and she was going out a lot.  Of course she would get ill, with the drinking and everything.  


She was soon admitted to a psychiatric ward, the doctors clearly of the belief that if they couldn't find a reason for the illness it was either psychosomatic or she was doing it for attention.  Others, however, had begun to believe there was something worse going on.  Carol's friend Eve had seen Carol's mother give Carol some injections.  She reported this to Mike, who had been having his own issues with the details surrounding his father's death.  He had only his suspicions, but when Eve spoke to him, they went straight to the doctor.  The doctor attempted to keep Marie away from her daughter.  In response, Marie promptly moved her daughter to another hospital and into the care of another doctor, saying Carol wasn't getting better where she was anyway.  


Had Marie's bad financial decisions not caught up with her, things may have turned out quite badly for the girl.  As it turned out, the authorities needed to speak with her regarding some 'irregular' transactions, and the family took the opportunity to bail up Carol's new doctor with their concerns.  Since Marie was no longer able to whisk her daughter away, this doctor was able to see the obvious signs of arsenic poisoning.  And with Frank's death and the sudden passing of Lucille, the authorities were finally notified.


Exhumations followed, with arsenic found in the bodies of both Frank and Lucille.  Marie was arrested and charged with both their murders, as well as the attempted murder of her daughter, after containers at her home contained large amounts of the poison.    At around the same that her mother-in-law Carrie also died of cancer, and tests of her hair also showed traces of arsenic.  A fourth poisoning victim.


Marie posted bail...and naturally made herself scarce.  She would not turn up again for another 4 years.


During her time in hiding, Marie did not rest.  She changed her name to Robbi Hannon.  Her new identity was no less dramatic than her last had been; apparently Robbi was wealthy but both her children had been tragically killed in a car accident and she herself was dying of a rare illness.  She spoke often of her twin sister Teri.  She started a relationship with a local boat builder called John Homan, but soon after moving in with him her condition worsened and she travelled to Texas for treatment.  John heard nothing more from Robbi, until her twin sister Teri arrived on his doorstep and advised him that Robbi had died.  In truth, Robbi and Teri were both alter egos of Marie's own imagination.  There didn't seem to be a reason for the elaborate set up, although it was clear that even figments of Marie's imagination were not immune to her murderous ideals.


Her new life was uncovered when Robbi's grieving work colleagues tried to pay their respects but found to their surprise that the hospital, the obituary, everything was fiction.  When police interviewed Teri in relation to the discrepancy, they realised they had stumbled upon the elusive Marie Hilley.  Again bail was set; somewhat unsurprisingly no one was generous in putting up the funds this time.


Marie was found guilty of the murder of Frank and attempted murder of Carol (the lawyers were obviously successful in arguing that Lucille and Carrie's deaths could not be considered murder because the cancer got to them first).  She was sentenced to life plus 20 years, and was transported to a Alabama women's prison to begin her sentence.


After four years Marie was eligible for a weekend release as a minimum security prisoner (it's assumed that this is a privilege afforded to all convicted murderers in Alabama).  She spent the first of those three night in the arms of her lover John, before slipping away the next morning.  The police assumed she had once again dreamed up a scheme and was half way across the country.  


Nope.  She wandered aimlessly for four days in the cold, before contracting hypothermia and collapsing at the front doorstep of a high school friend.  Some wonder whether there was a second person who had originally agreed to help her but reneged at the last minute.  Maybe it was her mysterious fire bug.  He or she would have been darned useful to her at that point.

Waltraud Wagner, Maria Gruber, Irene Leidolf and Stephanija Meyer 

(aka Lainz Angels of Death)

Austria

Born: 1960, 1964, 1962 and 1940 respectively

Died: -

Active: 1983 to 1989

Method of Disposal: Morphine, Insulin or Rohypnol Overdose; Drowning

Consequence: Imprisonment

Unfortunates:

• At least 49 patients at Lainz General Hospital (aka the Death Pavilion or Murder Station of Lainz)

Waltraud Wagner became a nurse because she wanted to help people, to make them comfortable and ease their pain and suffering.  She chose to work at Lainz General Hospital’s Pavilion 5, where many of the hospital’s elderly and infirm resided.  A lot of the patients in this particular Pavilion were suffering from terminal illnesses.  Consequently, it was a relatively high, but not entirely unexpected, death rate.

