Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - Killer Couples Pt. 4: Ray Fernandez and Martha Beck

Episode Date: February 18, 2021

Once a promising intelligence officer, Ray Fernandez transformed into a career conman, swindling lonely women out of their savings. When he met Martha Beck in 1947, his Lonely Hearts con became a deadly scheme of spiralling jealousies and stolen fortunes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of these killers' crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, incest, and child abuse that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. January in New York is a tough month. It's typically the coldest of the year, with none of the December holiday excitement to distract from the bitter wind and merciless snow. But a few days after New Year's, 1949, Janet Faye, had never felt happier. A widow at 66, Janet never really expected to find love again. Still, she'd put a lonely heart ad in the newspaper because a friend had refused to drop

the subject. She hadn't really planned to go on any dates, and she certainly never expected to meet a man like Charles Martin. Janet looked across from the passenger seat at Charles, who was driving them south to their new home in Long Island. He grinned back at her. smile that lit up his whole handsome face, and Janet felt a delightful fluttering in her stomach. The last few days had been a whirlwind. She knew she was being reckless, that Charles was decades younger than her, that her family and friends would be bewildered when she introduced them, but there wasn't a doubt in her mind. This was the man she was supposed to marry.

There was just one problem, not even a problem really, so much as a peculiarity. Charles' sister Martha was sitting in the back seat and would be moving in with them. Janet couldn't quite make sense of the relationship. Charles insisted he and Martha were so close that he couldn't possibly move unless she came with them. But the siblings barely seemed to interact. Martha was withdrawn, and whenever she and Charles were in the same room, there was an undercurrent of tension. Janet shook it off and offered Martha a smile. She knew only too well how complicated family could be.

The fact that Charles was so devoted to his sister was a good sign, just more evidence of his kindness. Janet gazed across at her fiancée again. She was so absorbed by him that she didn't notice Martha glaring at her, her eyes dark with pure, vicious hatred. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is serial killers. a Spotify original from Parcast.

This is the final episode of a four-part look at Couples Who Kill. We've been taking a closer look at four Valentine pairings who were driven to murder. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Here on serial killers, we're usually looking at just one monster, exploring what moved them to kill and kill again.

But this month, we're looking at love in some of its more twisted incarnations. Whether for money, sex, or a shared madness, these couples work together to kill and conceal. While from the outside, they look just like two people in blissful, innocent love. Last time, we looked at the murder spree of Gerald Gallego and Charlene Williams, who kidnapped and murdered at least ten people. Despite the dark bond between the couple, Charlene later claimed that she'd been too afraid of Gerald to disobey him

and that she was in fact one of his victims. Today, we're delving into the story of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, aka the Lonely Hearts Killers. In the late 1940s, Raymond seduced vulnerable women who he met through personal ads and conned them out of their life savings. But once he meant Martha, an insecure and volatile woman with a troubled woman with a troubled past, the spree took a violent turn. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer,

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That's ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely heart. Killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels, but you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify. It's the commerce platform that can help you with literally everything, website design, marketing, shipping, and more. So start your business today with the best partner, Shopify, and get that. Sign up for your $1 per

month trial today at Shopify.com slash killers. That's Shopify.com. slash killers. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories,

and the book-to-screen favorites you've already read twice. Off-campus, every year after, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen.

Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Based on his seemingly idyllic childhood, Raymond Martinez-Fernandez's family never imagined what he would someday become. Born in Hawaii in 1914, Raymond spent his first three years there before relocating with his family to the Seaport town of Bridgeport, Connecticut. We don't know much about Raymond's childhood, but by all indications, he and his family lived a peaceful life.

At 17, Raymond moved to Spain, where he spent time working on his life. on his uncle's farm and fell in love with a local girl. The couple were married by 1935, when Raymond was 20, and had four children together. But Raymond was restless, a young man with ambitions that didn't include raising a family. And so by 1939, Raymond abandoned his wife and children and embarked on a military career. During World War II, Raymond made a name for himself, serving first in the Spanish Merchant Marines and later the British Intelligence Service. officials saw him as loyal and diligent, noting that he carried out his difficult and dangerous duties well.

