INFAMOUS: The “Lonely Hearts” Killers

[00:00] Hi, Crime Junkies. It's Britt, and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, CounterClock, is back with a brand new season, and it is wild. Host Delia D'Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap. It is a reinvestigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to CounterClock Season 8 now wherever you get your podcasts. [00:31] Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And the story I want to tell you today goes right into the dark heart of romance. In the late 1940s, after World War II, single women all over the country thought they had finally found true love. What they really found, though, was something much, much more sinister. This is the story of the Lonely Hearts Killers. [00:57] - [01:28] In early January of 1949, just after New Year's in Amsterdam, New York, a woman named Mary Spencer is getting ready to spend some time with her stepmother. Even though Mary's dad passed away some time ago, she and her dad's widow, this woman named Janet Fay, still have a really good relationship. Janet basically helped raise her and they've always stayed in touch.

[01:58] new love interest. [02:00] Since Janet's a devout Catholic who goes to Mass every Sunday, Mary doesn't meet up with her until that afternoon when Janet and her new gentleman friend Charles come over, along with Charles' sister Martha. So Mary has Janet, Charles, and Martha all over to her house, and they all tell her about how they met. And Janet tells Mary how she's already started introducing him to her friends because things are just going so well. Like, Janet's already head over heels in love with this guy. [02:30] You see, he's a successful businessman. And since his family's from Spain, where he spent a good portion of his childhood, he's like a man of the world. He feels very exotic. Yeah, he sounds like a really great catch. This dude is a catch, right. Now, we don't know what exactly Mary's first impression of them is, but she has to notice the one thing that I think would really stick out. [03:00] It's a little less common, but again, this isn't unheard of. So again, maybe take notice, but it's not like she's like, this is impossible that you guys fell in love. Sometimes it happens. There isn't a lot of information out there about Mary and what she does after she meets Charles and Martha. But we do know that later on that January, Mary gets a letter from her stepmom. The New York Daily News reprinted that letter in March of 1949. And Brett, I'm going to have you read it to us.

[03:30] The letter says, quote, [03:34] You may think I am mean for not writing to you any sooner. [03:38] Please excuse me, for I have been so busy going and seeing so many different places and also doing much shopping. [03:45] I am all excited and having the most wonderful time of my life. [03:49] I never felt as happy as before. [03:52] I soon will be Mrs. Martin, and then we will go to Florida for the winter. Mary, I am about to ask you a great favor. [04:00] I would like you to call the American Express Agency and have them ship my trunk and boxes that I have there to me. [04:08] The address is on the various stickers that I am enclosing in the letter. [04:12] I would like to sort out many things before I leave for Florida. I am so happy and contented, for Charles is so good and nice to me, and also his family. They have done everything to make me feel more comfortable and at home. [04:25] I will close now with my best wishes and love for you both and love and kisses for the children. I really do miss you all. [04:33] But I am sure that my prayers have been granted to me by sending this wonderful man to me. [04:38] God bless you all. Janet J. Fay [04:41] End quote. [04:43] When Mary reads this on January 11th, she's instantly suspicious because in her mind, it doesn't sound like Janet. Some of Janet's friends get letters around this same time, too. And they all say basically like surprise with an announcement that she's engaged to Charles along with some other like super gushy stuff right along with these same lines of how like great everything is, how wonderful life is, how wonderful Charles is.

[05:13] feels off. Yeah, but to me, having a different tone could just be from that kind of honeymoon phase of a relationship and being so excited about this upcoming wedding and, you know, going to Florida for the winter. Yeah, it could be, except for one other thing that Mary notices. According to Charles Bell's reporting in the New York Daily News, the letter was typed on a typewriter. [05:38] So not in her handwriting. Well, yeah, not in her handwriting. But here's the other thing. Mary knows for a fact that Janet doesn't know how to type. She didn't own a typewriter. And even if she did, she wouldn't have known how to use it. And again, I think it's hard for people. We're thinking like computer terms, like it wouldn't be that hard to like press a letter. But even like loading it, making sure it has ink and how you do all that stuff. I don't think I could use a typewriter. And if you're not familiar with typing, there was like an erase option. [06:08] that an error had been made and she had to redo it. So you would expect that from someone who wasn't familiar with it. [06:14] Right. So between the typing and the strange wording, nothing about this letter is sitting right with Mary. So the next day on January 12th, she decides to go to the police and tell them about this whirlwind romance Janet had. And she actually files a missing persons report. OK, you said whirlwind, but how long have they actually been together? Like weeks or months or days? Like what's what's fast in a situation? Yeah. So the timeline is different depending on what source you're looking at.

