Crime Junkie
Crime Junkie
"My story is a love story, but only those tortured with love can understand what I mean. I was pictured as a fat, unfailing woman, I am not unfailing, stupid, or moronic. In the history of the world, how many crimes have been attributed to love?" — Martha Beck
"My dearest Mary, you may think I am mean for not writing to you any sooner. Please excuse me, for I have been so busy going and seeing so many different places and also doing much shopping. I am all excited and having the most wonderful time of my life. I never felt as happy as before. I soon will be Mrs. Martin, and then we will go to Florida for the winter." — Janet J. Faye (as dictated in a letter)
"Charles Martin is not my real name." — Raymond Fernandez
This episode chronicles the grim story of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, dubbed "The Lonely Hearts Killers." Their criminal enterprise began by exploiting "Lonely Hearts" advertisements, a form of personal matchmaking popular in the mid-20th century. Raymond, under various aliases like Charles Martin, would cultivate relationships with women, promising marriage and a better future, while Martha, posing as his sister, provided a veneer of legitimacy. Their primary motive was financial, swindling victims out of their assets before resorting to murder when discovery seemed imminent.
The narrative unfolds with the case of Janet Faye, a devout Catholic from Albany, New York, who met Raymond through a Lonely Hearts ad. Her stepdaughter, Mary, grew suspicious of Janet's sudden engagement and a peculiar, typed letter, leading to a missing person's report. Investigations in Michigan later uncovered the brutal murder of Delphine Downing and her young daughter, Raynell, whose bodies were found buried in the basement of their home. The arrest of Raymond and Martha in Michigan led to their confessions, revealing their true identities and the depth of their depravity.
As Raymond and Martha confessed, they implicated themselves in numerous other crimes across the country. Their scheme involved targeting women for their money, with murder being the extreme consequence for those who discovered their deception or stood in their way. While Raymond claimed responsibility for up to 20 murders, Martha admitted to knowing of three, including Janet Faye and Delphine Downing and her daughter. The investigation revealed a list of 17 women Raymond had been corresponding with, underscoring the widespread nature of their fraudulent activities.