Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck

Raymond Martinez Fernandez (December 17, 1914 – March 8, 1951) and Martha Jule Beck (May 6, 1920 – March 8, 1951) were an American serial killer couple. They were convicted of one murder, are known to have committed two more, and were suspected of having killed up to twenty victims during a spree between 1947 and 1949.

After their arrest and trial for serial murder in 1949, Fernandez and Beck became known as the Lonely Hearts Killers for meeting their unsuspecting victims through

Before the murders

Raymond Fernandez

Raymond Martinez Fernandez was born in the Territory of Hawaii to Spanish parents on December 17, 1914. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut. As a teenager, Fernandez went to work on his uncle's farm in Spain, married a young local woman named Encarnación Robles and had four children, all of whom he abandoned later in life.

After serving in the Spanish merchant navy and with British intelligence services during World War II,^[1] Fernandez decided to seek a job. Shortly after boarding a ship bound for the U.S., a steel hatch fell on him, fracturing his skull and injuring his frontal lobe. The damage caused by this injury may well have affected his social and sexual behavior.^[2]

Upon his release from a hospital, Fernandez stole some clothing and was subsequently imprisoned for a year, during which time his cellmate converted him to a belief in voodoo and black magic. Fernandez later claimed black magic gave him irresistible power and charm over women.^[3][4]

Martha Beck

Martha Beck was born Martha Jule Seabrook on May 6, 1920, in

Unemployed and the single mother of two young children, Beck escaped into a fantasy world, buying romance magazines and novels, and watching romantic movies. In 1946, she found employment at the Pensacola Hospital for Children. She placed a lonely hearts ad in 1947, which Raymond Fernandez answered.^[7]

Murders

Fernandez visited Beck and stayed for a short time; she told everyone they were to be married. He returned to

Beck posed as Fernandez's sister, giving him an air of respectability. Their victims, feeling more secure knowing there was another woman in the house, often agreed to stay with the pair. Beck also convinced some victims that she lived alone and that her "brother" was only a guest. She was extremely jealous and went to great lengths to make sure Fernandez and his "intended" never consummated their relationship. When he did have sex with a woman, Beck subjected both to her violent temper.

In 1949, the pair committed the three murders for which they later were convicted. Janet Fay, 66, became engaged to Fernandez and went to stay at his

Beck and Fernandez traveled to Byron Center Road in Wyoming Township, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, where they met and stayed with Delphine Downing, a 28-year-old widow with a two-year-old daughter. On February 28, Downing became agitated and Fernandez gave her sleeping pills to calm her. The daughter witnessed Downing's resulting stupor and began to cry, which enraged Beck. Panicked, Beck strangled the child but didn't kill 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 the Downings' disappearances, leading the police to arrive at the door on March 1, 1949, and arrest Beck and Fernandez.^[8]

Trial and executions

Fernandez quickly confessed. The pair vehemently denied committing seventeen murders that were attributed to them, and Fernandez tried to retract his confession, saying he made it only to protect Beck. They were extradited to New York, which still instituted the death penalty. Fay's murder was the only one for which the couple were tried, and they were both sentenced to death. They were executed at Sing Sing prison on March 8, 1951.^[9]

In media

• "Lonely Hearts Killers", a 1960 episode of the American TV show Deadline, released on DVD in 2019
• The Honeymoon Killers, 1970 American cult classic about the same events
• Deep Crimson, 1996 Mexican film about the same events
• Lonely Hearts, 2006 American film about the same events
• Alleluia
  , 2014 Belgian-French film inspired by the same events
• A 2006 episode of the TV series Cold Case was called "Lonely Hearts", featuring a pair of killers named Martha Puck and Ramon Delgado.

See also

• Lonely hearts scam
• List of homicides in Michigan
• List of serial killers in the United States
• List of serial killers by number of victims

References