[06:44] set of court records I read said that they'd been together a couple of months, but another one said barely a single week. You see, Janet desperately wanted to get married again. And so she was a member of this thing called a Lonely Hearts Club. Basically, it's this matchmaking service that goes through the mail. And Janet literally just sent Charles a letter on the day after Christmas. And she may have invited him to come visit her in that very first letter. So wait, she saw this guy's [07:14] and without ever talking to him or exchanging any letter or communication was just like, hey, [07:20] You seem cool. Let's do this. Let's meet up. It's fast, right? And honestly, from the sources that I have, that's kind of what it sounds like to me, which I don't even think we need to tell you is kind of a big no-no. Like, everyone be careful with meeting strangers. But like I said... Well, on top of this, like, it's not even now. It's the 40s. Yeah, right. But like I said, the timeline's a little fuzzy. So they may have talked on the phone a couple of times, too. But with or without phone calls, this is happening fast. [07:50] they first make contact by January 11th is when Mary is getting this letter saying we're engaged and we're running off and we're going to Florida. So just a couple of weeks. And I think that's part of the reason why Mary gets so suspicious of this letter that's supposed to be from Janet and why she goes to police so quickly. Like you said, even for the time, I mean, this relationship is moving fast. And apparently Janet had some bad luck with the Lonely Hearts before Janet.

[08:16] There's not a lot out there about how exactly things unfold for police. But according to the Post star, Mary tells police at some point that she found out Janet's house had been sold and her bank account is completely empty. [08:32] What? Yeah. Now, there's nothing about if she tells them this while she's filing the missing persons report or if she learns this afterwards. But regardless of when they learn what, police totally want to find Janet and even have a little chat with Charles to see what's going on here. Because even if they're all fine and safe, like something feels off. [08:53] But the problem is that both Janet and Charles and his sister Martha... [08:59] are nowhere to be found. [09:01] Little do the Albany police know, hundreds of miles away in the Midwest, a similar scenario is starting to play out. And a new horror is beginning to unfold. [09:15] So many people are focused on where their money is today. Acorns is the financial wellness app that cares about where your money is going tomorrow. And with the Acorns Potential screen, you can find out what your money is truly capable of. It's super easy. You can sign up in minutes and start automatically investing your spare money, even if all you've got is spare change. The Acorns Potential screen shows you the power of compounding and how your money could grow over time. Plus, you can quickly adjust how much you're investing to make sure you're building towards your goals. [09:45] grows with you. Whether you're just starting out or thinking about settling down, Acorns supports your big and small goals across every stage of life. Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Join the over 14 million all-time customers who have already saved and invested over $27 billion with Acorns. Head to acorns.com slash crimejunkie or download the Acorns app to get started. Paid non-client endorsement. Compensation provides an incentive to positively promote Acorns. Tier 2 compensation provided. Potential is subject to various factors

[10:15] customers' accounts, ages, and investment settings. Does not include Acorns fees. Results do not predict or represent the performance of any Acorns portfolio. Investment results may vary. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC-registered investment advisor. View important disclosures at acorns.com slash crimejunkie. [10:35] - Late in January of 1949, in Byron Center, Michigan, just south of Grand Rapids, some people in the community start noticing that luck may be turning around for one of their neighbors, a woman named Delphine Downing. [10:49] They all know that Delphine's husband died in a freak accident when his truck got hit by a train and that things have been hard for her as a widow left to raise their two-year-old daughter, Raynell, all alone. Depending on which source you read, Delphine's anywhere from 24 to 41 years old at the time. But whatever her real age is, she's totally at the point in her life where she wants to get remarried and build a family for Raynell. [11:16] And now to her neighbors, it's looking like she might have done that because Delphine has a visitor. [11:24] A male visitor named Charles Martin. Wait, so this guy was staying with her? From what I can tell from my sources, yeah, he's staying with her. [11:33] I'm like a kind of a history buff and I love especially the 40s, but this seems... [11:39] really kind of scandalous for that time. The neighbors didn't think it was out of the ordinary or kind of bizarre. Right. So it probably would have been a little scandalous, right, for a unwed woman to be having this man stay with her. But there is this little workaround because when Charles comes to visit, he just so happens to bring along his sister, Martha. So they have sort of a chaperone. Exactly. So they want to make sure that nobody's getting the wrong idea. So