Raymond had a bright future, and after the war, he decided it was time to seek his fortune back in America. But the trip home was a fateful one. On board the ship, Raymond suffered a terrible accident. A steel hatch fell directly onto his head, fracturing his skull and causing damage to his frontal lobe. When he recovered, Raymond was different. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Greg. True crime fans may well be familiar with the body of evidence linking childhood head trauma to homicidal behavior later in life. It's specifically damaged to the frontal lobe, the area of the brain responsible for memory formation an impulse control and even empathy that has been associated with violent crime. A 2001 overview in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry noted that the strongest evidence was for an association between prefrontal lobe damage

and, quote, an impulsive subtype of aggressive behavior. In other words, the head trauma Raymond suffered could have made him less cautious and more reckless. Raymond's reported personality change following the head trauma, suggests that he may have suffered the kind of frontal lobe damage described in these studies. And along with this shift in his nature, his career ambitions seemed to evaporate too. Soon after he was released from hospital in the U.S., Raymond was arrested for petty theft and sentenced to a year in prison. If the head injury had pushed him toward darkness, his time behind bars was the straw that broke the camel's back. Raymond's cellmate was into the occult and only too happy to share his knowledge of voodoo and other black magic.

Raymond saw this as an opportunity. He believed that he could use his new supernatural skill set to seduce women, but his intentions were anything but romantic. Once a respected intelligence officer, 31-year-old Raymond was now a con man in the making. He emerged from prison in 1946 with a fully formed M.O. After moving to New York City, he wasted no time putting it into action. Raymond's plan was simple, a 1940s ancestor of what we now might call catfishing. He scoured personal ads in local newspapers looking for women who seemed lonely and vulnerable. He responded to their ads with charming, thoughtful letters describing his military service

and his deep desire to settle down. He reportedly started wearing a toupee, which hid the consulate. spurious scar from his accident and made him just a little bit more handsome. After sweeping his target off her feet and gaining her trust, Raymond would steal money, jewelry, and anything else of value he could find before disappearing into the night. Most of Raymond's victims, realizing that they had been conned, were likely too embarrassed to report him. Raymond knew this only too well. In fact, his scheme relied upon it. It was thanks to this sense of shame that he managed to go undetected for at least a year, during which he conned an unknown number of women.

One would-be target was 27-year-old Martha Beck, who Raymond began writing to in 1947. He had no idea he was about to meet his match. Born in 1920 in Florida, Martha Jules Seabrook grew up feeling out of place. She reportedly had a glandular condition that caused her to gain weight and to go through puberty early. All of these factors amounted to a lonely childhood, during which Martha was often mocked by her peers at school. As she entered her teenage years, Martha's life took an even darker turn. When she was around 13, she was reportedly raped by her older brother. It seems likely that the trauma of this assault compounded the self-esteem issues she already had.

Despite her struggles, Martha worked hard and was determined to succeed. After finishing high school, she attended nursing school and graduated first in her class. At the Pensacola Hospital where she was hired, she was promoted quickly and later moved to California to work at an Army hospital. But Martha's personal life remained a struggle. She got involved with a man who refused to marry her after she became pregnant, which was unthinkable at the time. Ashamed but defiant, Martha returned to Florida to have her baby

and told friends and family that the baby's father had died tragically at war. Her lie was so convincing that the story was featured in a local newspaper. Not excited about the prospect of raising her child alone, Martha remained resolute in her search for love. Soon after giving birth to a daughter, she became involved with a bus driver and got pregnant again. The couple were briefly married, then divorced after just six months. But she kept his name, Beck.