It was perhaps inevitable that, during her working life in Pavilion 5, Waltraud would encounter residents who felt they would rather leave this life than face another day of pain.  She would ordinarily help the patient through their fear and denial, by talking to them or supplying them with pain relief. 

But one day she was confronted with an appeal that was so impassioned that she was moved to give a second thought to the idea of assisting another person to die.  After all, the point of her job was to provide palliative care for the residents, usually until death finally came to call. Surely it was better if the patient chose when they expired, rather than wait.  Really, if death was inevitable, what did it matter when said death occurred?

Having decided that five minutes of internal dialogue was enough time to completely evaluate all the pros and cons of what she was about to do, Waltraud obtained a lethal dose of morphine from the medicine store.  As the morphine worked its magic, the look of serenity on her charge’s face was all Waltraud needed to see to know she had done the right thing.  She finished her shift feeling more energised than ever.

Over the next few days, Waltraud relived in her mind what she had done.  She realised that it was a very powerful gift she had been given, to be able to take away someone’s pain like that.  She also discovered, after performing a few more acts of kindness on other terminally ill patients, that the calling was bigger than one person could handle.

She needed to impart her wisdom on others.

Over the course of the next four years Waltraud was joined by three ‘recruits’: Maria Gruber, Irene Leidolf and Stephanija Meyer.  With Waltraud as their mentor, each woman was taught the proper techniques that go into a successful mercy killing.  Her students were understandably slow to begin with, but by the end of 1987 they had all perfected the art and were ‘assisting’ at a steady pace.  Along with the morphine, the group eventually added Insulin and Rohypnol to their list of tools, just to mix things up every now and then. 

It may have been that the medical supplies had rather dwindled after a while; for Waltraud decided that a new technique would be included in their repertoire.  This procedure was called the “Water Cure”.  It was a simple process really, requiring only a large jug of water to be poured into the mouth of the patient by one nurse while another held the patient’s nose and chin.  It was heralded as a ‘natural’ alternative to their existing practice.  This was due to the fact that elderly patients often ‘naturally’ had water on the lungs when they died.  It also removed the need to complete pesky administration forms explaining the rapid depletion of medical stock. 

This new method had come at a crucial time, as Waltraud had widened the definition of 'patient in need'.  It now included any patient who wet the bed, refused to take their medicine, or pressed the nurse’s button just when they’d popped the kettle on.  Waltraud classed these as ‘annoyances’, and the Water Cure was employed as a rule whenever an ‘annoyance’ arose.  To ensure that the procedure was followed correctly Waltraud always carried out the Water Cure herself, with the help of one of the other ‘students’.

As is the usual practice, rumours began to circulate about the regularity with which the undertaker was attending the hospital’s Pavilion 5.   If the four women noticed that the abnormally high death rate on their ward had attracted the attention of other staff, they didn’t let on.  Waltraud and her followers would often meet at a local pub, toasting their success.  During these meetings they would reminisce about their past accomplishments, recalling in minute detail how they had helped their most recent patient towards the light.

As it happened, a doctor was sitting nearby.  He was familiar with the jargon they were using and, upon realising what he was hearing, promptly sprinted to the nearest police station.  The police quickly began an investigation.  Surely the doctor must be mistaken, they reasoned.  This is a state-run hospital; there was no chance anything like this could have gone on for so long.

Apparently, there was.  After six weeks, all four women were arrested and immediately began pointing fingers.  Mostly at Waltraud. 

Waltraud admitted to all the killings that she could remember (she got as far as 39 before her memory escaped her).  Stephanija helpfully added several more to that list.  Not to be outdone, Irena and Maria insisted that there were hundreds more.  Over the course of the next 18 months, all four suspects threw up more and more imaginative patient numbers (including a few figures that clearly exceeded the total patient population of the hospital at the time).  Finally, in late 1990, Waltraud revised her patient list to a mere ten. 

To which the Judge and jury replied, “We can make up numbers too.”  Waltraud and Irena were sentenced to life imprisonment, while Stephanija and Maria each received 15 years.  

Martha Needle

Australia

Born: 1864

Died: 22 October 1894

Active: Feb 1885 to May 1894

Method of Disposal: Poisoning

Consequence: Hanging

Unfortunates:

• Mabel Needle (daughter)
• Henry Needle (husband)
• Elsie Needle (daughter)
• May Needle (daughter)
• Louis Juncken (fiance’s brother)

Fortunates:

• Herman Juncken (fiance’s other brother)

Martha Needle wanted nothing more than to be happy.  You know, the kind of happiness that comes with a marriage and children.  She had known that happiness when she had been married to her husband Henry Needle.  Unfortunately it was not to be.  Martha found herself burying not only her husband after he succumbed to a short illness, but also her three small children who became ill and died in quick succession.

