Thursday, September 22, 2011

Maria Velten, the Blueberry Pudding Serial Killer, Germany - 1984


FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 3) :A German mother of six, Maria Velten, has admitted killing two husbands, one lover, her father, and an aunt by feeding them poisoned puddings laced with herbicide.

The 69-year-old woman killed her second husband because he was obsessed with cleanliness.

Her lover, whom she met her husband’s death, had many had habits and would not move out of her flat when asked to. He, too, was served a poisoned pudding.

Husband No. 3 was too religious, she said. He was served his pudding because he got on her nerves.

The women told the court in Krefeld, West Germany, she had also poisoned her father and her aunt because they were old, ill, and a bother.

Police were asserted to the string of poisonings after the woman’s daughter-in-law became suspicious.

[“The Poisoned Pudding Massacre,” Evening Times (Glasgow, Scotland), Sep. 14, 1984, p. 3]

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FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 3): Krefeld, West Germany – Maria Velten, a 68-year-old great-grandmother, received three life sentences here Thursday after having been found guilty of the murder of three of her four husbands [the last being a “common law husband].

She was also sentenced to 15 years in jail for six attempted murders. [Error, correct information: “She was sentenced in 1984 to three life sentences plus another 15 years in prison.”; 5 murderes, rather than 6.]

Velten admitted in court having killed her husbands with poisoned blueberry pudding.

[“Killer of 3 Husbands Sentenced,” syndicated (Deutsche Press-Agentur), Lewiston Morning Tribune (Id.), Sep. 21, 1984, p. 2A]

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FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 3): Krefeld, West Germany – A 68-year-old woman admitted Thursday [Sep. 13] she poisoned two husbands, one lover, her father and an aunt because they got in her way.

The woman told a West German court she killed her second and third husbands and her lover by feeding them puddings laced with herbicide.

The woman said her lover, whom she met after her second husband’s death, had a lot of bad babits and would not move out of her apartment when asked to. In 1980, he too was served a poisoned pudding.

The third husband was too religious, she said. He got his pudding in 1982 because he got on her nerves. The woman said she poisoned her 77-year-old father and 78-year-old aunt because they were old, ill and a bother.

[“Murder spree cooked up,” syndicated (Reuter), Calgary Herald (Alnerta, Canada), Sep. 14, 1984, p. A20]

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Documentary film: ARD (TV): Das Blaubeer-Mariechen. Ute Bönnen und Gerald Endres. 2009; broadcast premiere: January 26, 2009.

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1976: murdered 2nd husband.
1980: murdered lover.
1982: murdered 3rd husband.
Killing career: Between 1963 and 1982 the Kempenerin Maria Velten killed 5 (father, aunt, 2 husbands, lover).
Age: 67 when arrested.
Arrested: 1983 (?); Kempen, Germany.
Tried: at Krefeld, Germany, summer 1983 (?)
Confession: Thursday, Sep. 13, 1984, during trial.
Poison:  plant poison E 605 (active ingredient: thiophosphoric).
Sentence: “She was sentenced in 1984 to three life sentences plus another 15 years in prison.” Autopsies were conclusive in three cases, the other three victims’ remains were too old to produce concklusive evidence.
Nicknames: “The then 67-year-old Kempen resident was known throughout Germany the mid-80s as ‘Blaubeer-Mariechen’ (‘Blueberry Marie’)”; Newspapers dubbed her “Gifthexe vom Niederrhein”("poison witch from the Lower Rhine").

[“Stadt Kempen: Giftmörderin im Fernsehen,” RP Online, Jan. 23, 2009]

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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.

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http://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2016/08/elderly-female-serial-killers.html

MORE: Elderly Female Serial Killers

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[1872-1/9/21]
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