Now a single mother of two young children, 26-year-old Martha feared she would never find the love she craved. So when she put a personal ad in the paper in 1947, she didn't hold out much hope for the responses. But Raymond Fernandez's letter felt like an answer to her prayers. He was accomplished, ambitious, and based on the photographs he sent her, handsome. Sure, he had some odd requests. In one letter, he requested a lock of Martha's hair,

explaining that he wanted to use it in his occult practice. But it appears she was more than happy to oblige. In December of 1947, 33-year-old Raymond flew to Florida to meet Martha in person. It's not clear exactly what happened during their Ted-A-Tet, but it doesn't seem as though Raymond stole anything from Martha. Still, it seems that Raymond planned to break things off with Martha fairly quickly, but she had no intention of letting him go so easily. In January, Martha lost her job,

Though she was distraught, she figured there was nothing keeping her in Florida anymore and flew to New York. When she appeared on Raymond's doorstep with her two children in tow, he was stunned. Raymond agreed to let Martha stay, on one condition. The children had to go. He had abandoned his own young children in Spain and had no desire to help Martha erase hers. A few days later, 26-year-old Martha left her son and daughter at the local Salvation Army and moved in with Raymond. This callous act was a disturbing demonstration of just how far she was already willing to go for Raymond. Up until this point, Raymond had worked alone. He was good at it.

It's striking, therefore, that he let Martha in, not only into his home, but also in his nefarious scheme. Perhaps asking Martha to abandon her children was a kind of test for Raymond to see how far her devotion to him would go. If it was, she passed. In exchange, Raymond opened up to her. He told her about the lonely women he'd conned and the family he'd turned his back on in Spain. Rather than alarming her, hearing the truth apparently made Martha more certain that this was the man she was destined to be with. For so long, ever since the abuse she'd suffered as a child, Martha had felt she had to hide who she really was. But in Raymond, she found someone who truly understood her. She'd do anything to keep him by her side. It seems as though neither Raymond nor Martha had regular employment

at this time, and money was tight. Raymond couldn't afford to give up his lonely heart scam, and Martha didn't ask him to. Instead, just a few weeks after moving in, she became his partner in crime. Forty-year-old Esther Henney was a Pennsylvania schooltee. who fell for Raymond's scheme that February. Before the month was over, the couple had gotten married in a Virginia County clerk's office. When Raymond returned to his New York apartment with his new wife, they were greeted by Martha,

who introduced herself as Raymond's sister. While Esther may have found it strange that the adult siblings shared an apartment, it seems she accepted the arrangement, at least initially. Unfortunately for her, things only got weirder from there. In a moment, Martha's jealousy pushes her over the edge. Hi, it's Vanessa from Parkast.

They say there's someone for everyone, a soul to share your secrets with, a companion to grow old with, a conspirator to commit crimes with? Starting this February on Spotify, learn about the lethal and legendary lovers who fought the law in the Parkast Limited series Criminal Couples. If you've ever referred to your best friend or beloved as your partner in crime, this exclusive series is for you. Beginning February 1st, join me for a collection of unlawful love stories from shows across

the Parcast Network. Discover the extreme beliefs of cult leaders Tony and Susan Alamo, enter Fred and Rose West's real-life House of Horrors, and experience the madness and motives of the San Francisco Witch Killers. Fall for the most famous and feared pairs in history in the Spotify original from from Parkcast, Criminal Couples. Enjoy two-part episodes every Monday starting February 1st. Follow Criminal Couples free and exclusively on Spotify. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars.

Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamava, Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. Now back to the story. In February of 1948, 33-year-old Raymond Fernandez was weaving a complicated and devious,

romantic web. He had just moved in with his new wife, Esther, after sweeping her off her feet. Meanwhile, his girlfriend, 27-year-old Martha Beck, moved in too, under the pretense of being his sister. Unbeknownst to Esther, she was the latest in a long line of victims who had been conned out of their savings by the seemingly charming Raymond. The newlywed bliss did not last long. Although Raymond kept up his polite, smooth-talking act for a few days, the mask soon slipped. In an interview years later, Esther recalled that Raymond, quote, gave her tongue lashings, after she refused to sign over her insurance policies and teachers pension to him.

