This case represents an extremely rare “recorded instance”: “Moreover, there
is no recorded instance of a female necrophile killing to achieve her goal of a
dead and supremely compliant partner, unlike the men who litter the pages of
lurid tabloids and academic journals alike. There is no female equivalent of Jeffrey
Dahmer or Ed Gein.” [Helen Gavin, “Evil or Insane? The Female Serial
Killer and Her Doubly Deviant Femininity,” 2014, Transgressive Womanhood.
Inter-disciplinary press, Oxford, pp. 49-60.]
***
Törökszentmiklós, Hungary – By the age of 14, Piroska Jancsó Ladányi, was servicing occupying
Soviet soldiers at the Ladányi farmhouse, as was her mother, receiving miniscule
in-kind payments. Her mother had been promiscuous from an early age. Piroska’s
story includes incest with a brother and the mutilation of animals.
Piroska’s mother, Borbála, described her daughter as
troublesome and abusive to other children: “I always had trouble with Piros
because of the kids. Whenever went down the street with her, whichever child
was next to her, she would strike in the face or back for no reason. It was all
about hitting others, causing others pain. When she stuck a child, she was pleased
with herself.”
Piroska also abused animals – from her confession: “I forced the
genitals of two cats together. They scratched me, so I tied them together with
twine, and I managed to have sex between them in a violent way. After that, I
killed them and dissected them, with a particular focus on their genitals.”
Piroska, at the age
of 15, persuaded her then six-year-old brother to give her oral “sexual pleasure.”
She found confirmation of the method of her experiment she tried with her brother
in reading pornographic novels.
~ Public Hysteria ~
There was hysteria
in the entire region. Talk of the ages-old Blood Libel – anti-Jewish claims of
human sacrifice of gentile children – spread. Another rumor was that Jewish
director at a local funeral home was using the hearse to abduct children. Superstitions
about the number “13.” – date of the first disappearance and the age of three
of the victims – were evoked by some. An inaccurate rumor about an arrest of a
suspect attracted a mob of a thousand to the police station. It was the first instance
in Hungary of a large agitated mob since the Russian occupation had begun 9
years earlier. This resulted in the Szolnok County police department taking
over the case.
~ 5 Murders & 1
Attempted Murder ~
1) Oct. 13, 1953 – Marika Komáromi (11).
On October 13, 1953,
Piroska lured Marika Komáromi (11) to the farmhouse, strangled her to
death with an electric wire, undressed her, and then, after sitting on her
face, she exercised her sexual desires. She pulled dragged the corpse with the
help of a rope tied around his neck and threw it into a well-covered with sheet
metal on the porch of the house. Piroska was wearing her victim’s shoes when
later questioned by police.
2) June 12, 1954 – Piroska Hoppál (13)
On June 12, 1954, Piroska
she met Hoppál Piroska (13), who was selling chickens on the market, brought her
to the farmhouse, where she strangled her with a wire. Piroka stated: “I
looked at the genitals of the corpse, licked it, and then stuck a carrot in my
own genitals, and had an orgasm. Then I measured the depth of a broomstick
by inserting the end of a broomstick into his genitals. Later, I rubbed my
genitals against the dead girl’s protruding tongue, while holding on to the corpse,
and climaxed again.” She then threw the body into the well.
3) August 9, 1954 – Irene
Simon (17)
On August 9, 1954, Piroka
lured Simone Irene (17) to the farmhouse and strangled her with an electric
wire and then threw the body into the well. Pirtoka said she was motivated to
kill her because she had had several sexual encounters with her and was afraid the
secret might be revealed. The murder took place because she had been
sexually established with the girl several times before and was afraid to
unravel their secrets.
4) August 11, 1954 –
Marika Botos (13)
On August 11, 1954, Marika
Botos (13), had arrived in Törökszentmiklós for a holiday. Piroka met her at the
bus stop, and then, with the pretext of helping to carry her luggage, joined
her. She persuaded the girl to go with her to the farmhouse, where she strangled
her with a cotton cord and then had sex with the corpse before discarding it in
the well.
5) August 14, 1954, Katalin
Szőke (13)
On August 14, 1954, Piroka
lured Katalin Szőke (13) from the vicinity of the railway station. this time Piroka
strangled her with a trouser strap, and then engaged in sexual activities with the
corpse and threw it into the well. The military (Russian) strap was found
on the neck of the fifth victim. Police suppressed this politically dangerous
piece of evidence.
6) Sep. 2, 1954 – István
Balázsi (21)
On September 2, 1954
István Balázsi went to a field in order to retrieve a bag of clothes left
behind during a triste. Piroska saw her and offered her brandy. Balázsi dosed
off in the grass. She was awakened by Piroska strangling her with a wire. Mrs.
Balázsi fought off her attacker and rushed to the police.
