Monday, September 26, 2022

Maria Nazaré Félix de Lima, Serial Killer – Brazil, 2017

 
On July 26, 2014, Maria Nazaré Félix de Lima, 62, was arrested in Ielmo Marinho, Police say that she had during her long homicidal romantic career killed a total of five husbands and boyfriends over the years. In her home town of 12 thousand inhabitants she was a legend, known as “The 'Black Widow' of Rio Grande do Norte.”
 
Coming from a family of nine children, Nazaré lived in a mud house in the countryside outside the small city. As a teenager, she worked as a maid and had been sexually abused by her employers.
 
In 1991, the 39-year-old woman beat her first husband to death, while drunk. When Victor Micael fell asleep, she killed him with an axe and quickly surrendered herself to the police. She spent 10 months in the local jail for the killing and once released violated the terms of her parole and sent to João Chaves Penitentiary. From there she escaped.
 
She killed again [ca 1992-5] in the Pernambuco city of Salgueiro, where she murdered Luis Batista with a shotgun. Her lover had killed his own father and was a drug trafficker. Maria Nazare claimed to have heard that he was going to kill her and throw her body into the river.
 
In 1995, Maria beat her boyfriend Luis Rodrigues to death. She did it, she said, because he had raped her sister. She served five years for this crime.
 
In 2002 she stabbed a woman in the chest, puncturing a lung, after being expelled from a bar. She was in a coma for a long time at Hospital Santa Catarina in Natal, but survived. In 2007, when freed again the victim’s brothers Adenilson Costa and Ednaldo Barbosa de Lima (no relation) attempted, unsuccessfully, to murder Maria Nazaré.
 
In 2014, a group of radio and TV students from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) made a documentary about her life.
 
~ Final murder ~
 
On Jul. 26, 2015, Maria killed Francisco García da Silva (“Tico”), her fifth partner, in the municipality of Ielmo Marinho, in Grande Natal, Brazil, having already attempted to murder him before.
 
According to her statement to police, Maria was drinking with her boyfriend, Francisco García da Silva, 59, and that she and the victim were drinking, when after Tico attempted to hit her with a knife, she waited and, using a piece of wood, struck him several times when Tico was sitting on the bed smoking a cigarette.
 
[Robert St. Estephe; based on: “'Viúva negra' é condenada pelo assassinato do quinto companheiro no RN,” Rio Grande Do Norte, May 18, 2017; Nathallya Macedo, “Em depoimento, 'Viúva Negra' detalha morte de namorado a pauladas no RN Rio Grande Do Norte, Jul. 28, 2015]
 
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CHRONOLOGY
 
Maria Nazaré Félix de Lima; “Viúva Negra do Rio Grande do Norte”; 4 of a supposed 5 murders are included here:
 
Ca 1952 – Maria Nazaré born.
1991 – Victor Micael, first husband, murdered, beaten to death while drunk. (murder #1)
1990s – Luis Batista, murdered with shotgun; Pernambuco city of Salgueiro (murder #2)
1995 – Luis Rodrigues, paramour, murdered; beaten to death, since she alleged that the victim had raped her sister. (murder #3)
2000 – released from prison.
2002 – woman stabbed in lung, survived; she stabbed their sister of brothers Adenilson Costa and Ednaldo Barbosa de Lima (no relation) after being expelled from a bar.
Jul. 26, 2014 – Arrested.
2014 – a group of radio and TV students from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) made a documentary about her life: “Lenda De Ielmo Marinho:  Viúva Negra.”
Jul. 26, 2015 – Francisco García da Silva (“Tico”) murdered, 5th partner, in the municipality of Ielmo Marinho, in Grande Natal, Brazil. Previously attempted to murder him. (murder #4)
May 18, 2017 – convicted for the murder of Francisco García da Silva.
Jun. 11, 2020 – died (59).
 
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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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[186-1/15/21; 371-10/6/21; 485-9/26/22; 2320-7/26/23]
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Monday, September 12, 2022

Frau Lansfeld, Serial Killer – Slovakia, 1930

FULL TEXT (Translated from German): In the Slovak town of Sucan an der Waag [sic], a female poisoner was arrested who is suspected of having killed several people.

On Saturday night, the carpenter's wife Lansfeld poisoned the Pazel couple, visiting from America, with strychnine in order to steal the couple's thousands of dollars in fortune.

The Pazel couple lived in sublet for both carpenters' wives and wanted to buy a new home.

The murderess faked a double suicide and called the police to her house, where the district doctor soon discovered that suicide was out of the question and that a crime had been committed.

When a house search was carried out at Ms. Lansfeld's led to the discovery of a large amount of strychnine and US dollar bills of the poisoned couple were also found in Ms. Lansfeld's drawer, this suspicion of double murder was confirmed, and the woman and her husband were handed over to the prosecutor.

