She Devils Around the World

by Sylvia Perrini

  In January of 1611, Elizabeth's collaborators were tried and gave evidence. Much of the evidence they gave was forced under torture. Survivors recounted their stories of how they had been pinched, beaten, bitten, pierced, and burnt by the mistress of the castle. Many of them suffered disfigurement for the rest of their lives.

  Below are some extracts from the trial.

  In a time when torture was commonplace, the judges who heard these accounts were appalled. With the number of skeletons and corpses found at the castle and witness reports, Countess Báthory and her accomplices were convicted on eighty counts of murder. After the trial, a diary, in Elizabeth’s handwriting, was found that included the names and details of more than six-hundred and fifty females that had passed through her castle. Despite this, the formal charge of eighty murders remained.

  Elizabeth’s accomplices were convicted of their crimes and in just a matter of days following the conviction, were burnt alive after undergoing prolonged and public torture.

  Elizabeth Báthory did not appear at the trial and was convicted of no crime. This was partly because of her noble status that made her untouchable in a society that protected its aristocrats. However, Elizabeth’s family had her confined to the castle at Čachtice where she was walled up within her bedchamber with only small slits for ventilation and the passing of food left open. Elizabeth died in Castle Čachtice on the 21th of August, 1614.

  Her reputation remains as one, if not the most, bloodthirsty killers on record. As a mass murderer, she is registered in the Guinness Book of Records. Čachtice Castle is today a significant tourist attraction in Slovakia.

  Erzsébet claimed that she was innocent of all charges. She claimed the peasant girls died from contagious diseases, and she should not be held responsible for the course of nature.

  SPAIN

  ENRIQUETA MARTI

  The Vampire of Barcelona

  Enriqueta Martí i Ripollés was born in Sant Feliu de Llobrega, Spain in1868. Little is known about her before her arrival to Barcelona in 1888. On arrival in the city, she found work as a domestic servant in several bourgeois houses. She was an attractive, intelligent, young woman who had ambitions higher than those of a maid. To make up for her low wages, she took to prostitution.

  Enriqueta married in 1895 an artist, Joan Pujaló. It was a stormy marriage, and they frequently broke up and would then reconcile. They split for good in 1907. Joan later said it was because of her prostitution, her endless affairs, and her strange, unpredictable character. After the permanent break, she became a prostitute in a high-class brothel in the center of the city. While working here, she learned of some of the sick perversions of her high society gentlemen clients.

  When Enriqueta had saved enough money, she opened her own brothel in 1909, but this was not a normal one. She rented a smart apartment and began procuring her prostitutes. She roamed the poor areas and slums of Barcelona, dressing herself in rags so she wouldn´t stand out, and kidnapped children between the ages of three to twelve-years-old. She would beg and join the bread queue in front of nun’s monasteries searching for the most abandoned, impoverished, looking children that might be found. These children she rented to her wealthy clientele for whatever depravity they wished.

  At night, she would venture out, wearing her most expensive jewellery, dressed as if she was a marquis. She would frequent the Casino de la Arrabassada, El Liceu (the Opera House in Barcelona) and other locales where the high-society of Barcelona mingled.

  In 1909, Enriqueta was arrested and charged with managing a brothel, which offered children from the ages of three to fourteen for sexual services. A young man was arrested with her. He was from a wealthy family. The case never came to trial and was mysteriously dropped. It is thought that her rich influential clients had a hand in this.

  It was not long before Enriqueta’s business took an even more extraordinarily sinister twist. Perhaps Enriqueta now felt protected and above the law. At this time, there was a superstition among upper class women that the blood of young children helped keep the bloom of youth and that young fat helped conserve a young skin. Enriqueta now began kidnapping children of all ages, some for prostitution and some to be killed to create her elixirs and “facial crèmes” for the rich women of Barcelona society.