Mabel became sick first.  The poor little thing, she was only three years old and no match for the stomach spasms, fever and vomiting that beset her.  Martha tried her best to comfort the child, but it was no use.  With every meal she fed her oldest child, Mabel just got worse and worse.  Finally, the little girl expired.  Henry tried to console his wife, but he also wasn’t feeling the best, and soon followed his daughter. 

Martha hoped that the illness would spare her other two daughters, but within 3 years of Henry’s death younger siblings Elsie and May were also taken.  It was such a sad time.  Thank goodness for insurance, or she just wouldn’t have pulled through.

In reality though, insurance payouts can only stretch so far.  So it was that in 1892 she found herself living in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, taking in boarders to help pay her way.  One of these boarders caught Martha’s eye.  His name was Otto Juncken, a carpenter whose brother Louis was using the front room of her lodging home for his business.  He seemed to reciprocate her feelings, and it wasn’t long before Martha was on the way to re-establishing the happiness she once knew.  She was overjoyed when Otto proposed, and began planning the wedding.

Not everyone was pleased with the match though.  Louis Juncken felt that Martha was not a suitable match for his brother.  He thought she had too much of a temper.  He advised Otto against marrying Martha, and began making arrangements for other family members to travel to Melbourne from South Australia to prevent the marriage from going ahead. 

This was the kind of reaction to an upcoming marriage that was apt to make a girl feel unwelcome.  After all the sadness she had felt recently, it looked as though she was now going to have to fight for her happiness.

She needn’t have worried.  As providence would have it, there was a bout of Typhoid going round, and Louis was unlucky enough to catch a dose.  Martha was sad, of course.  He future husband had lost his brother, and this was not the time for merriment.  All the same, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief as his coffin was transported back to South Australia.  Her main adversary was gone and she could foresee nothing to prevent her marriage to Otto.

Except for Otto's other brother Herman.  Herman made it his duty to attend to Louis’s affairs, and after Louis’s funeral invited himself to stay with Martha and Otto while the formalities were taken care of.

After her dealings with Louis, Martha was worried about Herman.  What if he tried to contest her marriage like Louis had?  Martha hoped and prayed that everything would turn out ok.  For good measure, she tried to ensure that Herman was comfortable while he stayed with them.  She even found out what his favourite meals were. 

It was after one of those meals that Herman complained of feeling unwell.  He was sick during the night, but the next morning he had recovered sufficiently to join them at breakfast.  However, when the illness returned mid-morning it was decided a doctor should be called.  You just never knew when the dreaded Typhoid would return.

Dr Boyd was sceptical.  He felt that Herman’s symptoms were indicative of something a bit more insidious than mere Typhoid.  Having nothing more than gut instinct, he prescribed medicine for the symptoms and implored the patient to contact him if the illness returned.

Which it did two days later.  On his return, the good doctor gathered samples that proved his instincts were correct.  Arsenic.  He high-tailed it to police who said, “Let’s set a trap!”

Herman was persuaded (against his better judgement at that point, I’m sure) to ask Martha to cook for him again.  As she gave him a steaming mug of tea, the authorities burst through the door and grabbed the cup.  Martha tried to upend the liquid, but to no avail.  The drink was later found to have about 10 grains of arsenic in it.  A search of the house disclosed a number of arsenic based poisons which would have ensured Martha’s ‘happiness’ for many years to come.

Martha was arrested for attempted murder.  This was later upgraded to the wilful murder of Louis Juncken after the bodies of her husband, children and Louis were exhumed.  These were also found to contain arsenic, at which point the laws of coincidence were thrown out altogether.

After a three day trial the following October, the judge found her guilty and sentenced her to hang.

Incidentally, when the results of the investigation were presented to Martha prior to her trial and sentencing, she appeared less than surprised by the findings, saying, “They found arsenic, did they?”  She was thoughtful for a moment, then added, “A few more of my friends have died lately and I can give you their names.  Would you like their names and information about their burial?  It would be useful if you want to dig them up.” 

One would imagine that she gave the learned officers a wink when she said that.

