Lonely hearts killer
Encyclopedia
The phrase lonely hearts killer, sometimes also want-ad killer, or matrimonial bureau murderer, is a journalistic term of art that refers to a person who commits murder
by contacting a victim who has either posted advertisements to, or answered advertisements via newspaper
classified ads and personal or lonely hearts club ads.
gone wrong, an elaborate insurance fraud
scheme, sexual violence, or any of several other ritualized pathological impulses (e.g. necrophilia
, mutilation
, cannibalism
, etc.). Sometimes murder is not the (original) intent, but becomes a by-product of rape
or other struggle; in some cases, murder is committed simply to cover up the original crime. Some, on the other hand, are serial killers who utilize this method of targeting victims
, either exclusively, or when it suits them.
s are known to have used want ads, personal ads, and/or matrimonial bureaus to contact their victims:
. Examples of dramatic treatments of this theme are listed in chronological order of publication or release:
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
by contacting a victim who has either posted advertisements to, or answered advertisements via newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
classified ads and personal or lonely hearts club ads.
Varied motives
The actual motivations of these criminals are varied. By definition, a killing will have taken place in order for the suspected, accused, or convicted perpetrator to be dubbed a want-ad or lonely hearts club killer. However, the crime may have involved a simple robberyRobbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
gone wrong, an elaborate insurance fraud
Insurance fraud
Insurance fraud is any act committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain payment from an insurer.Insurance fraud has existed ever since the beginning of insurance as a commercial enterprise. Fraudulent claims account for a significant portion of all claims received by insurers, and cost billions...
scheme, sexual violence, or any of several other ritualized pathological impulses (e.g. necrophilia
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
, mutilation
Mutilation
Mutilation or maiming is an act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body, usually without causing death.- Usage :...
, cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
, etc.). Sometimes murder is not the (original) intent, but becomes a by-product of rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
or other struggle; in some cases, murder is committed simply to cover up the original crime. Some, on the other hand, are serial killers who utilize this method of targeting victims
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
, either exclusively, or when it suits them.
Notable lonely hearts and want-ad killers
The following accused and convicted murderers and serial killerSerial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
s are known to have used want ads, personal ads, and/or matrimonial bureaus to contact their victims:
- Harvey Glatman - known as "the lonely hearts killer"
- Earl Daughtrey
- Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck - known as "the honeymoon killers" and "the lonely hearts killers"
- Albert FishAlbert FishHamilton Howard "Albert" Fish was an American serial killer. He was also known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac and The Boogey Man. A child rapist and cannibal, he boasted that he "had children in every state," and at one time put the figure at...
- Harvey CarignanHarvey CarignanHarvey Louis Carignan is an American serial killer currently serving a life sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater for the murders of two women. He had been previously convicted for a 1949 rape and murder he committed while stationed in the U.S. Army, in Anchorage, Alaska. ...
- known as "the want-ad killer" - Belle GunnessBelle GunnessBelle Sorenson Gunness was a Norwegian-American serial killer....
- Robert HansenRobert HansenRobert Christian Hansen is an American serial killer. Between 1980 and 1983, Hansen murdered between 17 and 21 women near Anchorage, Alaska.- Early life :Hansen was born in Estherville, Iowa to Christian and Edna Hansen...
- Henri Désiré LandruHenri Désiré LandruHenri Désiré Landru was a French serial killer and real-life "Bluebeard".-Early life:Landru was born in Paris. After leaving school, he spent four years in the French Army from 1887 – 1891. After he was discharged from service, he proceeded to have a sexual relationship with his cousin...
- Bobby Joe Long - known as "the classified ad rapist"
- Harry PowersHarry PowersHarry F. Powers , also known as Cornelius O. Pierson and A. R. Weaver, was a convicted serial killer who was hanged in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1932. He lured his victims through "Lonely Hearts" ads saying he was looking for love, but in reality intended to take his victims' money and then...
- known as "the lonely hearts killer," "the matrimonial bureau murderer," "the West Virginia Bluebeard," and "the butcher of Clarksburg." - Helmuth Schmidt
- Philip MarkoffPhilip MarkoffPhilip Haynes Markoff was an American medical student who was charged with the armed robbery and murder of Julissa Brisman in a Boston, Massachusetts hotel on April 14, 2009, and two other armed robberies...