[12:09] reputation stays nice and clean and it's considerate for the day and age, right? So this guy's doing the right thing right off the bat. [12:17] It's unclear exactly how much the neighbors know about Charles and Martha, but Byron Center is a small town. So, you know, we grew up in small towns, right? Like everybody's kind of up in everybody's business a little bit. So what I can tell you is that at first, everything seems great from the outside. Delphine seems to enjoy the company. It probably does her good to have some other people around to help with Raynell. And Charles seems like a catch for this young widow. [12:47] And here, I want you actually to read me one of their letters, this one specifically that she sent to him. So Delphine's letter to Charles says, quote, Dear Charles. [12:58] Thank you for the thoughtful Christmas greeting. Christmas is so busy with its hustle and bustle, and the lull afterwards is such a letdown. It gives me an empty, lonely feeling. [13:08] New Year's Eve, I kept the neighbors' children so they could go out, and the children were sleeping quietly when the whistles blew. [13:15] The only noise was when the dog set up a howl at midnight. [13:18] I've been having trouble with my old car. [13:20] Maybe I should have taken the advice and bought a new one, but I need to spend so much when it could be invested for Raynell to be used later. I have a nice two-stall garage, but when I cleaned out the shop, the tools and things filled it. [13:35] But gradually, [13:36] I'm getting everything sold. [13:38] Raynell got a tricycle from some friends, and she's sitting on it now and really making a noise.

[13:43] Do you like children's carols? [13:45] I hope you do. [13:46] because if we continue to correspond, I will mention Raynell often. [13:50] I hope I don't break the rules of friendship correspondence by writing you before I give you time to consider my last letter. [13:57] Sincerely, [13:58] Delphine. [13:59] End quote. [14:01] Okay, so this letter, she says she's writing around Christmas time. Isn't that around the same time that Mary and Janet and Charles and Martha all met? [14:10] Not that the time that they met, but... [14:13] Janet and Charles were exchanging letters around the same time. I think it was like the day after Christmas. And I'm pretty sure he meets Mary like... [14:21] early January, like right around New Year's. So from what I can tell, these correspondents are kind of going on simultaneously. And, you know, this is the only letter I have. But based off this letter, it sounds like she even wrote to him before and she's like sending him multiple letters before he's even responded. So I think he's exchanging letters with multiple women around the same time. So obviously their correspondence went well. And at some point she invites Charles and his sister to come stay. [14:47] About a month after they arrive in Byron Center and start staying at Delphine's house, something about this situation starts to feel a little off to everyone who's watching. Maybe they heard something strange or maybe they haven't seen little Raynell recently. We don't know what it was. But whatever first set off this feeling, it doesn't go away. It only gets stronger after a few days go by and no one's seen Raynell. No one has seen Delphine.

[15:17] February 28th, someone decides to call the police. According to Joseph McNamara's piece in the New York Daily News, when a pair of sheriff's deputies get to Delphine's house that night, there's no one there. [15:31] So they decide to wait. And sure enough, around midnight, a man and a woman come back. But the woman isn't Delphine. It's Martha. And so police ask, like, hey, guys, where is Delphine and Raynell? Right. At first, Charles tries to play it off and he tells them, oh, you know what? Delphine took the baby to Detroit to go visit some friends. It's no big deal. [15:57] But then police noticed all these packed bags in the house. Like Charles and Martha, it looks like they're planning on going somewhere too. Somewhere that they'll need all of this stuff. Almost as if they're not planning on leaving anything behind and really it doesn't look like they're planning to come back. Kind of like a moving out situation. Right, which isn't like adding up to the story that they're telling. Like nothing is feeling right about this to the two deputies and it's just fishy. [16:27] that he's carrying this big wad of cash. Like how much cash? It's around $4,000, which, I mean, already is a lot of money to just be like casually carrying around. Yeah, but in the 40s. Yeah, in 1949. Can you imagine? And in addition to the cash, they also find this weird list of names in his pocket.

