The Lonely Hearts Killers: A Match Made for Murder

Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez are a couple better known as “The Lonely Hearts Killers.” Raymond had gotten a head start on his criminal career before meeting Martha. He mainly committed petty crimes such as theft until 1947 when it’s believed he committed his first murder. In 1947 when Raymond responded to Martha’s lonely hearts ad in the newspaper, she was to be his next victim. Instead the couple ended up falling in love. When Martha found out about Raymond’s criminal past she thought it was a brilliant scheme. She joined him and together they used the personal ads to search for their victims. Those unfortunate women who were only looking for love were instead conned, robbed, and murdered. The lonely hearts killers are known to have killed four people, but may have had has many as 20 victims.

Who were “The Lonely Hearts Killers?”

Martha Beck

Martha Beck was born in Milton, Florida on May 6, 1920. She had an awful childhood that included being raped by her brother, then was beaten and blamed for it by her mother when Martha confided in her about it. When Martha was a teenager she ran away from home and joined a traveling circus, where she worked with a young Truman Capote for a short time.

After school, she studied nursing and had jobs as an undertaker’s assistant then a nurse at an Army hospital in California. At night she would spend her time at nearby bars, flirting with soldiers and sometimes having sex with them. One of these encounters led to her becoming pregnant. The man wanted nothing more to do with Martha, going so far as to attempt suicide by jumping off a bridge into the bay. He survived and vanished from her life.

Martha was ashamed that a man would rather die than be with her. Depressed and alone, she went back to Florida. She bought herself a wedding ring and fabricated a story about being married to the child’s father who was away in the military. She told townspeople that they would meet him when he returned from the Pacific. Since this would never happen, she eventually had to come up with a way of explaining his continued absence. Her solution was to send herself a telegram announcing her “husband’s” death in the war. This garnered much sympathy for her and her story was even published in the local newspaper. She gave birth to this child, a daughter, in the spring of 1944.

Just a few months later, Martha fell pregnant again by Alfred Beck who was a bus driver in Pensacola. This time she was able to convince the man to marry her, though the marriage only lasted six months and they were divorced.

In 1946 she started working at a children’s hospital in Pensacola. Martha was not happy being a single mother of two. She dreamed of finding love, the kind of which was portrayed in the romance books and movies she enjoyed. In 1947, she placed a lonely hearts ad in the newspaper to which Raymond Fernandez responded, starting their twisted relationship as criminals.

Raymond Fernandez

Raymond Fernandez was born in Hawaii on December 17, 1914. During his teenage years, Raymond worked on his uncle’s farm in Spain. At the age of 20 he met a woman, Encarnacion Robles, who he married and went on to have four children with. During WWII he served in Spain’s military, first with the Merchant Marine, then with the British Intelligence.

In 1945, after the war was over Raymond decided to return to America to find work and then bring his wife and children over as well. He was seriously injured when on the ship headed to the United States. His skull was fractured by a falling piece of steel, damaging the frontal lobe of his brain. The ship docked in December of 1945 and he was put in the hospital where he stayed until March of 1946. Raymond was never the same after the accident, both physically and mentally. His head was left with bald patches and scars. Before, he had always been sociable and courteous, but afterwards he became distant, moody and quick to anger. This was when he began his life as a conman, thief and murderer.

After being released from the hospital, Raymond was on a ship destined for Alabama. Before getting off the ship in Mobile, he decided to steal clothing and other items from the ship’s storage room. He was caught with the stolen items while going through customs. He was sentenced to a year in prison in Tallahassee, Florida. While incarcerated, he was introduced to voodoo and black magic by his Haitian cellmate. The more he studied the occult, the more he believed in it. He claimed to be priest who had mystical powers given to him by the spirits. He felt that voodoo gave him powers over women. He told people that he could make love to women across great distances by sending them envelopes with special voodoo powders inside. He would ask these women to send him locks of their hair that he would use in voodoo rituals to strengthen his control over them.

Raymond was released from prison in 1946 and moved to Brooklyn, New York to live with his sister. He would complain of painful headaches and lock himself in his room for days. He would spend his time corresponding with women through the “lonely hearts” ads in the newspaper. He would seduce unsuspecting women and gain their trust so that he could steal their money, jewelry, or anything else of value. After he got what he wanted he would disappear from their lives. The women would often be too humiliated to report the theft.

