Raymond Fernandez and his common-law wife Martha Beck became known as "The Lonely Hearts Killers" after their arrest and trial for serial murder in 1949. Between 1947 and 1949 they are believed to have killed as many as 20 women. The 1970 movie The Honeymoon Killers, the 1996 movie Deep Crimson, the 2006 movie Lonely Hearts, and an episode of the TV series Cold Case were all based on this case.

Prior to the murders

Raymond Martinez Fernandez

Fernandez was born on December 17, 1914 in Hawaii to Spanish parents. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Connecticut. As an adult, he moved to Spain, married, and had four children.

After serving in British Intelligence during World War II, Fernandez decided to seek work. Shortly after boarding a ship bound for America, a steel hatch fell on top of him, fracturing his skull, and injuring his frontal lobe. Upon his release from a hospital, Fernandez stole some clothing, and was imprisoned for a year, during which time his roommate taught him voodoo and black magic. Fernandez moved to New York City and began answering personal ads by lonely women. He would wine and dine them, then steal their money and possessions. Most were too embarrassed to report the crimes. In one case, he traveled with a woman to Spain, where he visited his wife and introduced the two women. His traveling companion then died under suspicious circumstances, and he, with a forged will, took possession of her property.

In 1947, he answered a personal ad placed by Martha Beck.

Martha Beck

Beck was born Martha Jule Seabrook on May 6, 1920 in Milton, Florida. Due to a glandular problem, she was overweight and went through puberty prematurely. At her trial, she claimed to have been sexually assaulted by her brother, and beaten by her mother, who blamed the attack on her.

After she finished school, she studied nursing, but had trouble finding a job due to her weight. She initially became an undertaker's assistant, but later found employment at a home for disabled children.

She engaged in sexually promiscuous behaviour, and eventually became pregnant. She carried out an elaborate charade in which she claimed that the father was a serviceman she married, later claiming that he had been killed overseas. Shortly after her daughter was born, she became pregnant again by a man named Beck. They married quickly and divorced very soon thereafter, and she gave birth to a son.

Unemployed and the single mother of two young children, Beck escaped into a fantasy world, buying romance magazines and novel, and seeing romantic movies. She found employment as a nurse and placed a Lonely Hearts ad in 1947, which Raymond Fernandez then answered.

Murders

Fernandez visited Beck and stayed for a short time, and she told everyone that they were to be married. He returned to New York while she made preparations in Milton, Florida where she lived. Abruptly, she was fired from her job, likely because of rumors about her and Fernandez. She then packed up and arrived on his doorstep in New York. Fernandez enjoyed the way she catered to his every whim, and he confessed his criminal enterprises. Beck quickly became a willing participant, and sent her children to the Salvation Army. She posed as Fernandez's sister, giving him an air of respectability. Their victims often stayed with them, or they stayed with her. She was extremely jealous and would go to great lengths to make sure he and his "intended" never consummated their relationship. When he did have sex with a woman, both were subjected to Beck's violent temper.

In 1949, the pair committed the three murders of which they would later be convicted. Janet Fay, 66, became engaged to Fernandez and went to stay at his Long Island apartment. When Beck saw her and Fernandez in bed together, she smashed Fay's head in with a hammer in a murderous rage, and then Fernandez strangled her. Fay's family became suspicious, and the couple moved on to a new victim.

They traveled to Byron Center Road in Wyoming Township, a suburb of Grand rapids, Michigan, to meet Delphine Downing, a young widow with a two-year-old daughter. While they stayed with Downing, she became agitated, and Fernandez gave her sleeping pills. Enraged by Downing's crying daughter, Beck strangled her, though not killing her. Fernandez thought Downing would become suspicious if she saw her bruised daughter, so he shot the unconscious woman. The couple then stayed for several days in Downing's house. Again enraged by the daughter's crying, Beck drowned her in a basin of water. They buried the bodies in the basement, but suspicious neighbors reported their disappearance, and police arrived at their door on February 28, 1949.

Trial and execution

Fernandez quickly confessed, with the understanding that they would not be extradited to New York; Michigan had no death penalty, but New York did. They were extradited, however. They vehemently denied 17 murders that were attributed to them, and Fernandez tried to retract his confession, saying he only did it to protect Beck.

Their trial was sensationalized, with lurid tales of sexual perversity. Beck was so upset about the media's comments about her appearance that she wrote letters to the editor protesting.

Fernandez and Beck were convicted of the three murders and sentenced to death. On March 8, 1951, both were executed by electric chair.

Despite their tumultuous arguments and relationship problems, they often professed their love to each other, as demonstrated by their official last words:

"I wanna shout it out; I love Martha! What do the public know about love?" - Raymond Fernandez.

"My story is a love story. But only those tortured by love can know what I mean [...] Imprisonment in the Death House has only strengthened my feeling for Raymond...." - Martha Beck.

See also

• Lonely hearts killer

Notes

1. Bio.com Raymond Fernandez Page Accessed February 1, 2009
2. Find a Grave Martha Jule Seabrook Beck page Accessed February 1, 2009

References

• Lane, Brian and Gregg, Wilfred [1992]. The Encyclopedia Of Serial Killers. Berkley Books.
• Fuchs, Christian [1996] (2002). Bad Blood. Creation Books.
• Gado, Mark. The Lonely Hearts Killers (English), Crime Library. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.