[16:51] So any doubt that police might have still had that these two are getting ready to skip town is kind of gone. And they know that they have to find Delphine right away. Because clearly Charles and Martha... [17:03] seem like they're running from something. Right then and there, police decide to dig deeper to what's in the house, searching for any trace of Delphine and her daughter. They go through every room, but there's just nothing there. [17:18] That is, until they get down into the basement. Because what they see is that part of the floor in the basement has new cement. Like, so new that the cement is still wet. Police start to dig and it doesn't take them long to unearth the horrible truth. [17:39] There in the shallow, messy hole are the bodies of Delphine and her daughter Raynelle. Oh. [17:46] The Lansing State Journal reported that police then confront Charles and Martha and arrest them. And what's crazy is that they confess almost immediately. I mean, it's crazy good, but something we don't normally see. I read a couple of articles that actually quote Charles as saying, you got me and you got me dead to rights. I may as well tell you everything. [18:10] And it's honestly like the floodgates open here because once both Charles and Martha start talking, law enforcement are just stunned because he's not.

[18:21] Charles tells them, Charles Martin. [18:24] is not my real name [18:26] "'What do you mean?' [18:28] His real name is Raymond Martinez Fernandez. He's 34 years old and Martha isn't his sister. [18:37] Martha is actually his girlfriend. I knew it. Yeah. So basically, he says that they were working together to take Delphine for every penny she had. He tells them everything was going great until Delphine saw firsthand that Charles was not the man she thought he was. [19:07] dark, handsome guy. And part of this persona that he had built was having this like thick, luscious head of hair. Except not only was he actually partly bald, but he had this like nasty scar on the top of his head. And that scar combined with the hair loss, to him, it just took away from this like heartthrob [19:28] vibe. So to protect this image and keep his con going, he always wore a toupee. Obviously, there's no shame in losing your hair, no shame in wearing a hairpiece. But for Raymond, it wasn't just about his appearance. It was like part of his whole scheme. Charles Martin had great hair. Raymond Fernandez, not so much. And so as he goes on to confess, when Delphine saw him once with like this totally different look, and it doesn't give details on like, you know, was he

[19:58] It's basically he's wearing like a totally different hairpiece one day. She sees that and realizes that the thing on his head is not his real hair. I know I shouldn't laugh, but of all the things, this guy is getting like... [20:12] outed or busted because of a toupee. Yeah, I mean, we've seen so many times how one little thing can totally unravel a big elaborate. But this one just seems kind of silly. Yeah, well, it is because for Raymond, I mean, he was so vain that he just had to go buy himself some new hair and change up his look. And so now here's this poor woman who thought she found a second chance at love only to notice Raymond was wearing a toupee. And when she sees it and [20:42] has been lying to her about his real appearance, which makes her wonder. Right. If he's lying about that, what else? Exactly. So Delphine kind of flips out. I mean, at this point, she had already sold her home because apparently they were making plans to move out to California together. And now, now that she sees this, suddenly she's kind of having this overwhelming feeling of, you know, nothing is what it seems. [21:12] On his body? It was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So basically, she sells the house and hands this money over to her, you know, fiance, basically, for quote unquote, safekeeping. And so Raymond says with Delphine starting to see the truth, he knew that he had to figure out something fast.

[21:31] As it turns out, though, it's not Raymond who came up with what to do next. According to a New York Daily News article from March of 1949, Martha tells police that Delphine had confided in her that she was worried she might be pregnant with Raymond's baby. [21:48] Martha says that she gave Delphine some pills to quote unquote take care of it. And knowing Martha used to be a nurse, Delphine just trusted her. But as Martha admits, she actually gave Delphine a handful of sleeping pills, which knocked her out. And when she started to wake up, Raymond shot her with her husband's gun. [22:10] They buried her in her own basement. And it wasn't then that they killed Raynell. It was two days later, after they were getting fed up with Raynell's crying, that Martha decided to drown the little baby in groundwater that they bailed up while digging her mother's grave. [22:28] As they keep talking and keep confessing, Raymond also admits the truth about the list of names in his pocket, and police realize that the depravity of these two names [22:42] "Monsters" goes much, much deeper than they could have ever imagined. [22:51] Summer's here, and whether you're traveling, shuttling kids to camp, or spending long days by the pool, staying healthy and on budget, is always top of mind. That's where GoodRx can help. GoodRx can help you save up to 80% on prescriptions for you and your family.