In 1947 Raymond began a relationship with Jane Lucilla Thompson, who had recently separated from her husband. The sadness and loneliness that came with her failed marriage made Jane the perfect target for Raymond. After many letters exchanged between them, Jane agreed to meet him. Using Jane’s money they took a sightseeing trip to Spain where they booked a hotel room as husband and wife. Raymond was still legally married to his first wife who had remained in Spain with their children waiting for Raymond to bring them to the United States. For some reason Raymond thought it would be a great idea to introduce the two women to each other. It worked out for a short time and the three of them would go out to dinners together. That changed on the night of November 7, 1947. There was some type of disagreement between the women, though the details are unknown. Maybe they figured out each others real relationship with Raymond. There was another altercation between Jane and Raymond at the hotel and he was seen running out of the room late that night. Jane was found dead in the hotel room the next morning. There were no obvious signs of death and she was buried without an autopsy being performed. It was later suspected that she had been poisoned to death.

Raymond got on the first boat he could back to America, once again abandoning Encarnacion and his children in Spain. He went back to New York where he was able to take ownership of Jane’s apartment with a forged last will and testament.

In December of the same year he answered the ad of Martha Beck, intending to make her his next victim. Instead they fell in love and teamed up to become “The Lonely Heart Killers.”

A Match Made for Murder

Raymond wrote to Martha the he lived alone “here in this apartment much too large for a bachelor but I hope someday to share it with a wife.” He chose to write to Martha because she was a nurse which showed that she had “a full heart with a great capacity for comfort and love.” Martha was so moved by the romantic words from Raymond that she carried the letter with her everywhere. The two of them frequently sent letters and photos to each other over the next couple weeks. Martha was overweight and self-conscious about sending the photos, writing “it doesn’t do me justice.” Of course Raymond had no concern about looks because he was only after her money.

When Raymond asked Martha to send a lock of her hair, she didn’t find it odd at all. In fact she was excited to have a man that wanted a piece of her. She didn’t waste time sending the hair which she sprayed with her perfume. Martha thought that her luck in love was finally turning around and that she had found her prince.

The two decided to meet in person and on December 28, 1947 Raymond arrived by train to Pensacola, Florida. When the couple arrived at Martha’s home, she introduced him to her children and then made dinner for everyone. After the children were put to bed, they consummated their relationship. Martha swore her undying love for Raymond and wanted him to stay in Florida to marry her. Raymond wasn’t sure that Martha’s assets were worth the trouble of carrying on the relationship. He told Martha that he had to return to New York for work and promised to return with money so that she could move there to be with him. Martha though of this as a kind of proposal and told everyone in town that she was to be married. A wedding party was planned for her, but on the day of the party she had received a letter from Raymond saying that she had “misunderstood” his feelings and that he would not be coming back to Florida.

Martha was heartbroken when she read the letter and attempted to kill herself. After hearing about the suicide attempt, Raymond reluctantly agreed to her visiting him in New York. She spent two weeks with him before returning to Florida. Upon her return she was fired from her job without an explanation. She packed her things and she and her children got on a bus back to New York. Raymond was surprised to see them there when he answered a knock on the door on January 18, 1948. Although unhappy to see them at first, Raymond began to enjoy the way Martha took care of everything for him. She was happy to cook and clean and cater to his every need. Raymond didn’t want the kids around, however, and he insisted that they had to go. Maybe he did this to test Martha’s loyalty to him. Martha surely passed the test because on January 25, 1948 she abandoned her two children at a Salvation Army.

When he saw that she was loyal to him, he came clean about how he illegally made his living by deceiving and stealing from women. He also told her about his wife and children that he had left in Spain. Martha felt that it was her duty to stand by her man and help him any way she could. They came up with the plan of acting as brother and sister, so that when Raymond replied to ads, the women would have a false sense of security knowing that there was another female involved.

“The Lonely Hearts Killers” Victims

They chose Esther Henne as their first target together. The couple traveled to Pennsylvania to meet Esther and it only took a week before her and Raymond were married at the county clerk’s office. After the nuptials, the three of them returned to the apartment in New York. Ester later said, “For four days he was very polite to me. Then he gave me tongue lashings when I wouldn’t sign over my insurance policies and my teacher’s pension fund to him.” Ester decided to leave when she began hearing stories about how Raymond went to Spain with a woman who was later found dead. Raymond had taken her car and a few hundred dollars from her, but at least she escaped with her life.

