Sunday, September 25, 2011

“Killing Off Husbands”: Marie Hevesy and Her Brokerage Scheme - Romania, 1895


FULL TEXT: A woman named Marie Hevesy, described as young and good-looking, was arrested two days ago at Pecska, Hungary [currently Pecica, Romania] (says the Standard), charged with complicity in the commission of various cold-blooded murders for hire. She has already confessed that she recently herself murdered a peasant, whose wife, wanting to get rid of him, paid her a hundred florins for putting him out of the way. It has been further proved that Hevesy has been acting as a sort of agent between peasant women tired of their husbands and certain professional murderers.

She was found out through the depositions of a discharged convict, who had been in prison 15 years, and whom she had hired to do away, not only with two wealthy peasants, but also her own sister-in-law. This man, out of remorse, disclosed the crimes to the authorities, and an official investigation which followed demonstrated the fact that the intended murders were ordered by the wives of the doomed peasants. The killing of husbands, mostly by means of poison, more especially arsenic, has long been a crime of frequent occurrence among the Hungarian peasantry. Not a year passes but one or more trials take place of persons accused of such murders in one part of the country or other.

[“Killing Off Husbands.” The Argus (Melbourne, Australia), Mar. 25, 1895, p. 4]

***

Arrested Feb. 9, 1895.

***

FULL TEXT (translated from German): In Pecska, Hungary, three women were arrested a few days ago on suspicion of planning murder attacks. Since then, the investigation has identified the following details:

In Pecska a beautiful girl, Marie Hevesi, had lived alone in a remote house for several years. Marie Hevesi always displayed a humble and friendly nature. Nobody suspected that, as it now turns out, this girl had instigated several previously unexplained robberies and assassinations.

A few days ago, a man by the name of Andreas Dorogi, who had served a fifty-year-old prison sentence in Illava, returned to Pecska. Marie Hevesi ordered the rotting starving man to come to her and asked him whether he would be inclined to earn a lot of money, which Torogi, of course, answered in the affirmative. Then she gave him the task of murdering and robbing the farmers Paul and Mathias Mester, as well as their own sister-in-law, Georg Hevesi. As a reward, she promised him 300 florins and half of the stolen items.

On the following Sunday night, according to this agreement, the murder should have been carried out. But in the old criminal his conscience stirred and betrayed the murder plot to the police. The police arrested the girl, who at first denied guilt, but later confessed that she had been hired by the wives of Mathias and Paul Mester, who lived in strife with their husbands, for a blood price of 400 florins to murder their husbands. The denounced women were interviewed by the police sergeant Johann Binder and admitted the criminal intentions they were accused of. 

In the course of the investigation, the gendarmerie found out that Marie Hevesi was still guilty of a serious crime. On February 9, 1887, Mathias Gal, a wealthy farmer from Pecska, was murdered. They searched for the perpetrator for a long time, but couldn't find him and now Hevesi confessed to having murdered Mathias Gal. She declared that in this case too she had been hired by the murdered man's wife, but instead of the promised 600 florins, the host gave her only 100 florins and a centimeter of wheat.

["Female monsters." News Welt-Blatt (Vienna, Austria), Feb. 16, 1895, p. 9]

***

FULL TEXT: In Pecska, Ungarn, wurden vor einigen Tagen drei Frauenspersonen unter dem Verdachte, Mordattentate geplant zu haben, verhaftet. Seitdem wurden durch die Untersuchung folgende Details festgestellt:

In Pecska wohnte seit mehreren Jahren ein schönes Mädchen, Marie Hevesi, in einem entlegenen Hause allein. Marie Hevesi trug stets ein bescheidenes und freundliches Wesen zur Schau. Niemand ahnte, daß, wie sich jetzt herausstellt,dieses Mädchen mehrere bisher unaufgeklärt gewesene Raub- und Meuchelmorde angestiftet habe.

Vor einigen Tagen kehrte ein Mann, Namens Andreas Dorogi, der eine fünfzen jährige Zucht hausstraf ein Illava verbüßt hatte, nach Pecska zurück. Marie Hevesi bestellte den verlotterten hungern den Menschen zu sich und fragte ihn, ob er geneigt wäre, viel Geld zu verdienen, was Torogi natürlich bejahte. Dann gab sie ihm den Auftrag, die wholhaben den Bauern Paul und Mathias Mester, sowie ihre eigene Schwägerin Frau Georg Hevesi  zu ermorden und zu berauben, Als Belohnung versprach sie ihm 300 fl. und die Hälfte der geraubten Gegenstände.

Am darauffolgen den Sonntag Nachts hätten dieser Verein barung zu folgedie Mordthaten aus geführt warden sollen. Allein in dem alten Verbrecher regte sich das Gewissen under verrieth der Gendarmerie den ganzen Mordanschlag. Die Gendarmen verhafteten das Mädchen, welches anfangs leugnete, später aber gestand, von den mit ihren Männern in Unfrieden lebenden Frauen des Mathias und des Paul Mester für einen Blutpreis von 400 fl. zur Ermordnng ihrer Gatten gedungen worden zu sein. Die denunzirten Weiber wurden vom Gendarmerie-Wachtmeister Johann Binder einvernominen und gestanden die Ihnen zur Last gelegten verbrecherischen Absichten zu.

Im Laufe der Untersuchung eruirte die Gendarmerie, daß Marie Hevesi noch eines schweren Verbrechens schuldig sei. Am 9. Februar 1887 wurde der Pecskaer wohlhabende Bauer Mathias Gal ermordet. Man suchte lange n ch demThäter, doch konnte man ihn nicht eruircn und nun gestand die Hevesi, Mathias Gal ermordet zu haben. Sie erklärte, auch in diesem Falle von der Frau des Ermordeten gedungen worden zu sein, doch habe ihr die Austrag-gcberin statt der zugesicherten 600 fl. blos 100 fl. und einen Meterzentner Weizen gegeben.

[“Weibliche Ungeheuer.” Neuigkeits Welt-Blatt (Vienna, Austria), Feb. 16, 1895, p. 9]

***

***

Pecica; Hungarian: Pécska; German: Petschka; Serbian: Печка/Pečka) is a town in Arad County, Romania. In ancient times it was a Dacian fortress called Ziridava and today it is an important archeological site. Situated at 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Arad, it was declared a town in 2004. Its administrative territory extends into the Aradului Plateau. The town administers three villages: Bodrogu Vechi (Óbodrog), Sederhat (Szederhát) and Turnu (Tornya). [Wikipedia]

***

***

***
http://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2017/04/husband-killing-syndicates.html

For more than two dozen similar cases, dating from 1658 to 2011, see the summary list with links see: The Husband-Killing Syndicates

***
[830-1/11/21]
***

No comments:

Post a Comment