Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - "Ogress of Reading" Pt. 2 - Amelia Dyer

Episode Date: March 25, 2019

In this special crossover episode with Sami from Female Criminals, we find out that Amelia Dyer’s desire to murder babies was about more than the money. In the mid-1880s, Dyer was enjoying it so much, she left her home, her family, and even faked her own death to continue killing England's unwanted infants.  Sponsors! Upstart - Hurry to Upstart.com/SERIALKILLERS to find out HOW LOW your Upstart rate is! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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When Tiny Helena Fry first gazed upon Amelia Dyer, she had no idea she was staring into the face of her killer. Rather, she saw a homely, 59-year-old woman that gave off a grandmotherly woman. The elderly woman made baby Helena laugh. Helena smiled as she looked back at her mother, but her mother wasn't smiling. Instead, her mother kissed baby Helena goodbye and left the tiny cottage. As Helena's mother disappeared from view,

Helena began to cry. But her cries were quickly stifled as the old woman wrapped tape around the baby's neck and pulled. Helena Fry was one of Amelia Dyer's, final victims. Her decomposed body, stashed in a brown paper parcel, was discovered in the Thames hours after it had been thrown into the river. This discovery led police directly to the doorstep of one of history's most prolific serial killers. I'm Greg Paulson. And I'm Vanessa Richardson.

Welcome to part two of our special crossover episode of serial killers and female criminals on the podcast network. Today, the show where we delftsioners. delve into the minds and madness of notorious killers meets the show where we examine the psychology and atrocities of female criminals. We're joined by my female criminals co-host, Sammy Nye. Hi, everyone. Thanks for having me. I've brought together my co-hosts, Greg and Sammy, to explore the crimes of Amelia Dyer, the notorious 19th century baby farmer who murdered between 300 and 400 babies over the span of nearly 30 years. this episode, be sure to subscribe to female criminals to hear Vanessa and Sammy explore the

stories and psychology of other dangerous women. You can find female criminals, serial killers, and all of Parcast's other shows on your favorite podcast directory. At Parcast, we're grateful for you, our listeners. You allow us to do what we love. Let us know how we're doing. Reach out on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast and Twitter at Parcast Network. And if you enjoy serial killers or female criminals, the best way to help us is to leave a five-star review wherever you're listening. It really does help us. We also now have merch. Head to parkast.com slash merch for more information. Now let's continue the horrifying story of Amelia Dyer. Amelia Dyer began her baby farm murder spree in 1869. She turned her home into her own private

murder house, killing as many as 400 babies over the spree. span of 30 years. Due to overpopulation and extreme poverty, baby farming was a relatively common enterprise in Victorian England. Young, often unwed mothers would pay a baby farmer to take their unwanted child and find them adoptive parents. But instead of caring for these children, Amelia would kill them, pocket the cash, and quickly fill the empty crib with a new victim. Her methods were abhorrent. She would strangle, starve, or poison the baby. then discard their bodies in the River Thames. Last week, we discussed Amelia's upbringing,

how when she was 14, she witnessed the slow mental deterioration and death of her mother Sarah due to typhus fever. Amelia later became a nurse, but lost her job when she became pregnant with her first child. She and her husband, George, had to rent out their spare bedroom to make ends meet. One of their first boarders was a midwife,

named Ellen Dane, who opened Amelia's eyes, to the lucrative and sinister industry of baby farming. When Amelia's husband died in 1869, she opened her own baby farm to support herself financially. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note that Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Sammy. As we discussed last week, Amelia Dyer was a for-profit killer. According to doctors Michael D. Kelleher and C.L. Kelleher, she was, quote, strongly motivated by financial gain and was able to structure her crimes to be as covert as possible. She was able to organize all the details necessary to avoid drawing attention to herself, end quote. But in 1879, a local doctor grew suspicious when he noted that four babies had died in Amelia's care in the span of two weeks. He reported her to the authorities and she was arrested, but was convicted not of infanticide, but of negligence. Her sentence was six months of hard labor at Shepton Mallet Prison, England's most notorious, brutal penitentiary. This week we'll explore Amelia's short-lived attempt at honest work after her prison stint, and how her insatiable greed drove her to murder hundreds.