Ms. Lansfeld is now suspected of having committed two more murders a few years ago.

During the war she had a love affair with a Russian prisoner of war who had saved a large amount through of money hard work. One day the Russian suddenly disappeared. There is now a suspicion that he was murdered by Frau Lansfeld.

About five years ago one of Mrs. Lansfeld's sub-tenants, a widow who had saved 10,000 gold crowns, suddenly died. Heart paralysis was stated to be the cause of death at the time. The body of this woman will now be exhumed, as it is likely that she was also killed by the Lansfeld.

[“A sensational poison-murder affair in Slovakia. Arrest of a carpenter's wife. - American visitors poisoned with strychnine." Illustrierte Kronen Zeitung (Vienna, Austria), 20 February 1930, p. 6]

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FULL TEXT (Translated from German): Pretzburg. 20. February. (Tel.-Comp.) – The inquiries against the Lansfeld couple, who were arrested yesterday in the village of Suzan [sic] on the charge of having poisoned the Pazel couple with strychnine, have led to a new arrest today. A companion of the Lansfelds, the cabinet maker Johann Kacper, was arrested.

During the house search in the Lansfeld’s apartment, an enormous amount of very dangerous and absolutely deadly poisons were found in the pantry. As one could see in the labels, they had been bought in Mährisch-Ostrauer and Pressburg pharmacies. It is not yet clear why the couple was able to get hold of these poisons. During an inspection in the garden of the house, investigators found a dead cat that had died of poison. Apparently, the animal had been used by the couple for experimental purposes.

It is now known that the Pazel couple had only recently arrived from America to Prague and lived in three rooms in the Hotel Slovan. Here they met the Lansfeld couple. The Pazels said that they were thinking of settling in Europe all the time, they just didn't know whether to buy in Slovakia or Hungary. Mrs. Pazel was born in Hungary.

~ The good advice of the killers. ~

The Lansfelds advised them that they should stay in Slovakia, where they could buy a shop in Sillein cheaply. Mrs. Lansfeld led the way to Slovakia and rented an apartment in Suzan for the Pazels. The Lansfeld couple, who had the opportunity in Prague to take notice of the wealth of the Pazels, probably at that time made the plan to get hold of the couple's money.

The police found new evidence of Mrs. Lansfeld's guilt in the course of today. A half-burnt package with 70 pieces of 20 kroner notes and 17 pieces of US dollar bills was found in the stove. In the ashes were three 1000 kroner notes, crumpled up.

From the past of Mrs. Pazel, it can be inferred that when she was sixteen, she passed over her parents and later married an officer. She was well educated, spoke five languages, and was a highly eccentric person. Her maiden name was Helene Sasdy.

[“The new poisoning affair in Slovakia. Frau Lansfeld's poison pantry. " (“Die neue Giftmordaffäre in der Slowakei. Die Speisekammer der Frau Lansfeld Giftdepot.”), Der Tag (Vienna, Austria), Feb. 21, 1930, p. 4]

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GERMAN TEXTS

FULL TEXT: In der slowakischen Ortschaft Sucan an der Waag wurde eine Giftmörderin verhaftet, die im Verdachte steht, mehrere Personen ums Leben gebracht zu haben.

Die Tischlersfrau Lansfeld hatte in der Nacht auf Samstagdas aus Amerika; zurückgekchrte Ehepaar Pazel mit Strychnin vergiftet, um das mehrere tausend Dollar betragende Vermögen des Ehepaare szu erbeuten.

Die Eheleute Pazel wohnten beider Tischlersfrau in Untermiete und wollten einen Gutsbesitz erwerben.

Die Mörderin täuschte einen Doppelselbstmord vor und rief die Gendarmerie in ihr Haus,wo aber der Kreisarzt bald feststellte, daß ein Selbstmord ausgeschlossen sei und ein Verbrechen vorliege.

Als dann die bei Frau Lansfeld vorgenommene Hausdurchsuchung zur Entdeckung einer großen Menge Strychnin führte und auch Dollarnoten des vergifteten Ehepaar esin der Schublade bei Frau Lansfeld gefunden wurden, wurde der Verdacht bestätigt, und die Frau mit ihrem Mann, der nach Annahme der Untersuchungsbehörden von dem Doppelemord wußte, der Staatsanwaltschaft übergeben.

Gegen Frau Lansfeld ist nun auch der Verdacht aufgetaucht, vor einigen Jahren zwei weitere Morde begangen zu haben.