After this, Esther was scared and told Raymond and Martha she wanted to leave. It's not clear exactly what happened between the trio, but Raymond and Martha stole hundreds of dollars from Esther before she was finally able to make it back to her home in Pennsylvania. Perhaps to avoid any fallout from Esther, the couple left New York for a while. Over the next several months, Raymond and Martha conned an unknown number of women

and out of money and valuables in just the same way. The scam put a strain on Raymond and Martha's relationship. Watching Raymond, court and woo other women was much harder than Martha had imagined. Throughout the spring and summer of 1948, she became consumed by jealousy and insecurity. The situation was a ticking time bomb. That August, Raymond met 40-year-old Myrtle Young

through a Lonely Hearts Club in Arkansas. Once again, Martha posed as Raymond, and was a constant presence by his side as Raymond wooed Myrtle. Even after Raymond and Myrtle married, Martha was determined not to let them consummate the marriage. According to one report, so determined that she slept in the newlyweds' bed with them on their honeymoon. Unsurprisingly, this sparked an argument and Myrtle told Martha to leave. Raymond, sensing the scam about to go south, tried to persuade her to listen, but Martha wouldn't go. Martha had already passed Raymond's test.

She abandoned her children for him. Perhaps now she wanted him to prove his love by choosing her once and for all. This is one possible explanation for what happened next. In mid-August, Raymond reportedly gave Myrtle an overdose of barbiturates, rendering her unconscious. Then he and Martha stole $4,000 from their victim and put her on a bus headed towards Little Rock, Arkansas.

She was found on the bus by police, clinging to life, and died in the hospital on August 21st. It's not exactly clear what the couple's plan was, or whether it was Raymond's intention to kill Myrtle. Barbiturates are sedative drugs, often used as sleeping pills, so it's possible he hoped she would simply sleep through the journey and wake up with no clear memory of what happened. It's also not clear whether Raymond and Martha ever found out that Myrtle died. In any case, she was history as far as the couple were concerned. They were already seeking their next victim. Martha's jealousy and insecurity didn't mesh well with the couple's scheme,

which required Raymond to seduce and often marry his victims. But money was still tight, and they didn't see another way to make ends meet. So during the fall of 1948, Raymond answered several lonely hearts ads from women who seemed promisingly vulnerable and eventually honed in on a target. 66-year-old widow Janet Faye lived alone in downtown Albany, New York. She was a devout Catholic, so Raymond adapted his writing, including plenty of religious references as he courted her by mail. Raymond's favorite thing about Janet was her money. Her late husband had left her with a nice nest egg. And Janet, well, like so many women before her, she was smitten, with her.

with no idea of Raymond's intentions. That December, she invited him to come and visit for a romantic New Year's Eve. On the big night, Raymond met Janet at her apartment. Notably, Martha stayed behind at the couple's hotel on this occasion. It's possible that Janet asked him to leave Martha behind, understandably not thrilled by the idea of her new man bringing his sister to their first date. Or perhaps Martha simply knew herself well enough by this point to know that she was was better off not seeing the seduction. She knew that Raymond was devoted to her, and only her.

She knew that these lonely women were only marks, that they meant nothing to him. So why put herself through it? But the next day, Raymond did introduce his sister Martha to Janet. The two must have gotten along well enough, because Janet soon invited both Raymond and Martha to stay at her apartment. In days, Raymond proposed to Janet, who was thrilled. Raymond persuaded her to move to Long Island with him, and to clear out all of her local bank accounts in Albany before she did. Janet agreed and withdrew her life savings of around $6,000. Today, that would be around $60,000. On January 4, 1949, the trio drove south to Long Island, and already trouble was brewing. The very next day Martha caught Raymond and Janet in bed together. She felt jealousy and rage surged through her at the sight of Janet with her arms around Raymond. After days of holding it all in, Martha saw red.

