1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,240 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,800 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: show that shines a light on the ups and downs 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: of everyday history. I'm Gabelusier, and today we're looking at 5 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: the story of a depraved couple who robbed and killed 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: in the pursuit of their own twisted relationship. As you 7 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: might imagine, today's episode deals with violent subject matter that 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: may be upsetting for some listeners. The day was March eighth, 9 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one. A serial killer couple known as the 10 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: Lonely Hearts Killers were put to death at sing Sing Prison. 11 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez had spent the last several 12 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: years praying on strangers. They would place personal ads in 13 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: newspapers and magazines, and then target the women who responded 14 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: in search of companionship. Initially, the couple only stole money 15 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: from their victims, but Beck's jealousy and brutal temper gradually 16 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: sent them down an even darker path. Raymond Martinez Fernandez 17 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: was born on December seventeenth, nineteen fourteen, in Hawaii. His 18 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: parents were originally from Spain, and when Fernandez was a teenager, 19 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: he moved back there to work on his uncle's farm. 20 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,559 Speaker 1: By the time he turned twenty, Fernandez had gotten married 21 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: and started a family of his own. He left his 22 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: wife and four kids to serve in the Spanish Merchant 23 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: Navy during the Second World War, but he never went 24 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: back to them afterward. Instead, he decided to return to 25 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: the US and start a new life without them. The 26 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: voyage across the Atlantic didn't go smoothly, though. Shortly after 27 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: boarding the ship, Fernandez was struck on the head by 28 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: a steel hatch cover and wound up being hospitalized in 29 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: New York for three months. After recovering from a fractured 30 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: skull and brain damage, Fernandez turned to crime and was 31 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: quickly arrested for shoplifting. While in prison, he became convinced 32 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: he had a special power that made him irresistible to women. 33 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: According to Time magazine, he may have gotten the idea 34 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: from his Haitian cellmate, who supposedly taught him voodoo and 35 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: black magic. Of course, the damage he had sustained to 36 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: his frontal lobe may have had something to do with 37 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,519 Speaker 1: it as well. In any case, once Fernandez was released, 38 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: he hatched a scheme to get rich using his special power. 39 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: He started placing personal ads in the Lonely Heart's columns 40 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,119 Speaker 1: of local newspapers. Then he would sift through the responses 41 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: and meet up with the women he thought were most vulnerable. 42 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: Over the course of a few months, Fernandez would get 43 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: to know the women and gradually gain their trust, along 44 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: with access to their bank accounts. Then, once he had it, 45 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: he would simply help himself to the cash and disappear. 46 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: Martha Beck was meant to be the latest in a 47 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: long line of such victims, but instead she became Fernandez's 48 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: lover and eventually as partner and murder. Martha Jule Beck 49 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: was born on May sixth, nineteen twenty in Milton, Florida. 50 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: At her trial, she later claimed to have had a 51 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: traumatic childhood, one in which she was abused by her 52 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: family members and bullied by classmates for being overweight. As 53 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: a teenager, she ran away from home and joined a 54 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: traveling circus. Later in life, Beck found work as an 55 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: undertaker's assistant and then as a nurse in an army hospital. 56 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: By the time she was twenty six, Beck was an unemployed, 57 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: single mother of two living in Pensacola. She was unhappy 58 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: with the direction of her life and dreamed of finding 59 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: a romantic partner to help set things right again. She 60 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: quickly became obsessed with that idea, buying every romance novel 61 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: and magazine she could find, and losing herself in the fantasy. Finally, 62 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty seven, she joined a lonely hearts club 63 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: advertised in one of her magazines. She would soon start 64 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: receiving letters from her potential matches, and as luck would 65 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: have it, the first one came from Raymond Fernandez in Brooklyn. 66 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: He responded to Beck's letter, fully intending to con her, 67 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,479 Speaker 1: but then they wound up hitting it off for real. 68 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: At first, Fernandez would travel from New York City to 69 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: Florida for short visits, but eventually it made more sense 70 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,599 Speaker 1: for Beck to just move in with him. It was 71 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: around that time that she handed over her children to 72 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: the Salvation Army so that she could dote on Fernandez 73 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: without distraction as someone who had already abandoned his own family. 74 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: Fernandez appreciated the gesture, viewing it as a sign of 75 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: Beck's love for him. In fact, he became so convinced 76 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: of her loyalty that he eventually told her about his 77 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 1: life of crime and his scheme to defraud lonely women 78 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: out of their money. Most people would been repulsed by 79 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: that kind of confession, but not Beck. She thought the 80 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: whole thing sounded exciting and she wanted in on the action. 81 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: For the next two years, Beck and Fernandez worked together 82 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: to seduce, rob and in some cases, kill, unsuspecting women. 