The Lonely Hearts Killers

A pair of killers that chose their victims in the personal ads.

• Full Name – Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck
• Nickname – The Lonely Hearts Killers
• Born – Dec 17, 1914 / May 6, 1920
• Location of Activity – New York, Michigan
• Years of Activity – 1947 - 1949
• Number of Kills – up to 20
• Date of Death – Both March 8, 1951
• Cause of Death – Electric Chair

Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck were a pair of serial killers that ended up meeting later in their lives.  Fernandez was, at the time, making his way by ripping off women that he would meet through personal ads.  Beck was a single mother of two that ended up answering one of those ads.  Instead of ripping her off as he had his previous victims, the two decided to team up and turn their attention to murder.

Ending up in New York, Fernandez only kept Beck around because she was obedient to him.  Even when she found out what he did for a living, she still stood with him and even offered to help him run his scams.  Though they were lovers, Beck played the part of his sister whenever he was in the process of working a mark.  Beck also happened to be extremely jealous and would murder these women whenever she found out that they had slept with Fernandez.  For his part, he was content to help her cover up the murders and even assist her in most cases.

They continued in this fashion for nearly two years until finally moving to Michigan due to too much suspicion in New York.  They were running one more scam, just as always, but the end result was not only the death of the victim, but also of her two-year-old daughter.  They neighbors got suspicious when the victim disappeared but Beck and Fernandez stuck around living in her house.  On February 28^th, 1949, the police showed up and the two were arrested.

In order to avoid extradition to New York, which carried the possibility of a death penalty, Fernandez confessed to everything immediately.  But the deal never held and the two ended up in New York anyways.  There, they were tried and sentenced to die in the electric chair.  Two years after their arrest, the sentence was carried out.