  Everything that she possibly could she used from these children: the blood, bones (that she pounded into powder), and the fat. Enriqueta offered creams, soaps, ointments, and potions to treat various diseases. Wealthy people would pay enormous amounts of money for Elisabeth’s remedies.

  Enriqueta

  Enriqueta rented several apartments: one in the exceedingly poor area of Ravel where she made up her potions. In another one lived the children she prostituted, in another one in Calle Ponent she lived, and the other one was a luxury apartment out of which she ran her paedophile brothel.

  Rumours began circulating around Barcelona of missing children and babies. Most of the families who had children missing were too poor to investigate what had become of their children. The mayor of Barcelona, late in 1911, made a statement saying the rumours were false and that children were not being kidnapped and murdered.

  On February 10th, 1912, a little girl named Teresita Guitart Congost went missing. This time, the poor people protested loudly; they were annoyed by the authorities’ passive attitude to all the children that had been reported missing. A neighbor of Enriqueta in Calle Ponent, Claudia Elías, spotted a little girl peering out of Enriqueta’s window. A little girl, she thought, that fit the description of the missing Teresita. Claudia told a friend, a bed-maker, of her suspicions and together they went to the police.

  On February 27th, 1912, the police called on Enriqueta. When the police entered the apartment, they found two girls. One girl was named Angelita who Enriqueta said was her daughter with her husband Joan Pujaló. The other was Teresita Guitart Congost who Enriqueta said she had found the day before lost, hungry, and wandering the streets. However, as Claudia Elias had spotted the girl five days previously, it was obviously a lie. Enriqueta was arrested, and the two little girls taken into care and questioned.

  Teresita told how Enriqueta had befriended her with the promise of sweets. She also told the authorities that they were often left alone for hours and on one such occasion had gone into a room they were forbidden to enter. On looking around the room, Teresita said they had found a bag with clothes and a knife all covered in blood. After her statement, Teresita was returned to her distraught parents.

  Teresita with her parents and rescuers

  The little girl Angelita's statement was even more disturbing to the police than Teresita’s. She told the police that before Teresita arrived, there was a little boy of about five named Pepito staying with them. Claudia Elias had already told the police of seeing a little boy but that she had not seen him for a while. Angelita claimed that she had seen Enriqueta, who Angelita said she called “mama,” stab him to death on the table in the kitchen. She said Enriqueta was unaware that she had seen this.

  On learning of Enriqueta’s arrest, Joan Pujaló went to the police and made a statement about his and Enriqueta's marriage. In his statement, he said they hadn’t lived together for years and that they had no children together. Joan Pujaló said he had no idea who the little girl Angelita was. It later emerged that Enriqueta had stolen Angelita at birth from Joan Pujaló sister, whom she had convinced her baby had been still-born.

  The police under the direction of an investigative judge began searching Enriqueta’s properties. In the apartment where they had found Teresita and Angelita, the police found the bag containing the blood stained clothing and a knife. In another bag, they found dirty clothes and numerous small human bones. In a locked room, they discovered fifty jars, pitchers, and a washbasin with human remains that had been preserved: skeletons, greasy lard, powdered bones, blood, and pots containing potions, creams, and ointments packed and ready for sale.

  The police visited three more flats connected to Enriqueta. In them
, they discovered fake walls and ceilings where human remains were hidden. They also found the remains of children in jars and vases along with a book of remedies. A book of recipes and potions in Enriqueta’s hand-writing, a box of letters and notes in code, and a long list of highly influential people in Barcelona society were also found hidden. In one of the house's gardens, they dug up a skull belonging to a child of about three-years-old and numerous small bones of children around the ages of three, six, and eight-years-old.

  Digging up Enriqueta’s garden

  The list of highly powerful people in Barcelona society was extremely controversial, as many people in Barcelona believed that it contained the names of Enriqueta's wealthy clients.

  The police did their utmost to prevent the names on the list from being leaked but rumors around the city claimed it contained the names of bankers, doctors, judges, politicians, and businessmen. The authorities claimed the list were people that Enriqueta had begged from and that these people were her victims, who had been conned and stolen from by Enriqueta. The public were highly suspicious of these claims.