[23:05] Even your pets, too. Just check GoodRx before every pharmacy run to find big savings on both brand name and generic medications. [23:12] I love seeing how many options they have to save. [23:15] GoodRx is free and easy to use. Just search for your prescription on the website or app, compare prices, and get a free coupon to show your pharmacist. Use GoodRx to save at over 70,000 pharmacies nationwide, including Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Publix, Kroger, and many more. GoodRx is not insurance, but it works whether you have insurance or not, and it could even beat your copay price. Save time and money at the pharmacy this summer. Go to GoodRx.com slash Crime Junkie. [23:45] Download the free GoodRx app. [23:47] On the list, police see the names of 17 women living in 12 different states, and some of these names have these check marks next to them. [24:00] According to the Dunkirk Observer, Raymond's been corresponding with all of these women. And now police have to figure out if these women are still alive, if they're OK. Like, who knows where they were, like, in their correspondence with him or if they've met. So is this Raymond and Martha's, like, whole grift? Just woman to woman to woman? That's what they're telling police in Michigan, yeah. They say that this isn't about sex. You know, we've seen this with other couples who kill together. [24:30] Their whole thing is about stealing money from vulnerable women. And Raymond says that he used the Lonely Heart Service to find his marks.

[24:39] I wasn't able to find any of Raymond's letters or ads or whatever to see what it was that made him so appealing to these women. But Ranker posted a picture of one of these Lonely Hearts Club ads that people would see and would respond to both on men's side and women's side. Just as like a general call out. And just to give our listeners a better idea, Britt, I want you to read them because I don't know that this is something that even happens anymore. [25:04] So this ad says, [25:05] Let us arrange a romantic correspondence for you. Meet your sweetheart through the foremost high-class social correspondence club in the world. [25:14] A club for refined, lonely people. Members everywhere. [25:19] Strictly confidential. [25:20] efficient and dignified service. We have made thousands of lonely people happy. Why not you? [25:27] particulars free. [25:29] Write today if sincere. [25:31] End quote. [25:32] So... [25:33] Obviously, this isn't a newspaper. We're a long way from Tinder. I was going to say, this is not how Tinder advertises itself at all. Right, right, right, right. So Raymond describes how he would get the trust of these women all over the country. And then he and Martha would go visit them, posing as brother and sister, so he could sweep these women off their feet with promises of marriage. And they felt comfortable because his sister was there. [26:03] their assets, their money. And then once they milked their mark dry, they would bolt with all of the cash and valuables that they could get.

[26:12] Now, most of the time, their victims would often be like too humiliated to go to police. And they didn't want to admit that they'd been conned, which is how they got off scot-free in many of these cases. Which is like we've all seen catfish. It's a similar situation. Right, right. Right. [26:29] Now, what's really interesting to me is this list of 17 women, they didn't necessarily kill all of them. That wasn't part of their game. Again, there was no like sexual motive. They weren't even doing it. [26:39] because they were spree killers or whatever it was. It was all for the cash. It was all for the cash. And so it seems that the women who died seemed to be the ones who figured out what was really going on and tried to put a stop to it. And so basically, as long as you would let them run away with your assets, your money, whatever, you were fine. But if you got in the way of what they wanted, they died. [27:01] would eliminate you essentially. Mm-hmm. [27:03] But there were a few women that they located that had made it out alive. [27:09] So there's even this article from the Palladium Item back in 1949 that talks about women who actually came forward after Raymond and Martha got arrested. And again, these are women who made it out alive. They talk about their stories in one of the cases. It seems like Raymond, a.k.a. Charles, actually even got married to some of these women in certain cases. Like there's a woman in Pennsylvania who he was married to for a couple of weeks. And then I think this woman in Chicago. [27:34] Now, what's interesting is several articles I read point to Martha getting angry when she felt that the women were too pretty or if they were getting too close to Raymond. So she would get jealous. She did. And I wonder if that also may have been another factor on who lived and who died. You know, they say it's just if they got in their way. But I wonder if Martha maybe had...