But she didn't complain and she didn't shout. No, instead, she picked up a ball-peen hammer and bludgeoned Janet to death. Then Raymond made sure the job was finished. Perhaps to prove his loyalty to Martha once again, he choked Janet with her own scarf, making sure there was no life left in her. Just as quickly as Martha's rage erupted, it subsided. The couple worked quickly to clean up the bedroom,

wrapped Janet's body in bedsheets, and stuffed it temporarily into a closet. It's notable here that Martha was the one who initiated the violence, a rarity in killer couples. Back in our first killer couples episode, we discussed a 1990 paper on joint murders for the Journal of Crime and Justice in which Philip Jenkins described two types of partner serial killers, the dominant submissive pair and the equally dominant team. In all three of our episodes so far, Ray and Fay Copeland, Alton Coleman and Deborah Brown, and Gerald Gallego and Charlene Williams, the central couple fits squarely into the dominant submissive category. Each of these cases involved an older male partner with more criminal experience and a younger abused female partner. In those instances, the woman's participation in the criminal activity seems more compliant than enthusiastic,

and perhaps motivated more by fear of the male partner than anything else. Raymond and Martha, though, seemed to be a rare example of an equally dominant team. In this type of partnered homicide, both members of the couple derive satisfaction, from the killings, and both are willing participants. Raymond did have an extensive criminal history before he met Martha, but he had no track record of violent crime, only theft and fraud. Martha had no criminal history at all that we know of, which begs the question, would Raymond's lonely heart scam still have escalated to murder

if he never met Martha? Would Martha's insecurity and anger have boiled over into violence if she hadn't been drawn into Raymond's scheme. It's impossible to know for sure, but it was too late to turn back now. The couple had bound themselves to each other at a terrible price. They'd committed acts of unthinkable darkness and cruelty in the name of love, and they were only just getting started. A few days later, Raymond drove Janet's body to a house he had rented in Queens. He dragged her into the basement where he broke through the floor and dug a hole below. He lowered Janet's body down, then refilled the hole with cement. Now all that was left was to make their getaway.

Over the next few days, the couple cashed as many of Janet's checks as they could, while forging letters from Janet to throw her family and friends off the scent. Using a typewriter, they impersonated and ecstatic Janet, who was, quote, having the time of her life with her new fiancé, Charles. Raymond and Martha sent these letters before they left town, hoping to cover their tracks. But they made a miscalculation. Janet didn't own a typewriter,

nor had she ever sent typed letters. When they received the phony correspondence, Janet's friends and family were immediately suspicious and contacted New York authorities. But by then, Martha and Raymond were long gone, allegedly heading for Alaska, where they intended to stay off the grid. They just had one stop to make in the Midwest. Raymond always had one eye on the next con,

and had been corresponding with a new mark for weeks. Delphine Downing was a 41-year-old widow living in a suburb of Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her two-year-old daughter, Raynell. She'd been intrigued by Raymond, who sounded charming and successful in his letters. More important to Delphine, though, was the fact that Raymond said he loved children.

Raymond and Martha met up with Delphine right after arriving in Michigan. As ever, Martha introduced herself as Raymond's sister, and the unsuspecting Delphine invited the couple to stay in her home. Once again, as soon as Raymond and Delphine started having sex, Martha was consumed by her jealousy. No matter how many times this scenario played out, and no matter how well she knew exactly where it was going, She simply couldn't stop the rage from bubbling up.

Though Martha restrained herself and didn't resort to violence, Delphine was still suspicious. According to one report, she was alarmed when she caught Raymond without his tope on and saw the scar on top of his head. This unsettling revelation, coupled with the strange atmosphere Martha caused, made something click for Delphine. She rightly accused Raymond of being a fraud and told him to get out of the house. She didn't want him anywhere near her daughter. Here's where the details get a little fuzzy.

Either Raymond or Martha gave Delphine some sleeping pills to calm her down, presumably hoping to buy themselves some time. But with Delphine asleep, Martha's agitation only grew. Two-year-old Raynell, probably frightened by the shouting and by her mother's sudden absence, was crying incessantly. The sound set Martha's teeth on edge. Finally, she snapped and strangled the toddler until she was unconscious. As soon as he realized what Martha had done, Raymond decided that the jig was up.

Raynell was still alive, but she had bruising around her neck, which Delphine would see as soon as she woke up. There was only one thing to be done. As Delphine slept, Raymond found a handgun that had belonged to her late husband. He wrapped the gun in a blanket to muffle the sound. and shot Delphine point-blank in the head. After their experience with Janet Faye, Raymond and Martha knew what to do next. They carried Delphine's body down to the basement, where they dug a deep hole and dumped the corpse inside. While Raymond filled in the makeshift grave with cement, Martha cleaned up the bloody bedroom as best she could.