- known as "the Craigslist killer."
Lonely hearts killers in popular culture
The theme of the want-ad killer or lonely hearts club murderer has been popular in fictionFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
. Examples of dramatic treatments of this theme are listed in chronological order of publication or release:
- Pièges was a 1939 French thriller filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Robert SiodmakRobert SiodmakRobert Siodmak was a German born American film director. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for the series of Hollywood film noirs he made in the 1940s.-Early life:...
; starring Maurice ChevalierMaurice ChevalierMaurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
, Marie Déa, and André Brunot; it tells the story of an amateur female sleuth who goes undercover to trap a serial killer who has murdered one of her friends and who stalks his prey via classified ads.
- "The Want-Ad Murders" by Frances M. Deegan, was a novellaNovellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
that appeared in Detective Story Magazine in March 1944, and was reprinted in Detective Story Annual 1948, edited by Daisy Bacon, and published by Street & Smith in 1948.
- LuredLuredLured is the title of a film noir released by United Artists, directed by Douglas Sirk, and starring Lucille Ball, George Sanders, Boris Karloff, Charles Coburn, and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.-Plot:...
was a 1947 film featuring a serial killer who uses newspaper personal ads to select his victims. Known as Personal Column in its UK release, this United ArtistsUnited ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
film was directed by Douglas SirkDouglas SirkDouglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...
and starred Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
, Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, Charles CoburnCharles CoburnCharles Douville Coburn was an American film and theater actor.-Biography:Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Scots-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman and Moses Douville Coburn. Growing up in Savannah, he started out doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater, handing out programs,...
, and Cedric HardwickeCedric HardwickeSir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was a noted English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly fifty years...
.
- Monsieur VerdouxMonsieur VerdouxMonsieur Verdoux is a 1947 black comedy film directed by and starring Charles Chaplin. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, and Marilyn Nash.-Plot:...
was a 1947 film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, and based on the life of the French lonely hearts killer Henri Désiré Landru.
- Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons was a 1960 film that starred George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as Henri Désiré Landru.
- LandruLandruLandru is a 1963 French motion picture drama directed by Claude Chabrol. The screenplay was written by Françoise Sagan...
was a 1962 film, directed by Claude ChabrolClaude ChabrolClaude Chabrol was a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
and inspired by the Henri Désiré Landru case.
- The Honeymoon KillersThe Honeymoon KillersThe Honeymoon Killers is a 1970 American film written and directed by Leonard Kastle, and starring Shirley Stoler and Tony Lo Bianco. It tells the story of Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, the notorious "lonely hearts killers" who murdered at least 12 women in the 1940s...
was a 1970 film fictionalization of the murders committed by Ramond Fernandez and Martha Beck.
- Sea of Love was a 1989 film drama in which a series of male murder victims are discovered to have each submitted ads in rhymeRhymeA rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
for publication in the lonely hearts column of the same magazine. The police detective on the case convinces his chief to write rhyming ads for the magazine and to investigate any women who reply.
- Deep CrimsonDeep CrimsonDeep Crimson is a 1996 Mexican crime film directed by Arturo Ripstein, written by Paz Alicia Garciadiego and starring Regina Orozco and Daniel Giménez Cacho...
, a 1996 Mexican movie directed by Arturo RipsteinArturo RipsteinArturo Ripstein y Rosen is a Mexican film director.-Life and career:Ripstein got his break into movies working as an uncredited assistant director for Luis Buñuel. In 1965, he directed his first feature, Tiempo de Morir...
, was an adaptation of the story of Ray Fernandez and Martha Beck.
- MethodMethod (film)Method is a 2004 thriller film directed by Duncan Roy. The international co-production is a film within a film about a cast and crew who are in Romania to make a film about serial killer, Belle Gunness.-Plot:...
was a film released in 2004, inspired by and loosely based on the Belle Gunness murders.
- Désiré Landru, a 2005 French movie, was an adaptation of the story of Henri Désiré Landru.
- Lonely Hearts was a 2006 dramatized film account of the killings perpetrated by Ray Fernandez and Martha Beck.