Martha and Raymond swindled several more women before finding Myrtle Young from Greene Forest, Arkansas. On August 14, 1948 Raymond married Myrtle. Posing as Raymond’s sister, the jealous Martha did everything she could to prevent the marriage from being consummated. This included insisting on sleeping with Myrtle in her bed for several days. Myrtle grew so upset that Raymond gave her a heavy dose of drugs that rendered her unconscious. They robbed her of $4,000 then put her on a bus back to Arkansas. The police were called when the unresponsive woman wouldn’t get off the bus at the destination. She was taken to a hospital where she died the next day from a brain hemorrhage.

They wasted no time finding their next victim, 66-year-old widower Janet Fay from Albany, New York. Janet was a religious woman and it took weeks of exchanging letters for Raymond to convince her that his intentions were honorable. Janet agreed to meet him and his “sister.” Martha and Raymond arrived in Albany on December 30, 1948 and checked into a hotel as husband and wife. The next day Raymond showed up at Janet’s door with a bouquet of flowers and they spent the day getting to know one another. Raymond introduced Martha to Janet and the three of the spent the next few days touring the city and going out for dinner. Janet was comfortable enough to allow them to stay with her in her apartment.

Soon Raymond proposed to Janet and she accepted. He convinced her to leave Albany so that they could get an apartment together in Long Island. Janet agreed and readied for the move by taking out over $6,000 from her bank accounts. On January 4, 1949, the newlywed couple with Martha in tow left Albany for Long Island were Janet rented an apartment for them. That night Martha became enraged when she saw Janet in bed with Raymond.

She later told police, “I was just burning up with jealousy and anger!” when she went into the bedroom and saw “Janet naked with her arm around Raymond.” Martha claimed that Janet yelled, “I won’t allow you to live with us! You’re the most brazen bitch I’ve ever seen!” The argument continued until Raymond allegedly told Martha, “Keep this woman quiet. I don’t care what you do! Just keep her quiet!” Martha got a hammer and savagely struck Janet multiple times with it. To make sure the job was complete, Raymond straggled her with a scarf.

Martha would later testify that she blacked out and couldn’t remember what happened next. She claimed, “The next I knew, the defendant Fernandez had me by the shoulders and was shaking me!” Janet’s body lay at her feet, blood everywhere from a horrendous head wound. There was a scarf tied tightly around her neck. Martha said that after the killing she was in a “trance,” as her and Raymond cleaned the room and wrapped Janet’s body in towels, shoving it in a closet.

The next morning they bought a large to trunk to put the body in and took it to Raymond’s sister’s house to be stored in her basement. They went back eleven days later, on January 15, to retrieve the trunk. They took it to their rented house and buried it in the cellar, then covered the grave with cement. They spent the next week cashing Janet’s checks that she left behind. They typed a letter to her family that read, “I am all excited and having the time of my life. I never felt as happy before. I soon will be Mrs. Martin and will go to Florida!” Martin is the last name that Raymond was using while in his relationship with Janet. They must have though they were being very clever, but they made a huge error. Janet’s family knew that she didn’t own a typewriter and that she couldn’t type. The family contacted the police at once. Unfortunately, Martha and Raymond were able to get away before the police arrived.

They ended up in the suburbs of Grand Rapids, Michigan where they met Delphine Downing after a few weeks of exchanging letters. Delphine was a 28-year-old widower and had a 2-year-old daughter, Rainell. One day Delphine became upset when she saw Raymond in the bathroom without his toupee on. She was stunned to see his baldness and scars. She accused him of deception and fraud. Raymond tried using his charms to calm her down, but it didn’t work. Delphine took sleeping pills, though it is unclear whether she took them herself or if they were given to her. Delphine’s deeply unconscious state scared her daughter who cried when her mother didn’t respond to her. The child’s crying infuriated Martha who choked the little girl, but not to the point of killing her. Raymond thought that if Delphine awoke to see bruises on her child she would call the police, so he shot her in the head as she slept. They disposed of her body the same way they had Janet’s. They wrapped Delphine up in sheets and carried her to the basement where they buried her. Raymond covered the grave with cement while Martha cleaned up the murder scene.