  Overwhelming evidence and testimony by Angelita shattered Enriqueta’s chance of much of a defense being offered. She was already known for, and confessed to, her services as a procurer for pedophiles. However, Enriqueta adamantly stated that her clients were the monsters, not her; it was just her business. In addition, she had been running her brothel for years, and it was because of whom her clients were that she was able to do so.

  “Child prostitutes for the gentlemen; elixirs and face creams for the ladies.”

  When questioned about all the corpses and body parts, Enriqueta confessed that she was a healer and used children as raw material for the production of her remedies. She claimed that the wealthy women who had bought her "face creams" knew what the products were made from, but a street child was little more than a piece of trash to them.

  She was, she said, simply a business woman providing supplies for the demands.

  Enriqueta was imprisoned to await her trial in the "Reina Amàlia" jail. The Public wanted Enriqueta to face trial and be executed. She attempted on two occasions to commit suicide but was prevented from carrying it out. However, in the end, Enriqueta never went to trial. It was said that her fellow prisoners murdered her by hanging her in one of the prison yards in the early morning of May 12th, 1913. However, many think that some of her wealthy clients paid some prisoners to silence her in case she revealed the names of her clients in court.

  The death of Enriqueta Martí at the age of forty-three robbed the public and her victims' families of the chance to expose all of Enriqueta’s secrets and gain information on her rich clients. She was secretly buried in a grave in the Cementerio del Sudoeste, on the hillside of Montjuïc in the City of Barcelona.

  Enriqueta Marti murdered a large collection of children in Barcelona before being caught. However, no one has any idea of how many. She ran her business over a long period of time.

  One of Enriqueta’s victims

  SWITZERLAND

  MARIE JEANNERET

  Marie Jeanneret entered the world in 1836 to middle class parents in Neuchatel, Switzerland. While an infant, her parents died. A guardian, an uncle, brought her up religiously and ensured that she was well-educated.

  Neuchatel, Switzerland

  As a young lady, she was vain, strong willed, a liar, enjoyed intrigue, and attracting attention. Her interest lay in reading medical books, and she harbored an ambition to become a nurse. She often made visits to doctors complaining of various symptoms, possibly to further her medical knowledge.

  During one consultation with a doctor in 1865, she complained about her eyes and even went so far as to pretend to be blind. The consulting doctor thought the affliction imaginary. Another Doctor who she visited prescribed belladonna (deadly nightshade). This enabled her to a lifetime supply of this drug whenever she desired. Belladonna is prescribed as a treatment of individuals with eye infections in whom the symptoms may suddenly appear without warning.

  In 1886, Marie Jeanneret became great friends with a Mademoiselle Berthet. They took short breaks together staying in pensions. One evening after dinner, Marie Jeanneret offered Mademoiselle Berthet a mixture of eau sucre and wine. Not long afterward, Mademoiselle Berthet was sick and complained about her heart feeling like lead. The following day, Mademoiselle Berthet felt better. Later that evening, Marie Jeanneret made another drink for her friend. That night and all of the following day, Mademoiselle Berthet was delirious. The concerned pension owners sent a telegram to Mademoiselle Berthet's relatives who came and took her home. Upon questioning by her family doctor, Dr. Lamibassy, about her symptoms, he said that he thought she was suffering from belladonna poisoning. The pupils of her eyes were extremely dilated, and her facial features altered. Many months passed before her eyesight became fully restored.

  In the 16th and 17th centuries, belladonna drops were often put in the eyes to dilate the pupils to give ladies a wide-eyed innocent look. They may have looked more attractive, but the drops caused them not to be able to focus properly, and they would only have a hazy view with whom they were talking.

  Mademoiselle Berthet thought and felt like she had indeed been poisoned but surely only by mistake. She could not believe her friend Marie would do that to her deliberately. What could Marie possibly have to gain from poisoning her?