[27:57] perhaps more persuasion over that. Yeah, her jealousy may have escalated the situations. [28:02] But I don't think this list of 17 was the end. Because before Delphine, Raymond and Martha had been at this for years. And it was a pretty successful con. And Raymond claims to police that he's actually killed 19 or 20 women. But on the other hand, Martha swears up and down that she only knows about three. Okay, so Delphine, her daughter, and who else? [28:32] New York named Janet Faye. Now, at this point, police in Michigan have no idea who Janet Faye is. But I mean, you better believe they want to find out. And so they listen as Raymond and Martha tell them again, they're just like unloading the floodgates and they tell them this whole tragic tale. [28:53] As they confessed to law enforcement, after they met Janet's stepdaughter right after New Year's, Raymond did actually propose to Janet, and he got her to agree to leave Albany and move to Valley Stream, Long Island with him and with Martha on January 3rd. [29:10] Nope. [29:10] Martha's story about what exactly happened next changes a little bit over time. But according to court records, after midnight on January 4th, Raymond came into Martha's room and asked her to go get Janet. Basically, he tells her, like, I need you to go get Janet to simmer down a little bit because she's just coming on to me too much and I'm not feeling it. And I have to wonder if this is part of his whole act, because we know that Janet was a really devout Catholic.

[29:40] whole persona, like, you know, not before we're married and acting like he was as religious as she was. Anyway, so Martha goes out into the living room and there she says that she finds Janet laying on the couch naked in the middle of basically trying to seduce Raymond. And Martha says that she flipped out. Martha's jealousy like rears up its big, ugly head. And meanwhile, Janet is totally humiliated by all of this. Like, again, in her mind, this is my future [30:10] And this whole situation was already beyond awkward. But then right in the living room, Martha started calling Janet names. [30:20] And this is the thing about Martha. Like she starts to lose the whole act because she has this really possessive streak. And she admits to police easily that that was her motive for all of this. [30:32] She could handle Raymond fawning over other women like Janet to get their money. But what she couldn't handle was him being sexually involved with anyone but her. And in that moment, seeing Janet try to move in on her man, she was not going to let it happen. [30:49] And just then, as she tells police, Janet made a fatal mistake. [30:54] Stung by Martha's name calling, she slaps Martha across the face and tells her, listen, when Charles and I get married, you're moving out. I'm not going to let you live in my house. At this moment, I mean, fueled with jealousy, and she says Raymond is telling her to keep Janet quiet. She says that she grabbed a hammer and bashed in Janet's skull, seriously hurting her, but not killing her.

[31:24] Janet lay on the floor bleeding. That's when Raymond took a scarf and strangled her to death. So something I can't get over is they've been caught for this one case, but they seem to just be like volunteering information about cases that... [31:39] no one else is looking into? Yeah, it's strange, right? Because I mean, when you think about [31:45] you know, 1949, it's probably really unlikely that they would have connected them to other cases, but they're kind of just unloading and they're not even done. Raymond and Martha also tell the police what they did with Janet's body. So, I mean, they're basically even handing them the proof of it. So after she was murdered, Raymond and Martha said they stuffed her body in a travel trunk and then spent 10 days in their apartment in Valley Stream with this trunk, [32:15] searching for a place to hide Janet's body. [32:19] According to court documents, Raymond and Martha admit that they drove out of state looking before they finally found the perfect spot a little closer to home at a house that they rented in South Ozone Park, Queens. [32:32] Just like they later did with Delphine and her daughter, the two of them dug a hole in the basement floor... [32:38] buried Janet's body, and then filled the hole with fresh cement. [32:43] Once law enforcement back in New York get the call from Michigan, that very same night, they rush out to the address they were given and they start digging. And before long, after digging about five feet down, police find a shroud covered body that matches Janet's description.

[33:02] The Palladium item reported that it's Janet's stepdaughter, Mary, the person who first reported her missing back in January, who comes to the police station to identify the body. [33:13] Mary's gut instinct was right. The letter was fake. And by the time she got it, Janet was already dead and her killers were already searching for another target. [33:24] As police all over the country start to realize that they may not yet know the full scope of Raymond and Martha's crimes, the media gets a hold of this story. And it makes headlines nationwide, leaving everyone to wonder just exactly who are the Lonely Hearts killers. [33:44] Summer's here, and whether you're traveling, shuttling kids to camp, or spending long days by the pool, staying healthy and on budget, is always top of mind. That's where GoodRx can help. GoodRx can help you save up to 80% on prescriptions for you and your family. [33:58] Even your pets, too. Just check GoodRx before every pharmacy run to find big savings on both brand name and generic medications. [34:05] I love seeing how many options they have to save. [34:08] GoodRx is free and easy to use. Just search for your prescription on the website or app, compare prices, and get a free coupon to show your pharmacist. Use GoodRx to save at over 70,000 pharmacies nationwide, including Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Publix, Kroger, and many more. GoodRx is not insurance, but it works whether you have insurance or not, and it could even beat your copay price. Save time and money at the pharmacy this summer. Go to GoodRx.com slash Crime Junkie.