Während des Krieges hatte sie ein Liebesverhältnis mit einem russischen Kriegsgefangenen, der sich durch Fleiß und Arbeit einen größeren Betrag erspart hatte. Der Russe ist nun eines Tages plötzlich verschwunden. Es besteht nun der Verdacht, daßer von Frau Lansfeld ermordet worden ist.

Vor etwa fünf Jahren war eine Untermieterin der Frau Lansfeld, eine Witwe, die ein erspartes Vermögen von 10.000 Goldkronen hatte, plötzlich gestorben. Als Todesursache wurde seiner zeit Herzlähmung konstatiert. Die Leiche dieser Frau wird nun exhumiertwerden, da wahr scheinlich auch sie von der Lansfeld getötet worden ist.

[“Eine sensationalle Giftmordaffärein der Slowakei. Verhaftung einer Tischlersfrau. - Amerkafahrer mit Strychnin vergiftet.” Illustrierte Kronen Zeitung (Vienna, Austria), 20 Februar 1930, p. 6]

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FULL TEXT: Pretzburg. 20. Februar. (Tel.-Comp.) – Die Erhebungen gegen das Ehepaar Lansfeld, das gestern in der Ortschaft Suzan unter der Beschuldigung das Ehepaar Pazel mit Strychnin vergiftet zu haben, verhaftet wurde, haben heute zu einer neuer lichen Verhaftung geführt; es wurde der Kompagnon der Mansfeld [sic, error; Lansfeld], der Kunst tischler Johann Kacper festgenommen.

Bei der Hausdurchsuchung in der Wohnung der Eheleute Lansfeld fand man in der Speisekammer eine ungeheure Menge ganz gefährlicher und unbedingt tödlicher Gifte. Sie waren, wie man in der Etiketten sah, in Mährisch-Ostrauer und Preßburger Apotheken gekauft worden. Wieso sich das Ehepaar diese Gifte verschaffen konnte, ist noch nicht aufgeklärt. Bei einer Nachschau im Gärten des Hauses fand die erhebende Kommission eine krepierte Katze, die an Gift zugrunde gegangen war. Offenbar war das Tier von dem Ehepaar zu Versuchszwecken benützt worden.

Wie jetzt bekannt wird, war das Ehepaar Pazel erst vor kurzem aus Amerikain Prag eingetroffen und bewohnte im Hotel Slovan drei Zimmer. Hier kames mit dem Ehepaare Lansfeld zusammen. Die Pazels erzählten, daß sie sich dauernd in Europaniederzulassengedenken, sie wüßten nur noch nicht, ob sie sich in der Slowakei oder in Ungarn – Frau Pazel ist eine geborene Ungarin – ankaufen sollten.

~ Der gute Rat der Mörder. ~

Da gaben ihnen die Lansfeld den Rat, sie sollten Lieber in der Slowakei bleiben, sie könnten sich in Sillein ein Geschäft billig kaufen. Frau Lansfeld führ voraus in die Slowakei und mietete für die Pazels eine Wohnung in Suzan. Das Ehepaar Lansfeld, das in Prag Gelegenheit hatte, die Wohlhabenheit der Pazels zu beobachten, hat Wohl schon damals den Plan gefaßt, sich des Geldes der Eheleute zu bemächtigen.

Die Gendarmerie hat im Laufe des heutigen Tages neue Beweise für die Schuld der Frau Lansfeld gefunden. Im Sparherd fand man ein halbvervranntes Paket mit 70 Stück 20 Kronen-Nöten und 17 Stück Dollar-Noten. In der Asche waren drei zusammengeknüllte 1000-Kronen-Noten versteckt.

Aus der Vergangenheit der Frau Pazel ist zu entnehmen, daß sie als sechzehnjähriges Mädchen ihren Eltern durchging und später einen Offizier heiratete. Sie war sehr gebildet, beherrschte fünf Sprachen und war eine höchst exzentrische Person. Mjt ihrem Mädchen namen hieß sie Helene Sasdy.

[“Die neue Giftmordaffäre in der Slowakei. Die Speisekammer der Frau Lansfeld Giftdepot.” Der Tag (Vienna, Austria), Feb. 21, 1930, p. 4]

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Location not identified: The German, “an der Waag,” is a translation of the Slovakian, “nad Váhom." Two cities with suffix “nad Váhom” have been found: Nové Mesto nad Váhom, Dubnica nad Vahom, Both are in the Trenčín Region of Slovakia.

Sillein – Žilina (Hungarian: Zsolna,; German: Sillein; Polish: Żylina] is a city in north-western Slovakia, around 200 kilometres (120 mi) from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of approximately 80,000, an important industrial center, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a kraj (Žilina Region) and of an okres (Žilina District). It belongs to the Upper Váh region of tourism.

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[64-1/14/21;404-9/23/22]

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