Bizarrely, the couple were in no rush to leave the scene of the crime. In fact, they stayed in Delphine's house for, several more days, rifling through her possession, stealing everything of value. But there was another problem to deal with. Raynell woke up and began crying again. The couple tried to feed her, hoping food might quiet her down, but she refused to eat. Eventually, the murderous duo decided they had only one option left. The girl's crying was going to attract the neighbor's attention before much longer. While Raymond went down to the basement to dig another grave, Martha filled a sink with water and drowned Raynell.

Meanwhile, it had been days since Delphine or Rainel were last seen outside the house, and their neighbors were beginning to talk. News travels fast in a small town, and before long, someone filed a missing person's report. Still, Raymond and Martha had no intention of fleeing the scene. They liked the Downing's house, especially now that they had it all to themselves, and basking in the afterglow of their latest slaughter, they felt more in love than ever. Up next, Raymond and Martha's sloppiness catches up with them. Now back to the story.

In February of 1949, Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck had killed at least four people in their murder-for-profit spree. They hadn't initially set out to kill people, merely to calm them out of their savings and valuables. But 28-year-old Martha's violent jealousy and 34-year-old Raymond's cold amorality proved to be a deadly combination. After bearing Delphine Downing

and her two-year-old daughter, Raynell, in their own basement, Raymond and Martha didn't leave. Instead, they hung around for days, plotting their next move and luxuriating in a home that wasn't theirs. On February 28th, Michigan Police Police arrived on the Downing's quiet suburban street and knocked on the door. Martha and Raymond tried to deliver a plausible cover story, claiming that Delphine and Raynell were out of town and had left them to house sit. But given what they'd heard from the neighbors, the police

were not inclined to believe them. Before long, the cop's search brought them down to the basement, where they found the very clear evidence of two freshly dug graves. After confirming that Delphine and Raynell were buried there, they arrested Raymond and Martha. At the Kent County District Attorney's Office, the couple seemed calm and willing to talk, but only on one condition. They wanted a guarantee that they would be tried in Michigan, not New York. At the time, Michigan didn't have the death penalty, while New York did, so Raymond and Martha knew that if they were extradited to New York to stand trial for Janet Faye's murder, they would very likely be executed. When the Kent County DA reportedly assured them that they would not be handed over to the authorities in New York, the couple opened right up.

They signed a 73-page sworn confession, detailing all of their murders and cons. According to some reports, the couple confessed to murdering as many as 20 women. It's impossible to know how accurate this total really is, especially since the tone of their confession was described as gleeful. As experienced con artists who lied as easily as breathing, it's entirely possible they exaggerated their kill count. After making their deal with the DA, Raymond and Martha felt cocky on top of the world. Now that they knew they weren't going to die themselves, it seems they were riding high on the thrill of all the lives they'd taken. Unfortunately for Raymond and Martha, they were about to get a taste of their own medicine. The DA's reported pledge not to extradite them was a lie.

Before the ink was even dry in their signed confession, Michigan authorities started making arrangements to send the couple back to New York. What goes around comes around. The con artists, in the end, weren't smart enough to know they were being conned. In early March, Raymond and Martha arrived in New York, charged with murdering Janet Faye. Their trial began in June. of 1949 and captured headlines nationwide, as the media dubbed them the lonely hearts killers.

Raymond took the stand first and adopted a contrite tone that stood in contrast to his earlier admissions. He insisted that he had nothing to do with Janet's death and tried to recant his confession. He claimed that he only confessed to taking part in Janet's murder to protect Martha, who he said killed Janet in a violent rage. He insisted, All My State, were made for the purpose of helping Martha. I love her. It couldn't be anything else. But Raymond didn't do much to help himself on the stand.

He talked explicitly about his sex life with Martha and with his various victims. He also described how he would toy with the women, playing them off against each other to determine who would get to sleep with him. Things weren't going well. However, when Martha took the stand on July 25th, her testimony started out on a more sympathetic note.