  Marie, shortly after this episode, enrolled at a nursing school in Lausanne. She only remained at the school for two months giving the excuse that her eyes made it impossible for her to work. Occasionally at the nursing school, they obliged her to nurse patients in their own homes. One of the patients she attended to was Madame Chabolz.

  When Madame Chabolz’s married daughter Madame Eichenberg called on her mother, she found “a face showing intense terror with enormous open eyes, laughing deliriously, and talking wildly.” A doctor visited but seemingly suspected nothing. On another occasion, Marie offered Madame Eichenberg’s children some sweets. All of the children who ate them were sick, but it did not cross anyone’s mind that Marie Jeanneret was a poisoner.

  After leaving the nursing school in Lausanne, Marie moved to Geneva. A new private convalescent hospital (maison de santé) had opened, and Marie successfully applied for a job as a nurse. The owner of the establishment, Madame Juvet, took to Marie.

  Shortly after taking the position at the hospital, Madame Juvet’s daughter, Julie, became sick after accepting and eating a few of Marie’s bonbons. The doctor suspected meningitis. Julie died on December 27, 1865.

  Shortly after this, Madame Juvet as well as Emile her son became ill. Less than a month after her daughter’s death, Madame Juvet joined her in the same grave. Emile survived. Luckily for him, his father had him removed from the hospital and moved elsewhere.

  Before Madame Junot and her daughter died, three elderly female patients had also died. Marie had nursed them all. They died in delirium and in excruciating agony. The hospital closed down.

  Marie Jeanneret next applied for a position at a hydropathic establishment, eight kilometers outside Geneva. Madame Vidart, the widow of the owner and doctor of the hydro-establishment, interviewed Marie. After the interview had concluded, Madame Vidart wrote a letter to a doctor in Geneva, requesting from him information about Marie Jeanneret’s qualifications and character.

  “Don’t employ her,” was the reply. “All of her patients have a habit of dying.”

  Needless to say, Marie Jeanneret was not offered a job. Marie did secure a job nursing Madame Lenoir, an elderly lady suffering from inflammation of the lungs. In Marie’s care, she also died.

  Various other jobs followed. The pattern was the same. Whatever establishment or household Marie entered, people would become violently sick or die.

  Marie, while living at the Pension Desarzens, became friends with a Mademoiselle Fritzges. Marie made her new friend a glass of lemonade and shortly after drinking it Mademoiselle Fritzges became ill and delirious.

&n
bsp; A doctor was called by the owners of the pension. The doctor immediately recognized the symptoms of belladonna poisoning and suspected foul play. Mademoiselle Fritzges was immediately removed to the local hospital. The doctor on duty at the hospital, a Doctor Rapin, came to the same conclusion. In talking to the doctor who had admitted Mademoiselle Fritzges, Marie Jeanneret’s name arose. Doctor Rapin had heard rumors about Marie Jeanneret. She had earned a reputation that whatever home she entered as either a nurse or guest a death would always occur.

  Doctor Rapin compiled a dossier of what he knew of Marie Jeanneret and went to visit the police and told them of his suspicions.

  The symptoms of Belladonna poisoning are excessive dryness of the mouth, burning and constriction of the throat, dilatation of the pupils, nausea, and occasionally vomiting. There is also excitement of the central nervous system, with hallucinations leading to delirium, giddiness, a staggering gait, rapid pulse, flushed face, drowsiness, and difficulty breathing.

  Marie Jeanneret was arrested and a long inquiry followed. The corpses of many, but not all, of the suspected victims were exhumed. Many were not exhumed because they lay outside the jurisdiction of Geneva and in other cases relatives of victims she might have killed did not suspect that a murder had taken place.

  When she eventually came to court, the charge against her was that between 1807 and 1818 she had murdered six people and attempted murdering two others. Before Marie’s trial started, the Judge ordered her to be examined by three mental health experts. After many hours of examination, the experts concluded: