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The phrase lonely hearts killer, sometimes also want ad killer, or matrimonial bureau murderer, is journalistic term of art that refers to a person who commits murder by contacting a victim who has either posted advertisements to, or answered advertisements via newspaper classified ads and personal or lonely hearts club ads.[1]
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Varied motives
The actual motivations of these criminals are varied. By definition, a killing will have taken place in order for the suspected, accused, or convicted perpetrator to be dubbed a want ad or lonely hearts club killer. However, the crime may have involved a simple robbery gone wrong, an elaborate insurance fraud scheme, sexual violence, or any of several other ritualized pathological impulses (e.g. necrophilia, mutilation, cannibalism, etc.). Sometimes murder is not the (original) intent, but becomes a by-product of rape or other struggle; in some cases, murder is committed simply to cover up the original crime. Some, on the other hand, are serial killers who utilize this method of targeting victims, either exclusively, or when it suits them. [2]
From print to electronic media
A modern term that describes murderers whose similar modus operandi involves locating victims via electronic media instead of print ads is Internet killer or "chat room murderer"; if the medium utilized is specifically the web-based internet advertising service Craigslist, the killer may be referred to in the media as a "Craigslist killer".[1]
Notable lonely hearts and want ad killers
The following accused and convicted murderers and serial killers are known to have used want ads, personal ads, and/or matrimonial bureaus to contact their victims:
- Harvey Glatman - known as "the lonely hearts killer"[3]
- Earl Daughtrey
- Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck - known as "the honeymoon killers" and "the lonely hearts killers" [4]
- Albert Fish
- Harvey Carignan - known as "the want ad killer" [5]
- Belle Gunness
- Robert Hansen
- Henri Désiré Landru
- Bobby Joe Long - known as "the classified ad rapist"
- Harry Powers - known as "the lonely hearts killer," "the matrimonial bureau murderer," "the West Virginia Bluebeard," and "the butcher of Clarksburg."[1]
- Helmuth Schmidt
- Philip Markoff- known as "the craigslist killer."[6]
- Lonely Hearts was a 2006 dramatized film account of the killings perpetrated by Ray Fernandez and Martha Beck.
- A 2010 movie, described as a psychological thriller, about (and also titled) Belle Gunness is in development.[7]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Lonely Hearts Murderer'". New York Daily News. April 5, 2009. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/04/05/2009-04-05_lonely_hearts_murderer.html. Retrieved Wednesday, April 22, 2009. "Long before there was a craigslist or dot-com dating, there were places where men and women who were too shy or busy to meet face to face could find romance. Calling themselves "matrimonial bureaus," these organizations were known mostly as the "lonely hearts clubs," and they flourished through the middle of the 20th century. [...] (The article is a side-bar to a story about Philip Markoff, a "Craigslist killer" and it describes the murders committed in 1931 by Harry F. Powers, the so-called "Matromonial Bureau Murderer," also known as "The West Virginia Bluebeard" and "The Butcher of Clarksburg.")"
- ^ 'The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers' by Harold Schechter; entry on "Ads."
- ^ http://www.timescall.com/BoulderJaneDoe/index.asp Boulder Jane Doe (This article covers a possible Colorado victim of Harvey Glatman, California’s “Lonely Hearts Killer.”)
- ^ http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/NEWS/70717016/1006&theme=BACKSTORY Backstory extras: The Lonely Hearts Murder Case (This article deals with Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck of Delaware)
- ^ "The Want Ad Killer" by Ann Rule, 1983 ISBN 0-451-16688-4. (This book is about the serial killer Harvey Carignan.)
- ^ Désiré Landru
- ^ Belle Gunness (2010) at the Internet Movie Database
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