She described being the victim of incest and sexual assault from her brother, and about her string of bad luck with men. And then she described how Raymond had changed her life, how she would do anything for him, and how the two of them grew closer as they conspired to scam vulnerable women out of their life savings. Far from remorse, she showed contempt for the victims, recalling that Raymond used to mock the quote,

Old Hags, who wrote back to him. Martha went into lurid detail about their relationship, describing how they incorporated Raymond's love of black magic into their sex life. But when the DA asked about their feelings for each other, Martha responded, We loved each other, and I consider it absolutely sacred. After a somewhat promising start, the jury seemed less fond of Martha by the end of her testimony.

At least that's what the verdict suggests. On August 19th, the couple were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck spent less than two years on death row at Sing Sing, exhausting all of their limited options for appeal. On March 8, 1951, Raymond and Martha's time ran out. 36-year-old Raymond was the first to die in the electric chair. As he was escorted into the execution chamber that night, he was reportedly paralyzed by fear and had to be forced into the chair by guards. But his final words were defiant.

He declared, I want to shout it out. I love Martha. Before leaving her cell, 30-year-old Martha made her own unforgettable final statement to the media, words that emphasized her utter lack of remorse for her crimes and the twisted romance she used to do. justify them. She said, what does it matter who is to blame? My story is a love story. In the history of the world, how many crimes have been attributed to love? Martha was right. Countless crimes throughout the centuries have been explained away as an unavoidable consequence of passion, lust, or romance. But her words seem to suggest that she believed love should be a get-out-of-jail-free

card for moral consequences. Perhaps even that that being in love should be treated like a mental disorder that makes a person not responsible for their criminal actions. Though we've all heard the phrase love makes you crazy, there's no medical basis for this idea. The closest condition in the field of psychology is called shared psychotic disorder, which is commonly known by its French name, Foliadieu, or Madness for Two, a condition where two people share the same fantasies or delusions. In her 2013 overview of partnered homicide in the journal

Aggression and Violent Behavior, criminologist Elizabeth A. Gurian discussed shared psychotic disorder as it relates to couples who kill together. She lays out the most common scenario, a charismatic and dominant partner who is also paranoid, delusional, or both, and who succeeds in instilling their beliefs in their more suggestible lover. But there's no evidence that either Raymond or

Martha suffered from psychosis, and neither was the obviously dominant partner. Though she might not have been a true mastermind, it seems that Martha's uncontrollable jealousy played a key role in the couple's murder spree. Curiously, though stories about her and Ray note her strong emotions, Martha seemed steady in the face of death. Unlike Ray, Martha was calm, and said nothing as she was led from herself for the last time. She was pronounced dead a little after 11 p.m. Society and pop culture tell us that romantic love is the be-all and end-all for human happiness. Even today, the message often seems to be that if you're in a committed romantic relationship, you've achieved peak happiness. It's where so many stories end, with a happily ever after.

But this can obscure the darker and more dysfunctional side of intimate relationships. Because sometimes, love is just a smoke-scroup. that narcissists and abusers use to justify their behavior. Love can manipulate. It can be wielded to control vulnerable people. And as we've seen throughout this series, love can destroy lives in more ways than one. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers.

We'll be back next week with a new episode. For more information on Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, amongst the many sources we used, we found our Barry Flowers book, serial killer couples, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week.

Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound designed by Anthony Valsick, with production assistants by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Joshua Kern. This episode of serial killers was written by Emma Dibdin, with writing assistance by Joel Callan, fact-checking by Bennett Logan, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Hi, it's Vanessa again. Before you go, don't forget to check out the new Parcast Limited Series Criminal Couples.

From apocalyptic cult leaders to bank-robbing bandits to married mafiosos, these couples give new meaning to till death do us part. Enjoy two part episodes every Monday starting February 1st. Follow criminal couples free and exclusively on Spotify. Want to hear something spooky. Some monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot. Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession.

Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up, getting ready for bed, is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks.

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