Theresa Knorr (nee Cross, aka Sanders, Pulliam, Harris...)

United States of America

Born: 14 March 1946

Died: -

Active: 1964 to 1985

Method of Disposal: Gunshot, starvation

Consequence: Life Imprisonment

Unfortunates:

• Clifford Sanders (first husband)
• Sheila Knorr (daughter)
• Suesan Knorr (daughter)

Fortunates:

• Terry Knorr (daughter)

Theresa Knorr was a woman who craved attention.  She fell quickly for any man who made her the centre of his world, and married him just as quickly.  She had a possessive nature, however, and eventually drove her men into the arms of other women.  At least that was what she told herself after each of her four marriages failed.  Her first husband, Clifford Sanders, had found this out to his detriment one night.  He threatened to leave.  She pulled a gun.  The judge later found a clear case of self-defence.  Theresa was only 18-years-old at the time and clearly not capable of murder. 

With all these marriages came the inevitable brood of children.  By 1970, there were six in total.  Three boys and three girls.  That many kids required a good measure of discipline.  You know, spare the rod and spoil the child, and other tried and true parenting formulas.  Indeed, no one could say her children was spoiled.  She ruled her home with an iron fist.  Or an iron bar, chair leg, cigarette lighter.  Whatever was within reach, really.

She kept all her children out of trouble in this way.  None of them escaped her teachings.  However, her attention was centred mostly on her older daughters, Sheila and Suesan.  She didn't like how pretty they were getting.  She didn't like how much attention this beauty might attract.  Attention that might be diverted away from her.  Theresa didn't like that.  Not one bit.

Thankfully, her boys were more obedient.  They would always do exactly as they were told, no matter what task she set them.  For example, Theresa came to realise that simply beating her daughter Suesan into unconsciousness wouldn't be enough after the girl started running away from home and telling her school counsellor horrendous tales about how she was being abused.  She was convinced that one of her ex-husbands had introduced Suesan into a cult and her daughter was now doing Satan's bidding.  When Suesan was returned home after running away again, Theresa enlisted the help of her sons to beat the devil out of her eldest daughter.

It seemed to do the trick, as Suesan was much more subdued afterwards.  For good measure, Theresa made sure that Suesan was handcuffed to her bed for a while so she wouldn't be able to run back to Satan. 

The handcuffs were eventually removed, but Theresa still didn't trust the girl.  Things would get better for a while and then Suesan would act up again.  It didn't seem to matter what Theresa threw at the Dark Lord (fists, a pair of scissors in Suesan's back) he just wouldn't learn.  Theresa even shot a bullet from a .38 revolver into Suesan's chest, but to no avail.

One day, Suesan decided she needed to move out of the family home.  Theresa agreed it was for the best, but she asked Suesan if she could have her bullet back.  She might need it if Satan ever reappeared in one of the other children.  Lead was hard to come by in those days.  After a few stiff bourbons and a handful of sleeping pills, Suesan was ready for surgery.  The bullet was removed, and Suesan stayed on the kitchen floor 'recovering'.

Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful.  Theresa asked her sons if they would be good boys and prepare the family sedan for a trip.

Things got better around the Knorr home after that.  There was even some extra money, which her now eldest daughter Sheila obligingly brought in from her new profession as a Lady of Negotiable Affections.  Theresa was proud of her daughter's achievements, until one day she discovered that she had caught something her daughter had brought home from her job.  What made it worse was that Sheila denied she had done anything.  Denied it to Theresa's face!

There was only one thing for Theresa to do in such a circumstance.  Being handcuffed to the bed wasn't going to be enough this time.  In order to force a confession out of Sheila, Theresa locked her in a cupboard until she admitted her awful crime.  The other kids were ordered not to open the door for any reason, and Sheila was to be given no sustenance until she came clean.

After three days, there were no more sounds coming from behind the door.  There was a smell though.  Theresa told her youngest daughter to get a box for her sister because the boys needed to take her for a drive. 

It was at around this time that the youngest daughter, Terry, decided that there was definitely a pattern forming against the young women of the house.  She asked her mother if she could move out, and after dousing the family home with lighter fluid and setting it on fire like Theresa asked her to, she was granted her wish.  Theresa advised her against mentioning her sisters to anyone.  No need to bring up such unpleasantness.

A few years, a couple of stays in prison, and a few crates of bourbon later, Terry decided that she did want to talk about her sisters.  A lot.  She sat down with the police and told them her story. 

As it turned out, the police had been wondering why they had two unidentified women sitting in cold storage when no one was hollering about one missing girl, let alone two. 

All the remaining members of the family had become relatively hard to find, except for Theresa's son William who had perfected the lessons taught by his mother and was serving time for a murder he'd committed independent of his mother's coaching.  Theresa and her two protégés William and Robert were eventually arrested and charged with the murders of both Suesan and Sheila.  Being confronted with such a high price for honouring his mother's wishes, Robert turned against Theresa in return for a much lighter sentence.

When she realised that her boys were beginning to abandon her, Theresa decided to try to avoid a harsh punishment by pleading guilty.  Unfortunately for her, it was a little too late for her and she was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.  She will not be getting much change out of her twilight years if she lives that long.

Proof positive that for some people, having children really is a life sentence.

Vera Renczi, aka The Black Widow

Romania

Born: 1903

Died: Unknown (cerebral haemorrhage)

Active: 1920s and 1930s

Method of Disposal: Arsenic Poisoning

Consequence: Life Imprisonment

Unfortunates:

• Karl Schick (first husband)
• Joseph Renczi (second husband)
• Lorenzo Schick (son)
• At least 32 various lovers

The most important thing in a relationship or marriage is fidelity.  Vera Renczi believed this, and throughout her life she came to see this belief as something more precious than life itself.  The men who crossed her path also became well aware of how she felt about this.  Although by the time it was brought to their attention the first grains of arsenic had already begun to dissolve.

Vera’s childhood was spent in relative comfort.  She was born into a wealthy family, and with each passing year grew more and more beautiful.  With money and beauty behind her, Vera should have been happy with her life.  However, tragedy struck when her mother died before Vera was ten-years-old.  It is not clear how her mother’s death affected her, but soon after moving to Berkerekul Romania, it became clear Vera’s personality was changing.  She now wanted more.  More male attention.  More male companions.  More, more, MORE.  Not only that, but she had to have their undivided attention all the time. 

By the age of fifteen, Vera was constantly running away from home.  She was spending all her time with men much older than herself.  These relationships never seemed to last, seemingly due to her possessive and jealous nature.  She was suspicious of any man who did not spend all his spare time with her, assuming that if he was not with her then her beau must be cheating on her with someone else.  Maybe it was that harlot at Number 23, or that trollope of a woman that smiled at him yesterday.  Such a strumpet, Vera would fume.

When Vera decided it was time to settle down, she chose a much older man named Karl Schick.  He was a businessman who was away at work all day, leaving Vera alone with her thoughts for long periods.  Her suspicious nature muttered to her every day, and only became worse once she gave birth to a son, Lorenzo.  She had figured that the advent of a child would reign in her obviously philandering husband.  Oh, he said he had to work late to pay for the extra mouth to feed.  Did he really think she was that naïve?

As Vera would discover, it was a relatively simple task to make a deceitful spouse learn once and for all not to misbehave.  She would make sure he never did it again.  A bottle of arsenic, coupled with a quick slip of the wrist over a carefully positioned glass filled with her husband’s favourite wine, and Karl became a lot easier to deal with. 

Vera decided to dispense with the truth, opting to tell family and friends that she had been abandoned by the useless, good-for-nothing, womanising son-of-a-horses-arse, who couldn’t lie straight in bed if his life depended on it.  She mourned the loss of her role of wife for the appropriate twelve months, and then advised everyone that she had heard her husband had died in a car crash.

With her first husband now officially dead, Vera zeroed in on another prospective groom-to-be, Joseph Renczi.  Despite being nearer to her age, this second marriage was a stormy one.  This did nothing to quiet the jealous voices in Vera’s head.  After quietly enduring her new husband’s obviously roving eye for a number of months, Vera was once again fed up.  Once again, she became careless with the arsenic.

As before, Vera told everyone that her husband had left her.  She again set about playing the dutiful role of abandoned wife, ticking down the proper mourning period of twelve months.  Then Vera announced she had received a letter from Joseph, obligingly advising her that he had no intention of returning and she had best accept the reality.  Throwing her hands up in despair, Vera decided that marriage was not worth the effort.  She never wed again.

