FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 4): Budapest, November 25. — A sensation has been caused by the arrest of five women on the charge of poisoning their husbands. It is charged by the authorities that the women were members of a club which was formed among the married women of Veresmacht [Veresmart], near Arad, Hungary [currently in Romania]. None but women who were dissatisfied with their husbands could become members of this organization. Whenever a woman was heard to say that she wished she was never married, or that she would like to have her husband out of the way, she was immediately visited by one of the agents the club. Once in the toils of the club the women had no alternative but to go on with the plot of murder. The members of the club were supplied with poison, which, it is charged, was obtained from the coroner of the district, who then put it on the record that the men had died of heart disease.
The coroner, whose name is Hansuch, is under arrest, accused of being accessory to the murders that are charged against the women.
[“Women Formed Club to Murder Husbands – A Strange Conspiracy Is Unearthed at Arad, in Hungary.” The Pittsburgh Press (Pa.), Nov. 29, 1903, p. 1]
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FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 4): Vienna, Jan. 2. — A sensational poisoning case has occurred at Beresmait [Veresmart], in Hungary.
Owing to suspicion having fallen upon a widow named Plazczak. The body of her husband was disinterred, and he was found to have died from the effects of poison. According to Coroner Hanusch’s certificate, the man died from heart disease.
When arrested, the widow confessed that the Coroner, who was her lover, sold her the poison and advised her to put it in her husband's wine. She stated that many other widows had done the same.
Five other women were arrested and confessed that they had bought poison, to remove their husbands, from the Coroner, who had then blackmailed them. The Coroner has confessed his guilt.
[“Coroner Advises
Poisoning Of Men - Woman Administers Potion Because the Official Was Her
Lover.” The San Francisco Call (Ca.), Jan. 3, 1904, p. 17]
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FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 4) (translated from German): From Budapest we are telegraphed a report that in Hodmezö-Vasarhely several more women have been arrested on suspicion of poisoning husbands whom they had become tired of. The name of the city Hodmezö-Vasarhely was named many years ago on the occasion of a similar affair. Even then, the scandal was mass poisoning that had been committed by young women on their aging spouses. The trial of the murderers and the poison suppliers has caused disgust and dissatisfaction far beyond the country's borders.
The hope that this process would be cleansing and deterrent does not seem to have been fulfilled. Again, inhuman women are said to have poisoned their husbands to enjoy the freedom of the victims after death, or even to cash in the sums awarded insurance companies. Once again, the police have come to the rescue in a major poisoning scandal. Six women were found to have killed their spouse with poison they acquired from an old woman named Balapa.
In addition, various women in Hodmezö-Vasarhely are said to have been responsible for about twenty child murders. These murders are said to have been carried out with poison that the women received from the Balapa.
The police wanted to arrest Mrs. Balapa. However, this was informed and attempted suicide by taking poison itself. However, she managed to live and she confessed and compromised the six wives in the affair who had administered poison.
[The Husband-Killers. Recent poisoning in Hodmezö-Vasarhely.” (Die Morderinnen ihrer Gatten. Neuerliche Giftmorde in Hodmezö-Vasarhely.) Illustrated Kronen Zeitung (Vienna, Austria), Jun. 2, 1905, p. 9]
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FULL TEXT (Article 4 of 4) (Translated from German): Budapest, November 27th. - From Veresmart in southern Hungary a poison-murder affair is reported that vividly recalls the conspiracy of adulterous wives against the lives of their husbands discovered in the same area a few years ago. Five victims of the poisonous women have already been discovered, and the focus is on how a pharmacist was then, this time a coroner who delivered poison and kept the criminal women under his spell.
The systematically carried out poisonous murders came about through an anonymous letter that reached the police the day before yesterday. It contained the announcement that the landlord Georg Prszezak, who was buried on Sunday [Nov. 22] in Veresmart, had not died of natural causes, and that his wife had probably poisoned him with the help of the coroner [district mortuary inspector]. The police handed the report to the public prosecutor's office the next day the exhumation and the autopsy in the presence of a judicial commission. The opening of the body revealed that there was in actuality poison in the deceased's stomach. The woman, who was arrested immediately, denied it resolutely, but it turned out that she had entered into a love affair with the coroner Hanusch while her husband was still alive and continued after his death. Hanusch had recorded heart attack as the cause of death in the death certificate of the poisoned man. Hanusch also denied at the first interrogation that he had committed any criminal act.
The man was then confronted with the widow. In the statements about the beginning and course of the illness, contradictions came to light, and the woman finally admitted weeping that she had murdered her husband on the advice of her lover. He had procured the poison for her, which she had mixed into the man’s brandy. She then went on to announce that Hanusch had previously given a number of women for a lot of money a poisonous medicine with which they had got rid of their husbands. The investigation was then extended to the indicated cases and so the widows of Johann Tardany Michael Hunka, and Martin Kovacs were arrested. At the interrogation all four women made a confession. The coroner had some relationships with them known to other men, and had then approached them with his suggestions on how to get rid of their husbands. He then used the common crime for blackmail. It is believed that more such cases have occurred.
[“The poisoners. The coroner as an accomplice. " (“Die Giftmordermnen. Der Todteubesehauer als Helfershelfer.”) (Private telegram of the Neue Wiener Journal.), Neues Wiener Journal (Vienna, Austria), Nov. 28, 1903, p. 4]
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Veresmart, Ugocsa county, Arad – Ugocsa was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-western Romania (1/4) and western Ukraine (3/4). The capital of the county was Nagyszőllős (now Vynohradiv, Ukraine).
