Women Serial Killers of the 20th Century

by Sylvia Perrini

  Daisy de Melker was arrested and charged with three murders. The trial lasted thirty days and became a media sensation. She was convicted of murdering her son, but the prosecution failed to prove the charges of poisoning her husbands.

  The motive for killing her son was never fully established.

  Daisy de Melker, at the age of forty-six, was condemned to death by hanging. The hanging took place at Pretoria Central Prison on December 30, 1932. Daisy de Melker was the second woman to have been hanged in South Africa and was South Africa’s first executed serial murderer.

  LYDIA SOUTHARD

  Lydia Anna Mae Southard, née Trueblood, entered the world on October 16th 1892, in the little town of Keytesville, Missouri. In 1906, the family relocated to Twin Falls, Idaho.

  Twin Falls, 1908

  On March 17, 1912 when Lydia was twenty, she married Robert Dooley. In 1914, Lydia gave birth to a daughter named Lorraine. They lived on a ranch near Twin Falls with Robert’s brother Ed. In August of 1915, Ed Dooley unexpectedly died, and the cause of his death was attributed to ptomaine poisoning. Lydia had told the doctor that he had eaten salmon from a can that had been standing around open for some time.

  Lydia and Robert received $2,000 on Ed’s life insurance policy. On October 12, 1915, Robert Dooley became ill and died. His death was attributed to typhoid fever. Lydia, through her tears, said Robert had insisted on drinking water from a cistern next to the barn. She also expressed fears to her neighbors that her daughter would, too, die of typhoid. Lydia collected $2,500 on Robert’s life insurance policy.

  In June of 1917, Lydia married a man by the name of William G. McHaffle. Shortly after the wedding, Lorraine, Lydia’s three-year-old daughter, became sick and died of typhoid. Following this death, Lydia and William moved to Montana. Twelve months later on October 1st, 1918, William suddenly fell sick of what was suspected to be the flu and died. The death certificate stated the cause of death as being diphtheria and influenza. This time, much to Lydia’s fury, she could not collect the $5,000 life insurance money because William had let the policy lapse.

  In March of 1919, Lydia married Harlen C. Lewis, and they moved into a house in Billings, Montana. In July of 1919, Harlen became sick and died of a "flu bug". Lydia collected a $10,000 life insurance policy. Following the death of Lewis, Lydia returned to Twin Falls. In August of 1920, she married Edward F. Meyer, her fourth husband. A month after the marriage, Edward suddenly fell ill with typhoid and died. This time, the insurance company demanded an autopsy. The autopsy showed a typhoid virus in his bloodstream, so the matter was laid to rest. However, Lydia decided to leave the area without collecting the $12,000 life insurance money.

  A chemist, Earl Dooley, and a relation of Lydia’s first husband Robert, began to wonder about the number of deaths surrounding Lydia. He discussed the subject with another chemist and a local doctor. Together, the three men called upon Frank Stephan, the local Twin Falls prosecutor, and reported their suspicions. Frank Stephan agreed that the number of deaths warranted an investigation. He called in the local deputy sheriff, Virgil Ormsby, to help. Their first port of call was the Life Insurance Company of Idaho State. Here, Virgil Ormsby discovered that all three of Lydia's husbands had life insurance policies in which Lydia was the sole beneficiary. Now that the prosecutor had a motive, he ordered the exhumation of Lydia’s husbands, her daughter, and her brother in law.

  On April 2, 1921, the examining pathologist discovered traces of arsenic in some of the bodies while the other bodies were well preserved, which was indicative of arsenic poisoning. It was also discovered that Lydia had a habit of buying massive amounts of flypaper. Frank Stephan and Virgil Ormsby believed, from talking to neighbors and ranch hands, that Lydia boiled the arsenic out of the flypaper and used that mixture to murder her victims.

  An arrest warrant was issued for Lydia on April 22, 1922, but Lydia was nowhere to be found.

  Deputy Ormsby, by this time, was so immersed in the case he was damned if he was going to let Lydia get away. He traced her first to Boise, then San Francisco, and then to Los Angeles where he learned that she had married a fifth husband. Husband number five was a navy chief petty officer, Vincent Paul Southard; they met at a dance hall and married almost immediately. When Vincent was transferred from California to Honolulu, he took his new wife Lydia along with him.

  A warrant was wired to Captain Arthur McDuffie in Honolulu who promptly, much to her new husband’s shock, arrested Lydia. Vincent Paul Southard would not believe the alleged charges against his new wife and vowed to stand by her side and pay her legal costs to prove her innocence.

  A media circus began as the story leaked out. In one newspaper story, Vincent admitted to a reporter that Lydia had persuaded him to take out a $10,000 life insurance policy, which he thought, given his profession and the fact they intended to start a family, a sensible action to take.

  Deputy Ormsby arrived in Honolulu on May 24, 1921. He escorted Lydia back to Idaho on June 7, 1922.

  Lydia went to trial on September 26th in front of Judge William Babcock, charged with one murder. Lydia denied the charges, but the jury thought otherwise and after twenty-three hours' deliberation found Lydia guilty of second-degree murder. Judge William Babcock sentenced her to the state penitentiary at Idaho State Penitentiary in Boise for a term of ten years to life.

  The Idaho State Prison was a tough place to serve a sentence. Its walls were high, and it was hot in summer and bitterly cold in the winter. However, over the next few years, Lydia became a model prisoner and charmed the guards and all who encountered her. The prison guards allotted her a piece of land to cultivate a rose garden and supplied her with the equipment and trellises to grow her roses. Over time, she became friendly in particular with another prisoner, David C. Minton, who was released from prison at the end of April in 1931.

  Idaho State Prison

  On the night of May 13, 1931, Lydia escaped from her cell through a bar she had loosened weeks earlier. She climbed out of her window and then, with the aid of her rose trellises, scaled the prison walls to a waiting car driven by David Minton.

  The escaping couple made their way to Denver, Colorado. The police launched a nationwide search for the pair. Lydia managed to find work as a housekeeper for a Mr. Harry Whitlock, a widower who had advertised in the local Denver paper. Before long, Harry Whitlock had proposed to her and Lydia accepted and became his wife in March of 1932.

  On July 2, 1932, the police found and arrested an embittered David Minton. The police extradited him back to Idaho to face trial for aiding and abetting in Lydia’s escape. With the information he provided, the police were soon able to trace Lydia. David was sentenced to one to five years for helping her escape.

  Lydia was re-arrested at the end of August in 1932 and returned to the Idaho State Penitentiary. Her new husband, appalled by his wife’s history, promptly divorced her.

  Lydia, back in the penitentiary, charmed the new governor George F. Rudd. He granted her many favors. He allowed Lydia to visit her sick mother outside of the penitentiary unguarded. He took her for drives and all-day outings at a nearby resort and allowed Lydia to attend the cinema in Boise. When news of this was reported in the local papers, Thomas as warden of Idaho State Penitentiary, resigned.

  Lydia was finally released from prison on October 3, 1941 at the age of forty-nine. At first, she went to live with her sister in Nyssa, Oregon before returning to Twin Falls. Here, she met and married Hal Shaw. Two years after the marriage, he disappeared and was never seen again. Lydia then went to live in Salt Lake City, Utah. On February 5, 1958 while walking home from the grocery store, at the age of sixty-six, she died from a heart attack.

  She was buried at Sunset Memorial Park cemetery in Twin Falls under the name Anna E. Shaw.

  MARIE ALEXANDRIA BECKER

  Fashion-Minded Murderess

  Marie Alexandrina Becker was born as Marie Alexandrina Petitjean. She was born into a working class family in Liege, Belgium on July
14th, 1879. She grew up to be an exceptionally beautiful woman who had many admirers. When she was thirty-three, she married Charles Becker, a cabinet-maker. For twenty years, she appeared content with her life as a homely housewife and part time book-keeper for her father-in-law’s sawmill. However, her life changed dramatically at the age of fifty-three when out shopping for vegetables in Liege market.