[34:38] Download the free GoodRx app. [34:40] Before she was helping Raymond lie and cheat single women out of their money, Martha Beck was actually in the very same position. What do you mean? So by the time she was 28 years old in 1947, Martha was living alone down in Florida, divorced at least once, but up to three times depending on what source you read. And she was taking care of two kids fathered by different men. [35:06] Even though she was a trained nurse and actually pretty good at her job from what I read, Martha had two major things in her life that she believed made her less desirable. The first was that she was a divorced woman at a time when it was considered pretty taboo. And the second, she was very self-conscious about her size. Martha had been mocked about her weight her entire life, and it actually followed her long into adulthood. [35:36] as a nurse in a children's hospital in Pensacola when her co-workers actually decided that it would be a little funny joke to send off for a Lonely Hearts Club sign up like in her name. So I understand that the Lonely Hearts Club was, you know, pretty popular and... [35:52] well-known, maybe, but [35:54] Was there any sort of stigma attached to it, especially I could see it being like, oh, we signed you up for this on a lark. You know, LOL, this is kind of a joke, whatever. Yeah. So there's kind of this at the time anyway, there was a little bit of this stigma around having to sign up for Lonely Hearts. Like, oh, you can't find a husband the traditional way. And that's why when Martha got this ad in the mail and she obviously knew someone else did it for her, it felt like a big slap in the face.

[36:24] Like, even if her co-workers maybe didn't mean it as a cruel thing, for Martha, it was a reminder that she was alone in life. But as upset as she was by this prank, Martha did decide to turn it around on them. And so she went ahead and joined. The service was called Mother Deneen's Family Club for Lonely Hearts. And she signs up. Months went by without any response to her ad. [36:50] And honestly, like she got more and more depressed, right? Like this was supposed to be a joke and your jokes on you. But to not be able to then find anyone through this thing really got her upset. But then sometime in December of 1947, Martha gets this letter and it's from a man in New York City named Raymond Fernandez. And this is back when he was actually using his real name. He didn't call himself Charles Martin when they started writing to each other. He was being honest, at least about his name. [37:18] Now, Martha was pretty much gone from that very first letter. And they went through the whole process of exchanging letters and phone calls before Raymond actually came down to Florida to visit her. And he liked the way she looked. And she got so swept up in the sexual chemistry. And I have to wonder if maybe for the first time in her life, this is when Martha had a man who made her feel beautiful and desirable, you know? So did she know about the toupee?

[37:48] But if she did, she didn't care. And after Raymond saw that she didn't have anything worth stealing and he went back to New York, Martha actually followed him. [37:58] According to David Krychek's reporting in the New York Daily News, Martha packed up her two little kids and moved to New York to be with this guy. And here's the thing. [38:08] Obviously, she didn't have the money that he wanted, but Raymond was actually fine with her living in, moving in with him and coming and following him so long as she did one thing. [38:17] Raymond didn't want to deal with kids, so he told Martha, "You can stay." [38:23] But you gotta get rid of your kids. - Oh no. - Well, don't worry, she didn't, [38:27] kill them or anything horrible like that. She... [38:31] Basically just dropped them off at the Salvation Army, though. And then. OK, so not much better. Cool. Right. I mean, those poor kids who basically like your mom just wants to be with his boyfriend. She's willing to give you up for it. But it's what she was willing to do. So she dropped her kids off, goes to be like happily ever after with Raymond. But here's the thing is like once she does that, Raymond actually tells her the truth and he tells her that. [38:57] You know, his whole thing with his lonely hearts, responses and letters, it's all a scam. OK, so he was in it. [39:02] for a con from the very beginning. Oh, yeah. Again, he was planning on scamming Martha. And who knows how many people he did before Martha. But he's at least like, for some reason, I don't know why. I don't know if he felt this kinship with her. I don't know if he needed a partner. But he decides to come clean to her. Okay. But do we have any idea of how many women there were before he landed on Martha? No, the exact numbers are really unclear. But here's what's

