This Serial Killer Couple’s Sinister Love Story Involved Preying On Lonely Women Through Single Ads In Newspapers
Known as the Lonely Hearts Killers, one couple’s sinister love story led them to be executed on March 8, 1951. The pair preyed on lonely women through single ads in local newspapers and are believed to have killed up to 20 different people.
The Rise Of The Lonely Hearts Killers
Raymond Fernandez, born in Hawaii on December 17, 1914, tied the knot and started a family in Spain by the time he was 20-years-old. He went on to serve in World War II, abandoned his wife and kids, and moved back to the United States.
During his travels aboard a ship, a supposed head injury also damaged his frontal lobe, landing him in the hospital for three months. Afterward, Raymond became wrapped up in crime and ultimately spent time behind bars for theft.
It was in prison that he reportedly learned voodoo from a cellmate. This pushed him to believe that he could use the practice to gain power over women.
So, Raymond started targeting lonely women who placed ads in the newspaper, seeking companionship. That’s how he ended up meeting Martha Beck.
She was born in Florida and had a rough upbringing. A health issue caused Martha to be overweight, and while later on trial, she claimed she’d been abused by both her brother and her mother.
Nonetheless, Martha attended nursing school and had two children. She wed the father of her second baby, but their marriage didn’t last long. Instead, they split within months, and as a newly single mother, she began working at the Pensacola Hospital for Children.
Then, she decided to place a lonely hearts ad in the newspaper, and Raymond responded to it. His intention was to gain Martha’s trust and rob her before disappearing. Yet things didn’t pan out as he’d planned.
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Raymond and Martha realized they had more in common than they’d anticipated and wound up falling in love. He confessed his crimes to Martha, and she opted to join him.
She was unexpectedly fired from her job, which might’ve made the decision easier. As for her two children, she gave them to the Salvation Army and dove headfirst into a twisted relationship with Raymond.
A Fatal Love Affair
While Raymond continued responding to lonely hearts ads in newspapers, Martha tagged along. The pair posed as brother and sister across the country as Raymond seduced older women and robbed them.
However, Martha’s love for Raymond made her extremely jealous whenever he had relations with their victims. A burst of rage during one such incident led to a murder in 1949.
That year, Raymond proposed to a 66-year-old woman named Janet Fay, and together, he and Janet lived in a Long Island apartment. One day, Martha found them in bed together and beat Janet with a hammer. Raymond also proceeded to strangle her.
The murder pushed Raymond and Martha to travel to Michigan, specifically Wyoming Township. There, more killings later resulted in their arrests.
In February 1949, the couple met Delphine Downing, a 28-year-old widow with a 2-year-old daughter, while in Michigan. During the introduction, Delphine reportedly got upset over something, and Raymond gave her sleeping pills.
Delphine went unconscious, and her daughter would not stop crying, which frustrated Martha. She proceeded to choke the 2-year-old, but Raymond thought the bruises on the child’s neck would cause suspicion.
So, Raymond shot Delphine while she was still unconscious and drowned the 2-year-old in the bathtub. He and Martha hid the two bodies in the basement of Delphine’s home.
Raymond and Martha were soon arrested by Wyoming Township police after Delphine’s neighbors reported both her and her daughter missing.
The Trial Of The Lonely Hearts Killers
While being interrogated by authorities, Raymond confessed to murdering 17 people throughout the country, a statement he later tried to retract. Both he and Martha were extradited to New York for Janet’s murder.
Since the state still had the death penalty, they were sentenced to the electric chair following their murder conviction. In Martha’s last press interview, she called her actions a “love story.”
“What does it matter who is to blame? My story is a love story… but only those tortured with love can understand what I mean,” she stated.
“I was pictured as a fat, unfeeling woman. I am not unfeeling, stupid, or moronic. In the history of the world, how many crimes have been attributed to love?”
Raymond and Martha were executed at Sing Sing prison on March 8, 1951. Despite Raymond’s earlier confession, it remains unclear just how many lives the Lonely Hearts Killers took.
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