  Lambert Bayer, a forty-six-year-old known womanizer, swept her off her feet. Marie became besotted with him and could think of no one or anything else. Lambert unlocked dark passions in Marie that she had no idea existed. These desires overcame her common sense and self-control. She grew to hate her husband and, to rid herself of Charles, poisoned him with a lethal dose of Digitalis: a heart medicine made from the foxglove plant that has several sinister nicknames such as Dead Man’s Bells and Witches’ Gloves.

  With Charles out of the way, she married Lambert but tired of him within two years. However, with her ease of success at disposing of Charles, she knew how to deal with Lambert. Lambert died, and she inherited all that he had.

  With the money from her two dead husbands, Marie was a moderately wealthy woman. She opened a dress shop in a fashionable town square that offered couture and formal women's wear. She catered to wealthy older women who inhabited the social circles in which she aspired to belong.

  Place du Marché Lieges

  With a steely determination, she set out to enjoy her newly found freedom. Suddenly Marie, who had always dressed demurely, began dressing in a gaudy manner and using an extravagant amount of make-up. Marie, since her affair with Lambert, had developed an insatiable sexual appetite. She developed a love of dancing and spent her evenings in nightclubs dancing wildly with men half her age. Her friends and acquaintances were scandalized by her new sexual liberation. Marie loved her new life.

  Unfortunately, as she was to discover, her new lifestyle was expensive to maintain, and her bank account was running low. The dress shop was a success, but the income it generated was not enough to maintain her new extravagances. Marie needed a way to raise more money; she was ruthlessly determined not to give up her new, fun life.

  Through her shop, she had befriended several of Liege’s Grande Dames and to a few, she had become their personal dressmaker and fashion adviser. Marie would find herself invited to soirees and teas in grand houses. When invited to a house for a private fashion conference with an elderly client, Marie would surreptitiously slip into the woman’s drink a deadly dose of Digitalis, and, while the poor woman was gasping for air and clutching her pounding chest, Marie would coolly help herself to jewelry, money, and any other valuables she could fit into her ample-sized work bag.

  Between March 1935 and September 1936, Marie killed ten wealthy women and somehow managed to avoid suspicion. After each murder, she would attend the funeral dressed in black and put on an impressive show of grief and sorrow, occasionally going so far as to kneel at the graveside and weep hysterically.

  Marie’s downfall came one evening in October of 1936 when out with a girlfriend. Her friend confided in Marie that her husband was irritating her so much she wished that he were dead. Marie, maybe because of alcohol, said that she could give her some powder that would do the job and leave no trace.

  Her friend, realizing that Marie was deadly serious and remembering Marie’s two dead husbands, was appalled and reported her to the police the following day. The police had, in fact, by this time received a couple of anonymous letters accusing Marie of being responsible for poisoning two elderly women.

  Investigations began and before long the police, with search warrant in hand, paid a visit to Marie’s house. In her house, they discovered clothes and large amounts of jewelry that had belonged to the women who had died. In Marie’s handbag, they discovered a small green bottle that contained Digitalis.

  Marie was arrested and taken into custody. The investigation continued, and the bodies of her dead husbands and her wealthy women customers’ bodies were exhumed.

  During the post-mortem, all of the bodies showed death by Digitalis.

  During her interrogation, she allegedly boasted about the murders. Of one victim, Madame Lambert, Marie described her as having "looked like an angel choked with sauerkraut” and of another, Madame Castradot, she described as "dying beautifully, lying flat on her back”.

  Marie Alexandrina Becker

  Marie Alexandrina Becker was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was to be yet another change of lifestyle but one with no men, jewels, or money. Marie died in prison sometime during World War II.

  Although Marie was charged with ten murders, many believe the number may have been twice that amount.

  MARTHA MAREK

  The Devil in Petticoats.

  Martha Marek née Lowenstein was born in Vienna in 1904 to unknown parents. She was adopted and brought up by a poor couple. Martha grew into a dazzlingly beautiful young woman. At the age of sixteen, she found herself a job working in a dress shop. One day in 1919, an owner of a department store, Moritz Fritsch, came into the shop and was immediately captivated by Martha’s charm, style, and beauty.