Following her six-month stay at the Shepton Mallet Prison in 1879, Amelia Dyer was noticeably disturbed. Months of hard labor, picking Oakham for six to eight hours a day, had worn on her. Not to mention the painful addiction withdrawal she would have suffered, cut off from opium for the better part of a year. But while an arduous stay in a notoriously filthy prison should have convinced anyone to stop killing babies for money, the experience merely tempered Amelia Dyer's criminal career.

When Amelia returned home from prison, she did attempt to make an honest living, at least for a little while. Amelia returned to one of her earliest jobs, one that she learned when she was a teenager living with her aunt, corset making. She found a job as a corset-making foreman at a workhouse. Like her position as a nurse, the hours were long, arduous, and provided little pay. To the surprise of no one, Amelia didn't stay at this job for very long.

To add to their financial stress, the shame of Amelia being labeled the tottered-down baby farmer was hard on Amelia's family. It's believed that the scrutiny forced Amelia's daughter Ellen to run away. She was rarely heard from again. Amelia and William, Amelia's second husband, decided to move the family away from Totterdown, but without steady work, they were forced to move from place to place around Bristol, never staying in one home for long. For three years, Amelia faced failure after failure in her attempt to live by the law.

The final straw came in 1884, when she attempted to open and run a general store. The store's quick demise convinced Amelia that earning an honest way, was never going to happen for her. She grew increasingly cynical about her prospects, and she always knew in the back of her mind how easy it was to make money as a baby farmer. So in 1884, she began taking in babies. However, she was determined to never get caught again. She decided to change her methods to elude any kind of suspicion. First, Amelia began targeting women of a more respectable class. Unlike the death, women, seeking to unburden themselves from the financial responsibility of a child,

Amelia's new clients were hoping to keep the evidence of an extramarital affair in the dark, and with a wealthier client base came a higher fee. She started charging 80 pounds per baby, and in almost all the letters she responded to, she insisted on straight out adoption instead of a temporary foster. Amelia also changed up her methods of killing and corpse disposal. Public perception towards infanticide had changed since she last baby farmed, five years previous. Now, a baby that appeared to have been abused could be reported to the authorities, and the caregiver could face legal consequences. If Amelia was caught with a sickly-looking baby, she could have been punished for neglect.

She knew that the last thing she needed was more attention. But Amelia also realized that the quicker a baby was disposed of, the quicker she could bring in another. Instead of poisoning or starving the baby to death, she began to outright strangle them. She took a piece of tape, wrapped it around the baby's neck, and pulled until the baby stopped breathing. Once the baby died, Amelia would forego seeking a doctor to write up a death certificate, and instead placed the baby in a box or bag, weigh it down with bricks, and throw it into the Thames. Amelia later admitted that she enjoyed watching the babies suffer as they died. It is possible that today she would have been categorized as someone with sadistic personality disorder.

The controversial diagnosis, included only in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, third edition revised, states that one of the traits for SPD includes amusement or pleasure at the psychological or physical suffering of others. Not only did Amelia enjoy killing her victims, but with each new baby she killed, she became increasingly desensitized to the act itself. Another widely speculated belief was that her addiction to Laudanum, which was back in full swing by 1884, may have numbed her to the horror of killing a baby.

Laudanum gives off a euphoric sensation when used in heavy doses. The euphoric sensation may have played into the pleasure Amelia sometimes felt when she strangled the babies. Throughout the rest of the 1880s, Amelia and her family moved from house to house around her family. to house around Bristol. In each home, she would baby farm. Aside from the frequent moves, Amelia and her family faced few problems. For six years, the family lived comfortably and never faced any kind of financial crisis or scrutiny from the authorities. But that was about to change.