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GERMAN TEXTS
FULL TEXT: Aus Budapest wird uns telegraphich berichtet, dass in Hodmezö- Vasarhely neuerlich mehrere Fauen under dem Verdachte verhaftet wurden, ihre Gatten, deren sie überdrüssig geworden waren, durch Gift bei Seite geschasst zu haben. Der Name der Stadt Hodmezö-Vasarhely ist vor Jahren anlässlich einer gleichen Affäre viel gennant worden. Auch damals handelte es sich um Massenvergiftungen, die von jungen Frauen an ihren alternden Ehegatten verübt worden waren. Der Prozess, der damals gegen die Mörderinnen und die Giftlieferanten geführt wurde, hat weit über die Grenzen des Landes Abscheu und Entsegen hervorgerufen.
Die Hoffnung, dass jener Prozess reinigend und abschreckend wirken würde, scheint sich nicht erfüllt zu haben. Wieder sollen entmenschte Weiber ihren Männern Gift in die Speisen getan haben, um nach dem Tode der der Opfer die Freiheit zu geniessen oder gar die Versicherungsfummen von den Assekuranzgesellschaften einzukassieren. Wieder ist die Polizei einer grossen Giftmischeraffäre auf die Spur gekommen. Sechs Frauen wurde nachgeweisen, dass sie ihre Gatten mit Gift, das sie sich von einer alten Frau namens Balapa verschafft haben, getötet haben.
Ausserdem sollen verschiedenen Frauen in Hodmezö-Vasarhely etwa zwanzig Kindermorde zur Last fallen.Auch diese Morde sollen mit Gift vollzogen worden sein, das die Frauen von der Balapa bezogen.
Die Gendarmerie wollte Frau Balapa verhaften. Diese erhielt jedoch Kenntnis davon und beging einen Selbstmordversuch, indem sie selbst Gift nahm. Es gelang jedoch, sie am Leben zu erhalten, und sie hat hereits das Geständnis abgelegt, dass sie den in der Angelegenheit kompromittierten sechs Frauen Gift verabfolgt hat.
[Die Morderinnen ihrer Gatten. Neuerliche Giftmorde in Hodmezö-Vasarhely. Illustrierte Kronen Zeitung (Vienna, Austria), 2. Juni 1905, p. 9]
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FULL TEXT: Budapest, 27. November. – Aus Veresmart in Südungarn wird von einer Giftmordaffaire berichtet, die lebhaft an die vor einigen Jahren in derselben Gegend entdeckte Verschwörung ehebrecherischer Gattinnen gegen das Leben ihrer Männer erinnert. Es sind bereits fü nf Opfer der Giftmörderinnen entdeckt, und im Mittelpunkt steht, wie damals ein Apotheker, so diesmal ein Leichenbeschauer, das Gift lieferte und die verbrecherischen Frauen in seinem Banne hielt.
Die systematisch betriebenen Giftmorde kamen durch ein anonymes Schreiben auf, das vorgestern an die Gendarmerie gelangte. Es enthielt die Anzeige, daß der Sonntag zu Grabe getragene Wirthschaftsbesitzer Georg Prszezak in Veresmart keines natürlichen Todes gestorben sei, und daß ihn wahrscheinlich seine Gattin mit Hilfe des Bezirks-Todtenbeschauers durch Gift ins Jenseits befördert habe. Die Gendarmerie übergab die Anzeige der Staatsanwaltschaft, die am nächsten Tage
die Exhumirung und die Obduction in Gegenwart einer Gerichtscommission anordnete. Die Leichenöffung ergab, daß wirklich Gift im Magen des Verstorbenen vorhanden war. Die Frau, die sofort festgenommen wurde, leugnete entschieden, es stellte sich jedoch heraus, daß sie mit dern Todtenbeschauer Hanusch noch zu Lebzeiten ihres Mannes ein Liebesver hältniß eingegangen und nach dessen Tode fortgesetzt hatte. Dieser Hanusch hatte in den Todtenschein des Vergifteten als Todesursache Herzfchlag eingestellt. Auch Hanusch leugnete beim ersten Verhör entschieden, irgend eine strafbare Handlung begangen zu haben.
Der Mann wurde daraufhin mit der Witwe confrontirt. Bei den Angaben über Beginn und Verlauf der Krankheit kamen Widersprüche zutage, und die Frau gestand schließlich weinend, daß sieihren Mann aus Anrathendes Liebhabers ermordet habe. Dieser hatte ihr das Gift verschafft, das sie dem Manne in den Branntwein gemischt hatte. Sie machte dann weiter die Mittheilung, daß Hanusch schon früher einer Anzahl von Frauen für viel Geld eine gifthältige Medicin gegeben hatte, mit der sie ihre Männer aus der Welt geschafft hätten. Die Untersuchung wurde hierauf auch auf die angedeuteten Fälle ausgebreitet und so wurden die Witwen Johann Tardany, Michael Hunka, Martin Kovacs verhaftet. Bei der Einvernahme legten alle die vier Frauen ein Geständniß ab. Der Todtenbeschauer hatte zu ihnen theils in Beziehungen zu anderen Männern gekannt und hatte sich Ihnen dann mit seinen Tathschlägen genähert, wie sie ihre Ehegatten loswerden könnten. Das gemeinsame Verbrechen hatte er dann zu Erpressungen benügt. Man glaubt, daß sich noch mehr dergleichen Fälle gebung zugetragen haben.
[“Die Giftmordermnen. Der Todtenbeschauer als Helfershelfer.” (Privat-Delegramm des, Neuen Wiener Journal.), Neues Wiener Journal (Vienna, Austria), Nov. 28, 1903, p. 4]
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For more than two dozen similar cases, dating from 1658 to 2011, see the summary list with links see: The Husband-Killing Syndicates
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[897-6/25/19]
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