[39:32] in Spain this entire time. No. He's also suspected of at least one murder before he met Martha, because you see, he went to this place called Cadiz with this woman named Jane, who just so happened to leave him all of her insurance money before dying while they're on vacation together. [39:53] Now, Raymond was never charged with a crime related to Jane's death, but we do know that he met her through the Lonely Hearts ad. So suspicion is definitely there. [40:04] So, yeah, it's not like Martha and Raymond came up with this together. Like, he'd been doing these scams long before he met her. And, you know, when she learns this, instead of having this healthy reaction and saying, like, oh, you're a total creep, like, you're an awful scam artist. Like, I'm going to go pick up my kids and go back home. For some reason, she agreed to pose as his sister and help him and help him. She did right up until that fateful night when they were arrested in Michigan. [40:31] So we don't know for sure how many women they killed together, but they're linked to the death of a widow in Arkansas named Myrtle, who before she died told doctors that she'd been beaten by her fiancé and his sister. [40:44] Officially, Myrtle's death is listed as a cerebral hemorrhage, though just like with Jane, there were no charges ever filed. That's super shady, though. Very shady. Eventually, though, even with the possibility of these other murders, Raymond and Martha are extradited to New York City and charged with only a single crime, the murder of Janet Faye. The trial starts in the summer of 1949 with the whole country looking on.

[41:13] According to the Dunkirk Evening Observer, Raymond and Martha pled innocent by reason of insanity. Now, even today in 2020, we know the press goes nuts for killer couple stories. Like, I mean, we've talked about them multiple times on our show and in the fan club. I mean, we've got Fred and Rose West, the Ken and Barbie killers. But in 1949, they. [41:35] This is kind of revolutionary and kind of beyond shocking for the conservative public. [41:40] And honestly, the way the press talks about Martha [41:44] It's shocking because they straight up call her fat. They call her ugly. I mean, pick a mean word. They use it. [41:51] And I'm not defending anything she did. I mean, the woman was a monster who deserved to be in jail. It was just weird, again, looking with 20, 20 eyes at these 1949 articles because the fat phobia. Like how sexist the coverage was. Yeah. Yeah. The body shaming is just vicious. And I'm not sure why it was relevant to, again, her being an actual monster. [42:14] In the end, the trial lasts for 43 days. And on August 18th, 1949, the jury finds them both guilty. Four days later, both Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck are sentenced to death. [42:29] They both appeal, but by 1951, all of their options are exhausted. On March 8, 1951, Raymond and Martha are both executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York State. [42:42] According to Crime Library, Raymond is put to death first, and his last words are, quote,

[42:48] I want to shout it out. I love Martha. [42:51] What do the public know about love? [42:54] End quote. [42:55] Martha gives one last statement to the media. She said, quote, [42:59] My story is a love story, but only those tortured with love can understand what I mean. [43:07] I was pictured as a fat, unfeeling woman. I am not unfeeling, stupid, or moronic. [43:13] In the history of the world, how many crimes have been attributed to love? [43:18] End quote. [43:20] Even after their deaths, the Lonely Hearts killers retain their own cult status in pop culture, with movies and TV shows all inspired by them. [43:30] The public fascination with their twisted love has lived on long after their bitter end. [43:36] But what truly matters is that the women that they conned, the women that they killed, got justice, whether we know their names or not. [43:59] You can find all the pictures and source material for this episode on our website, CrimeJunkiePodcast.com. [44:06] And be sure to follow us on Instagram at Crime Junkie Podcast. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode.

[44:36] you [44:41] you [44:42] you [44:43] *music* [44:45] you [44:48] Crime Junkie is an audio Chuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve? [44:56] Okay, Crime Junkies, you know, I absolutely love a twist and a turn, especially when it comes to people who turn out to be someone they're not. That's why I have been obsessed with the podcast Chameleon. Every Thursday, host Josh Dean deep dives into a scam so bizarre, it will leave you wondering, how did they get away with that? [45:14] It is truly one of my favorite podcasts right now and I've been listening for years. [45:18] I think you'll love it too. [45:19] Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.