Police questioned
her and she immediately admitted the attempted murder. Yet police made no
connection between the crime before them and the mystery of the missing girls. Police
went with the victim to the field where the attempted strangling murder took
place, but the bag of clothes was missing. Then they went the Ladányi farmhouse
and searched for the missing bag. In the process, they accidentally discovered
a well on the porch that was covered with a metal sheet. In it were found the
decaying corpses of the five, now almost unrecognizable, missing girls.
~ Investigation and Cover-up
~
The local police
were terrified of occupying Soviet forces. They learned that from a young
acquaintance, Ilona Czene, that, on August 27, Piroska, drunk had confessed to Ilona
that she had killed 11-year-old Mária Komárom with her mother's help. But Ilona
also told police she saw a Russian commander exiting the Ladányi house. The
police told Ilona to keep this fact a secret.
~ Multiple Contradictory
Confessions ~
Confession 1) Piroska
made a full confession, but falsely claimed she had male accomplices. She first
said that she had committed the murders with Raffael Józsefné and Irén Simon's
suitor, Sándor Fekete, and a Soviet soldier. Police detained the two named
individuals, but it soon became clear that they were not in the city at the
time the crimes were committed.
Confession 2) At her
second interrogation, Piroska no longer spoke of
Raffaelna or Black. She made it clear that the killings were due to Nikolai
Bogachov, a Russian soldier.
Confession 3) The
following day, Piroska made a new confession that no longer featured Soviet soldiers, but told of
her attraction to women. She said this had been felt since the age of 15,
triggered by illustrations in a book of pornography she bought at the local
market. She cited a picture in which
women met their sexual needs with one another and another showing a dog licking
a woman’s genitals. Piroska said: "Initially, I gave different stories
because I was ashamed to reveal the real reason for my act. That's why I also
said that I got the little girls for Russian soldiers and then strangled them
so that they would not reveal what happened to them. I was ashamed to admit
that I killed the girls because of my perverted
sexual desires. I'm still very ashamed of that.”
~ Prosecution: Charges
Based on Final Confession as Sole Killer ~
On September 20,
1954, the Szolnok County Prosecutor's Office prepared the indictment against
Piroska Jancsó Ladányi and Borbála Jancsó for murder and other crimes.
The rial took place September
29, 1954 in Szolnok, behind closed doors. The court issued an explanatory
statement: "According to the investigative data, moral and sexual issues are
to be discussed, the disclosure of which would be contrary to the public
interest". Only the parents of the murdered girls permitted in the gallery. Two
other girls testified that Piroska wanted to cheat on them as well, and other
witnesses reported that the Piroska had been selling the clothes of the murdered
children.
The complicity of Piroska’s
mother, Borbála Jancsó, was also established.
Piroska Jancsó
Ladányi was found guilty and to death and Borbála Jancsó to 2 years and six
months in prison.
~ Appeal: New Evidence ~
The judgment was appealed. On October 14, 1954 heard the
case. the defendants maintained their previous testimonies. The prosecutor
called for a heavier punishment for Borbála Jancsó's responsibility and
complicity. Piroska's defender asked for the girl's pardon because the accused
was young and had been "raised by the street." Piroska, expressing
remorse, requested a lighter sentence. Following a recess Piroska asked to
change the confession upon which the original trial was based. She now identified
her mother as an active accomplice.
Piroska testified: “The reality is that my mother also knew
about my actions. ... In the second case [June 12, 1954 – Piroska Hoppál, 13], mother
told me to bring someone from the market who has good clothes and money if
possible. For the others, I did it because I needed money and I wanted to
satisfy my sexual desire.” She also claimed the victims’ hands and offered the
cord to bound them. “No matter how much I earned, my mother wasted everything. She
threw away my money in men, confectionery, drinks. I was left completely naked,
so I thought about getting clothes for myself. My mother kept pushing for money
and prodding me.” The court found the claims plausible because it was thought Piroska
lacked the physical strength to commit the murders and move the bodies.
As a result of the new testimony, the verdict was changed: Borbála Jancsó was also sentenced to death. Borbála
was, however, granted a commutation by the Presidential Council and given a sentence
of life imprisonment. The daughter’s sentence remained unchanged: death by
hanging.
~Execution ~
On December 12, 1954 at 10:11 a. m. Piroska was hanged in
the courtyard of the Szolnok prison. At 10:22, according to the doctor’s
report, her heart had stopped beating. Her body was removed from the gallows 30
minutes later.
Her mother, Borbála, died in prison in the late 1960s.
[Robert St. Estephe, Sep. 9, 2020, based on multiole
sources, cited below]
***
CHRONOLOGY
May 1, 1909, Borbála Jancsó; 15 were siblings, 12 of whom
died in infancy, two adult sisters committed suicide; parents: János Jancsó, postman; Mária Jancsó, street
sweeper.