However, she was in no danger of being lonely.  With her stunning features and wealth, there was no shortage of admirers.  She had numerous affairs, many that she flaunted openly and some with married men about which she was rather more modest.  She still held fast to her belief that fidelity was paramount in a relationship, but she clearly couldn’t be held responsible if a man strayed towards her.  These other women just had to be more careful with their husbands.

Vera’s activities soon brought her to the attention of the local constabulary, mostly because the men she was connected with had a habit of disappearing soon after taking up with her.  Vera told them she was just as frustrated about the whole state of affairs as they were.  They just keep leaving her.  Or they were unfaithful.  Either way, she told them she was mystified as to why they couldn’t be located.  While the police had their doubts, there was no other evidence to suspect her and they went on their way.

Vera thought she could continue on with her merry dance for a long time to come.  She was quite enjoying the continuing attention she was receiving.  Unfortunately for her, the wife of one of her conquests had also taken notice.  She had followed her husband to Vera’s house.  When he did not return to her, she hurried to report his disappearance to the police.

This time, the police were not going to accept from Vera what was now just a flimsy excuse.  They searched her premises, eventually arriving in the wine cellar.  Instead of barrels of wine and cider, there were dozens of coffins, at least 30 of them.  Each one was lined with zinc, and each contained its own body.  Strangely, there was also a comfy looking armchair in the cellar.  Given the circumstances, Vera decided to confess to the murders of 32 men.  She also admitted that she’d lied about how her two marriages had ended, and advised that her son Lorenzo was also a victim.  He had stumbled on her makeshift crypt and was threatening her with blackmail, so she poisoned him with arsenic as well.

At her trial, Vera claimed that she did what she did out of love, saying that they had all been unfaithful and she wanted to make sure they wouldn’t leave her.  She said that she would sit in her comfy armchair and talk with the coffins for hours.  The judge was unmoved, sentencing her to life imprisonment.  Shortly after, Vera suffered a fatal cerebral haemorrhage.

There is no getting around the fact that Vera was quite an unwell person.  But you had to hand it to her; she achieved her aim of keeping a man.  While most woman chose stealing the remote or starting an argument to get some sort of response from the other half, Vera had a unique way of getting a man’s attention.

His undivided attention.

Jeanne Weber, aka Ogress of the Goulle d’Or

France

Born: 7 August 1874

Died: 1910

Active: 1905 to 1908

Method of Disposal: Strangulation

Consequence: Jail Term

Unfortunates:

• Infant Weber (offspring)
• Infant Weber (offspring)
• Georgette Weber (niece)
• Suzanne Weber (niece)
• Germaine Weber (niece)
• Marcel Weber (son)
• Lucie Aleandre (babysitting charge)
• Marcel Poyatos (babysitting charge)
• Auguste Bavouzet (babysitting charge)
• Marcel Poirot (inkeeper’s son)

Fortunates:

• Maurice Weber (nephew)
• Unnamed child (resident at children’s home)

Surviving childhood was an achievement in itself in the early 1900s. Any number of illnesses periodically threatened to snatch away little ones at random.  Parisian Jeanne Weber knew this well.  A couple of these random illnesses had already taken her two youngest children by early 1905.

She had no reason to grieve, however.  There were many children in her extended family, and she would jump at the chance to have little ones around her again. 

It was while she was babysitting for her sister-in-law in early March 1905 that Jeannie encountered the beginning of what can only be described as an incredible run of bad luck.  Her 18-month-old niece Georgette was playing just fine for a while, but all of a sudden she just got sick and then died.  The examiner could see nothing amiss, despite some strange bruises on the child’s neck.  He decided that it was just one of those random childhood illnesses. 

Georgette’s family was in clearly in shock at their loss, because when they found themselves in need of a babysitter a week or so later, it was to Jeanne they turned.  Of course, she would be delighted to look after two-year-old Suzanne, Georgette’s sister.  Don’t worry, Jeanne said.  Their only remaining child would be fine. 

As before, the afternoon of babysitting was uneventful.  That is, until Jeanne’s bad luck returned.  Convulsions, the doctor declared, signing the death certificate with a flourish and tipping his hat at the devastated parents.

By now, the rest of the Weber family were starting to feel for Jeanne.  Such bad luck, they said amongst themselves.  So many unfortunate and mysterious deaths.  They marvelled that she had the fortitude to ever look after another child.

They needn’t have worried.  When Jeanne’s brother nervously asked for her help with babysitting for a few hours two weeks after Suzanne’s death, she couldn’t have been more thrilled.  Germaine was a delight to look after, and at 7 years of age she was definitely past the danger age. 