  He invited her to become his ward, and she soon became his mistress. He dressed her in the finest clothes and sent her to the best London finishing school. They holidayed together in France and England. Unknown to Moritz, Martha had a lover, Emil Marek, a handsome trainee engineer.

  In 1920, Moritz Fritsch died leaving his house and some money to Martha, although not as much as Martha had expected. Moritz’s ex-wife and relatives accused Martha of having poisoned him. The authorities were not convinced and refused permission to have the body exhumed.

  Martha married Emil Marek. By 1924, Martha and Emil were experiencing severe financial problems. Martha took out a $30,000 insurance policy on Emil against him having an accident. The two of them conspired to make a claim. This involved Martha hacking off Emil’s leg, just below the knee, with an axe. This task was harder than she thought, and it took Martha three attempts to sever the leg. They claimed that the accident happened when Emil was chopping down a tree.

  Martha and Emil

  However, the insurance company’s examining doctor found that the amputation had taken three distinct blows, and Martha and Emil were charged with fraud. The case was eventually dismissed, and they received a small amount of compensation but not the amount they had hoped for. They immigrated for a short while to North Africa before returning to Vienna. Martha and Emil had two children together, a daughter Ingeborg and a son Peter.

  Martha Marek

  In 1932, Emil died. The cause of death was recorded as being tuberculosis. Martha was left with a market stall and two small children. Three-year-old Ingeborg died a few months after Emil. Martha took a job as a housekeeper for an aunt, Suzanne Lowenstein, and had her son boarded out. Shortly after starting work for her aunt, Suzanne died. Martha inherited her estate.

  Martha then began to take in carefully chosen lodgers. Frau Kittenburger and her son moved into her house. Martha insured Frau Kittenburger’s life for $1,000. Frau Kittenburger died shortly afterwards. Frau Kittenburger’s son was deeply suspicious of his mother’s death and made his feelings known to the police.

  The police, after making some investigations, ordered an exhumation of the bodies of Emil Marek, Ingeborg Marek, Suzanne Lowenstein, and Frau Kittenburger. They were all found to have been poisoned with a rare metallic poison, thallium. Martha’s son Peter, whose life she had recently insured, was also found to be slowly dying from the same poison. It was only speedy hospitalization that saved his life.

  Thallium is a similar element to lead, which, when mixed together, is poisonous. Thallium is so toxic that it is easily absorbed through the skin and handling its compounds without protective gloves can easily lead to loss of the fingernails. The symptoms of Thallium poisoning are lethargy, numbness, tingling hands and feet, tremor, slurred speech, debility, and hair loss. The poisoning can lead to cardiovascular collapse, delirium, convulsions, paralysis, and coma resu
lting in death in as little as one or two days.

  Martha was arrested and charged with four counts of murder. The press of the day dubbed Martha as the “Devil in Petticoats”. Martha denied all four charges. The prosecutor at her trial, Otto Wotowa, described Martha as a “human cobra who richly deserves the gallows”. Martha was found guilty of all four charges and sentenced to death by Adolf Hitler’s newly re-introduced guillotine.

  The Nazi Guillotine

  Martha Marek was executed by State Executioner Johann Reichhart on December 6th 1938 at the age of thirty-four. She was the first woman executed in Austria since 1900.

  ANNA MARIE HAHN

  "the beautiful blonde killer"

  Anna Marie Hahn, née Filser, was born on July 7th, 1906 in Fussen, Bavaria, Germany. Her father, George Filser, was a cabinet-maker and furniture manufacturer. Anna was the youngest of twelve children, nine of whom were boys. As the youngest she was spoiled, which led to disciplinary problems in her teen years. She would constantly sneak out of the parental home and go to parties and miss school. For a short time, Anna was sent to live with her older sister Katti in Holland, her parents hoping this might curb her ways. When she returned to Bavaria, she became pregnant by an Italian doctor. Her parents were scandalized and shortly after, a baby boy named Oscar, was born. Her parents, while keeping their grandson, sent Anna to stay with an aunt and uncle in Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States of America.