Over the next two days they cashed Delphine’s checks and stole any items of value from the home. They had to decide what to do with Delphine’s daughter. They couldn’t keep her because the child refused food from them and leaving her at an orphanage would seem suspicious. Ultimately Rainell was drowned in a bathtub. Exactly what led up to the murder of the child is unclear. There are accounts claiming Martha got fed up with the child’s crying and drowned her. Other stories say that Raymond forced her to do it against her will. Either way, Rainell was buried next to her mother in the basement.

The next day the police knocked on their door as the couple were packing to go on the run once again. Neighbors had alerted them when they hadn’t seen Delphine in days. Police searched the house and found the graves in the basement. Martha and Raymond were arrested on February 28, 1949.

Trial and Outcome

Neither Raymond nor Martha asked for a lawyer or tried to avoid being questioned. Many believed it was because they were arrested in Michigan, a state that didn’t have the death penalty. In fact, they told the police everything, signing a 73-page confession. The D.A. of Kent County assured them that they wouldn’t be extradited to New York where there was the death penalty.

The case became a media frenzy, being reported on across the country. The public was outraged and demanded that the Lonely Heart Killers receive the death penalty. The pressure from the public was so great that many phone calls where exchanged between the governor of New York and the Kent County prosecutors. Despite what was promised to Raymond and Martha, Kent County made a deal with New York. Kent County would waive criminal charges related to the murders of Delphine and Rainell Downing and allow the couple to be extradited to New York to face charges in the murder of Janet Fey.

The trial of Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez began on June 28, 1949. Witnesses included the medical examiner, friends of Janet Fay, and Janet’s landlord. On July 11th, Raymond took the stand and denied having anything to do with her death. He said he only confessed in Michigan in an attempt to help Martha. “Everybody was permitted to question me, including the newspapermen,” he said. “I didn’t know if I was coming or going. And the D.A. said that whatever I said would not be used against me. They would look upon me as a murderer in New York and let her go,” he said. “As a man, I could take it better than a woman. If I cooperated, they said I would do six years and be paroled. Then I could do what I liked. If I didn’t cooperate, I would go to jail for life.” When asked if he shot and killed Delphine Downing, he replied, “that is true.”

On July 25th, Martha Beck took the stand. She started with talking about the abuse she endured during childhood, then talked about her failed relationships and multiple suicide attempts. When asked about Janet Fay’s murder, Martha said her last memory was of Raymond telling her to keep Janet quiet. The next thing she remembers is her shoulders being shaken my Raymond and him saying, “My God, Martha, what have you done?” When questioned about the scarf around Janet’s neck, Martha replied that her “training as a nurse taught her that a tourniquet about the neck would stop bleeding from the head.” So that’s what she told Raymond to do. She was on the stand for three days and among other things was asked for details of her sexual relationship with Raymond. She described sex acts that were related to the practice of voodoo and many of the women in the courtroom walked out, not wanting to hear anymore. Other spectators outside the courthouse were so angered by what they heard that they tried to push their way into the courtroom and extra security had to be brought in.

After 44 days of trial, the case went to the jury on August 18th. As soon as they received the case a vote was taken. Eleven voted for conviction, the one hold out wondered if Martha was sane and if Raymond had premeditated the murdered of Janet Fay. The jurors worked deliberating through the night and reached a decision by 8:30 a.m. the next morning. They found both Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez guilty of first-degree murder. The lonely hearts killers were taken to Sing Sing Prison. A few days later, on August 22, the couple were sentenced to death by electric chair.

The End of “The Lonely Hearts Killers”

After several failed appeals they were both to be executed on March 8, 1951. That morning for breakfast Martha had ham, eggs and coffee. For her last meal that evening she requested fried chicken, French fries and a salad. Raymond’s last meal was an onion omelet, French fries, chocolate and a Cuban cigar. As the time drew nearer he was given a note from Martha, professing her love for him. “The news brought to me that Martha loves me is the best I’ve had in years. Now I’m ready to die!” he said. “So tonight I’ll die like a man!”

The executions were carried out shortly after 11p.m. Raymond was put to death first at the age of 36. His last words were, “I wanna shout it out; I love Martha! What do the public know about love?” Martha’s final words were, “My story is a love story. But only those tortured by love can know what I mean. I am not unfeeling, stupid or moronic. I am a woman who had a great love and always will have it. Imprisonment in the Death House has only strengthened my feeling for Raymond.” She was 31 years old.

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