83 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: They continued to find their targets by answering lonely hearts ads, 84 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: except now. When Fernandez brought the women back to his place, 85 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: Beck was there posing as his sister. That lie helped 86 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: put their victims at ease, since it meant there would 87 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: be someone else in the house with them. However, it 88 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: also proved a hindrance to the criminals. That's because Beck 89 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:41,599 Speaker 1: was incredibly jealous and didn't want Fernandez to actually be 90 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,479 Speaker 1: intimate with anyone but her. On the occasions when he 91 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: did sleep with one of their targets, Beck would fly 92 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: into a rage and blow their cover. Beck's explosive temper 93 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: turned deadly in nineteen forty nine when Fernandez got engaged 94 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: to one of his marks, a sixty six year old 95 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: named Janet Faye. One night, Faye went to stay with 96 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: Fernandez at his Long Island apartment and Beck caught the 97 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: two of them in bed together. The jealous lover assaulted 98 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: Faye with a hammer, and then Fernandez strangled her to 99 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: make sure she was dead. And the days that followed, 100 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: Faye's family began to ask questions about her sudden disappearance, 101 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: but by the time the police got involved, the couple 102 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: had already fled to Michigan in search of their next victim. 103 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: They eventually found her in Wyoming Township, a suburb just 104 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:37,039 Speaker 1: outside of Grand Rabbits. Her name was Delphine Downing, a 105 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 1: twenty eight year old widow with a two year old daughter. 106 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: Downing opened her home to the alleged brother and sister, 107 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: but she wasn't as charmed by Fernandez as the older 108 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: widows had been, and the more he tried to speed 109 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: things up with her, the more suspicious she became that 110 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: something nefarious was going on. One night in late February, 111 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 1: Downing got upset and Fernand gave her some sleeping pills 112 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: to calm her down. While she was unconscious, her daughter 113 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: began to cry, setting off Beck's cruel temper. Beck responded 114 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: by choking the child until she was quiet, leaving deep 115 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: bruises along her throat. Fernandez worried that Downing might go 116 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: to the police if she woke up and saw what 117 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: they had done, so to make sure that didn't happen, 118 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: he shot Downing while she was still unconscious, and then 119 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: Beck drowned her daughter in a basin of water. They 120 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: buried the bodies in the basement and continued to live 121 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: in Downing's house for the next several days. Eventually, Downing's 122 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: neighbors reported her missing and police came to the house 123 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: to investigate. Fernandez and Beck played dumb with the officers, 124 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: even going so far as to invite them inside to 125 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: search the house themselves. The police called their bluff and 126 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: quickly found the makeshift graves in the basement. The couple, 127 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: now dubbed the Lonely Heart's Killers by the press, were 128 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: arrested that day and charged with murder. Once in custody, 129 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: the killers dropped the act and admitted to the murder 130 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: of Downing and her daughter. They knew they would be convicted, 131 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: so they didn't see any reason to deny their crimes, 132 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: especially since they'd been arrested in Michigan, a state without 133 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: the death penalty. In fact, the couple was so secure 134 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: in that knowledge that they even confessed to the murder 135 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: of Janet Fay, the widow in upstate New York. Clearly, 136 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: the couple was not well versed on the concept of extradition. 137 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: Within a matter of weeks, state officials succeeded in getting 138 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: the couple extradited to New York, where capital punishment was 139 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: still allowed. Fernandez tried to tip the scales by confessing 140 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: to more than a dozen other murders, all of which 141 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: supposedly took place in Michigan. His gamble failed, though, and 142 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: the couple was eventually tried in New York, at which 143 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: point Fernandez recanted his earlier confessions and claimed he had 144 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: made them up to protect Beck. To this day, it's 145 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: unclear exactly how many people were murdered by the Lonely 146 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: Hearts killers. We know of three for certain, but at 147 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: one point they were linked to as many as seventeen others. 148 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: Whatever the true number, Fernandez and Beck were ultimately tried 149 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: for just one, the murder of Janet Faye. The couple 150 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: pleaded insanity at trial, but the New York jury didn't 151 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: buy it. Shortly after the guilty verdict was delivered, they 152 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: were both sentenced to death by electrocution. The sentence was 153 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: carried out on March eighth, nineteen fifty one, at the 154 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. Fernandez was 155 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: put in the electric chair first, followed shortly afterward by Beck. 156 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: According to reporters who were present that day, the couple 157 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: continued to swear devotion to each other until their dying breaths. 158 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: When asked if he still loved Beck, Fernandez responded, of 159 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: course I do, and I want to shout it out. 160 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: As for Beck, she told the press quote, I am 161 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: a woman who had a great love and always will 162 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: have it. Imprisonment in the death house has only strengthened 163 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: my feelings for Raymond. There are many appalling details in 164 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: the story of the Lonely Hearts Killers, but I can't 165 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: help feeling a sting of pity when I hear those 166 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: final words, because how deluded and lost and utterly broken 167 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: must they have been to think that what they found 168 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: and did together at anything at all to do with love. 169 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: I'm Gabelusier, and hopefully you now know a little more 170 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. You can learn 171 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 172 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:48,679 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 173 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, you can always send them my 174 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: way at this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to 175 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: Chandler May's for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 176 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 177 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: in History class