Which made what happened next all the more inexplicable.  Seven year old children aren’t normally in the habit of choking, having mastered the art of chewing and swallowing fairly well by that age.  Jeanne’s brother could see that Jeanne have valiantly fought to save the child, the red marks on her neck proved that.  Luckily the child survived that day.

Jeannie was so concerned about Germaine’s health that the next day she returned to her brother’s house to see how the girl was faring.  Germaine’s father was touched by how she fretted over his child, and allowed Jeanne to sit with her while he pottered around in the backyard or something.  Imagine his surprise when Jeanne came running to him, saying Germaine had taken a turn.  This time however, they were too late.  This time it was diphtheria, another random illness.  There was all the classic signs, including red marks on the child’s neck. 

There must have been a lot of Diphtheria going about, because four days after Germaine died, Jeanne’s own child Marcel succumbed to the same fate as his cousin.  Such a shame.

Yes, March 1905 had clearly been a bad month for the Weber clan. 

Early April 1905 saw Jeanne invite two of her sisters-in-law for a meal at her home.  One of the sisters brought her son Maurice with her, and after the meal was finished and the dishes done, her visitors left to do a spot of shopping.  Maurice stayed behind to keep his aunt company.  Well, he was ten years old, practically an adult.  What’s the worst that could happen?

The shopping trip finished up early and the sisters returned for Maurice earlier than Jeanne had expected.  When they saw her standing over a choking Maurice with a demented expression on her face, it became rather clear to them just what had been going on all this time.

The police were called, and wasted no time in charging Jeanne with a total of 8 murders, including Lucie Aleandre and Marcel Poyatos, whose parents had also committed them into the care of Jeanne.  The police trotted out the theory that Jeanne had killed her son to prevent anyone from considering the deaths as anything more than unfortunate.  Jeanne trotted out eminent defence lawyer Henri-Robert, at which point the judge, jury and spectators promptly decided she was a grieving mother and clearly incapable of anything so crass as multiple murder.

Finding herself acquitted of such heinous accusations, Jeanne decided that with no real ties to Paris she was free to make her mark elsewhere.  She settled in the town of Villedieu, changing her name to Madame Moulinet.  Her occupation remained the same, and she soon found work with the Bavouzet family.  All seemed well, until Ms Moulinet was compelled to summon a police to the bedside of her newest babysitting charge, Auguste, who’d surrendered to one of the many random illnesses of which the good babysitter was only too familiar. 

Convulsions! was once again the doctor’s diagnosis.  However, he took a closer look when it was established that Ms Moulinet had also been known as Jeanne Weber.   Jeanne settled in for a second trial.  No, but wait, said the doctor.  I’ve checked again.  My mistake, it was only typhoid. 

After the second aborted trial, Jeanne drifted for a while, moving from Faucombault to Orgeville.  She picked up babysitting work where she could, now going by the name of Marie Lemoine.  Old friends who knew of her past allowed her to work in their Children’s Home, believing that all people deserve a chance.  She managed to last one a week before being caught with her hands around another child’s neck.  Rather than bothering the authorities with such a trifling issue though, they merely sent her on her way. 

One can imagine what her friends were thinking as they watched to make sure she left the area.  Maybe: Oh that Jeanne, whatever will she do next?

Jeanne found herself drawn back to Paris, but when she got there she really had nowhere to stay.  Eventually, the authorities arrested her for vagrancy and she spent some time in jail.  Considered sane, she was once again released back into the community.  With no children readily available for her child minding skills to be utilised, Jeanne tried her hand at a spot of prostitution. 

Her newfound profession netted her a husband, and she settled in with her new man at a room in a local inn.  The innkeeper and his wife lived in the establishment with their ten-year-old son Marcel. 

The proximity of the child to Jeanne’s living quarters brought her into regular contact with Marcel, and it wasn’t long before that old bad luck once again returned.  As before, she was found by the innkeeper with her hands on Marcel’s neck.  However, this time it took three swift punches to the face before Jeanne even considered releasing the lifeless body.  Jeanne had clearly been missing her favourite pastime.

Branded the Ogress of the Goulle d’Or, Jeanne entered her third trial.  She was declared insane and sent to the asylum at Mareville.  She stayed there for around two years, after which it appears the lack of available child victims got the better of her and she succeeded in strangling herself with her own hands.