Sadly
the headline’s estimation that Overby’s baby murders might be “the greatest
plot to kill children since Herod’s time” is far from accurate. Several female
serial killer child care providers have been discovered who have murdered over
1,000 children.
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FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 3): A married woman named Dagmar Overby [Dagmar Johanne Amalie Oberbye], 33, who had adopted many strange children, was arrested a few days ago, a baby whom she had recently received having disappeared.
She has now confessed to the murder of 11 children, but probably the number is larger. In most cases she killed the children immediately after receiving them, and if the real mother came to see the child or take it back, another was substituted. Usually she obtained no money, and her motive in killing the children is a mystery.
This case recalls Mrs. Dyer, of Beading, who in 1896 was hanged for murdering babies, of whom she obtained possession by offering “a comfortable home and a mother's care.” In this way she received from £5 to as much as £30 for each child.
[“Woman Baby-Killer. - 11 Little Victims.” Daily Mail (London, England), Sep. 17, 1920, p. 5]
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FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 3): Copenhagen.—Danish authorities are investigating what they fear may develop into the greatest wholesale baby murder plot the world has ever seen, growing out of a baby farming scandal.
Madame Overby, who ran a large baby farm here, was arrested in connection with the unexplained disappearance of children from her home. Complaints were filed with the authorities covering her operations during eleven years, in which the records show the mysterious disappearance of 180 infants entrusted to them.
Since the first report to the police and Madame Overby’s arrest, mothers have daily been flocking to authorities to tell similar stories of the reported death and burial of children after Madam had received, payment for their care.
[“Mothers’ Tales of Dead Babies - What May Be Greatest Plot To Kill Children Since Herod’s Time,” Lethbridge Daily Herald (Alberta, Canada), Oct. 13, 1920, p. 11]
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FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 3): Paris, May 10.—The king of Denmark has commuted to life imprisonment the sentence of death passed on the “baby farmer,” Dagmar Overby, who confessed to having murdered eight babies intrusted to her charge.
[“Saves Slayer of Eight Babies.” Syndicated, Palo Alto Reporter (Io.), May 26, 1921, p. 2]
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FROM OTHER SOURCES: Overbye murdered between 9 and 25 babies, including one of her own. She strangled her victims, drowned them or burned them to death in her masonry heater. The corpses were either cremated, buried or hidden in the loft. Following Overbye’s her arrest, other children, approximately 180, were reported missing. There has been speculation that parents who had “euthanized” their own babies were panicked by the spotlight being put on infanticide and were using the Overbye case as a cover. She died in prison on May 6, 1929, at the age of 46.
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For more cases of “Baby Farmers,” professional child care providers who murdered children see The Forgotten Serial Killers.
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For more cases of “Baby Farmers,” professional child care providers who murdered children see The Forgotten Serial Killers.
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