1917 – János
Jancsó, dies.
1925 – Borbála sexually active; bad reputation; shunned by
siblings.
Jan. 15, 1934 – Piroska Jancsó Ladányi born in
Törökszentmiklós; parents: Borbála Jancsó and Gyula Ladányi.
Aug. 5, 1943 – Piroska 's brother, József born out of
wedlock, father Lipót Weisz, denied paternity.
Dec. 25, 1944 – Piroska (10) runs away from home for the first
time.
1968 – Borbála and daughter Piroska (14) were prostitutes; home
was regarded locally as a brother; receiving small in-kind payments from Soviet
occupation soldiers. Piroska treated for venereal disease 3 times.
1949 (?) – Piroska (15) persuades
brother, József (6), to give her “oral sexual pleasure.”
1953 – Piroska sentenced to six months
in prison for theft; after a month, during the general amnesty, she was
released. Two other similar prosecutions occurred later on.
Oct. 13, 1953 – Marika
Komáromi (11).
Jun. 12, 1954 – Piroska Hoppál (13).
Aug. 9, 1954 – Irén Simon (17).
Aug. 11, 1954 – Mária Botos (13).
Aug. 14, 1954 – Katalin Szőke (13).
Date? 1954 – Piroska sells victims’ clothing at the junk
market, she receiving 15-20 forints each item(?). Piropka Hoppál coat,
shirt and sandals brought Piroska 45 forints.
Aug. 27, 1954 – later witness Ilona Czene reports that
Piroska, drunk, confessed on Aug. 27 to her that she had killed 11-year-old
Mária Komárom with her mother's help. She mentions seeing a Russian commander
exit the Ladányi house. Police are afraid of Russians, so they tell Ilona to keep
facts secret.
Sep. 2, 1954 – attempted murder of Mrs. István Balázsi (21) (Mrs.
István Balázs).
Oct. 14, 1954 – Barely two weeks after the first-instance
verdict, case was heard by the Supreme Court.
Sep. 20, 1954 – Szolnok County Prosecutor's Office prepares
the indictment against Piroska Jancsó Ladányi and Borbála Jancsó for murder and
other crimes.
Sep. 29, 1954 – trial; Szolnok, behind closed doors; "according
to the investigative data, moral and sexual issues are discussed, the
disclosure of which would be contrary to the public interest". Piroska
Jancsó Ladányi sentenced to death; Borbála Jancsó sentenced to 2 years and six
months in prison.
Oct. 1954 – appeal; As a result, the verdict also changed:
Borbála Jancsó was also sentenced to death, and she is not sent to gallows just
because in her case the Presidential Council exercised her right to pardon and
changed the woman's sentence to life imprisonment; sent to Kalocsa prison.
Oct. 1954 – Piroska, in last testimony before the Supreme
Court, states that her mother knew about his actions.
Dec. 12, 1954 – hanged in the courtyard of the Szolnok
prison.
Late 1960s – Borbála Jancsó dies in the Zalaegerszeg prison
hospital.
***
SOURCES
[N. Nagy Zoltán, “Öt holttest a kútban - Jancsó Ladányi
Piroska rémtörténete,” (Five corpses in the well - the horror story of Piroska
Ladányi Jancsó”), Egyperces Krimi, Nov.14. 2015]
[Legat Tibor, 3 articles, “Jancsó
Piroska rémtörténete” (“Horror story of Piroska Jancsó”), Aug. 8-10, 2017 – 1) Legat
Tibor, “Halálkút (Jancsó Piroska rémtörténete )” (“Death Well (The Horror Story
of Piroska Jancsó)”), Szemtol Szembe. Aug. 10, 2017. 2) Legat
Tibor, “Piroskával mindég baj volt” (Jancsó Piroska rémtörténete); (“There
was always something wrong with Piroska” (Horror story
of Piroska Jancsó)), Szemtol Szembe, Aug. 9, 2017. 3) Legat Tibor, “A
népköztársaság nevében (Jancsó Piroska rémtörténete),” (“On
behalf of the People's Republic” (Horror story of Piroska Jancsó)), Szemtol
Szembe, Aug. 8, 2017.]
[“Öt lányt gyilkolt a törökszentmiklósi kéjgyilkos,” (“Five
Girls Were Killed By The Comfort Killer In Törökszentmiklós”), Magyar Noir, Jul.
6, 2016]
[N. Nagy Zoltán, “Öt holttest a kútban, Közzétéve március,”
Mar. 29, 2019]
[Hungarian Wikipedia, “Jancsó Ladányi Piroska”]
***
BOOK: Rubin Szilárd: Aprószentek (“Little Saints”), October
2012 by Magvető Könyvkiadó, Budapest
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
More cases:
Female Serial Killers Executed
***
***
[17,218-2/22/22; 21,468-7/3/23]
***