As a farmer, Amelia made an agreement with her clients. It was generally understood that they would never see their baby again. But even with the social pressures put on women of a higher class, Not all of them wish to sever ties with their illegitimate children. Generally speaking, Amelia was able to lie her way out of letting these women see their babies. But in early 1890, a young, educated and unnamed governess, hailing from Exeter, began a correspondence with Amelia that would change her life forever. The governess revealed that she had become pregnant, and the father was the son of her boss.

A marriage proposal between the two was suggested, but her boss, but her boss hated the idea, as he believed the governess was of a lower class than them. The son was forced to move away and the governess became jobless. Amelia agreed to take the child for 15 pounds, with the final payment occurring two months after the baby was born. The governess moved in with Amelia and her family in their Horfield house, near Fishponds. Within those six months, Amelia had managed to convince the governess to trust her entirely. She swore that she would care for the baby as if it were her own.

The governess bought into it, hook, line, and sinker. Towards the end of the summer, the governess moved out of the dire home. A few weeks afterward, she returned to make her final payment, but things quickly went awry when she asked to see her baby one last time. Amelia brought her a child, but the governess quickly realized that the baby Amelia was holding wasn't hers. Amelia tried to lie her way out of the situation, claiming that babies change as they get older. But the governess didn't buy it.

She inspected the baby's hip for a birthmark she remembered the baby having. Her fears were confirmed. This wasn't her child. The governess refused to pay Amelia a single cent until she could see her actual baby. Little did she know, the infant was already at the bottom of a river. Amelia had a problem on her hands. For days, Amelia was hounded by the governess. To complicate matters, the father of the baby had recently been given permission to marry the governess.

So he also started dogging Amelia for answers. She was trapped. In an act of desperation, she told the governess that she had given the baby up for adoption to a couple who lived on a farmhouse. The couple had seen Amelia with the baby on a train platform and convinced her to give the baby up right then and there. Skeptical of her story, the governess and her husband decided to follow the lead. Which, of course, didn't pan out. A few weeks later, the couple was back on Amelia's doorstep. This time, she told them that the baby was given up for adoption in Bristol.

They went round and round like this for months, until the governess and her husband finally brought the matter to police. At the beginning of 1891, the police paid a visit to Amelia's house. There was just one problem. Amelia was gone. William told the authorities that Amelia had died, her baby farming business along with her. The police bought it, even if the governess didn't.

In reality, Amelia was hiding. She had fled in the middle of the night to a boarding house in Woodhill, a beautiful coastal town not far from Bristol. She hid there for the better part of the year, working as a nurse. And somewhat unexpectedly, she enjoyed her time in hiding. It was the most peaceful, tranquil stretch of her life. But it didn't last long. Amelia soon learned that William had lost his job

and the family was hard up for money. So she returned to her family in Bristol and opened up her baby farm again. Worried the governess would be on her trail, she and William moved almost constantly, never staying at any address for too long. But in October of 1891, Amelia's luck ran out. The governess fired.

finally caught up with her and brought the police right to Amelia's doorstep. But the confrontation wouldn't land Amelia in prison. Rather, she would land herself in an asylum. Coming up, we'll see how Amelia's struggle to stay out of prison was only just the beginning. Exema is unpredictable. But you can flare less with ebbglis. A once-monthly treatment for moderate-tissaphyr exoma. After an initial four-month-longer dosing phase, about four-incent,

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They questioned her on the whereabouts of the governess's child, and Amelia struggled to provide answers. She reverted back to her original story about handing the baby to a couple on the train platform, but they were gaping holes in her story. Regardless, neither the police nor the governess could provide evidence against Amelia, so there was little the authorities could do. No charges were brought against her, but the entire ordeal shook her, and she fell into hysterics. Amelia began to relive her six horrific months of hard labor at Shepton Mallet, and it pushed her over the edge. That night, she attempted suicide. William returned home from work to discover Amelia writhing on the ground,

slash marks across her throat. She claimed to be hearing voices urging her to kill herself. For roughly a month, Amelia's daughter Polly was charged with looking after her mother as she experienced a nervous breakdown. William was away at work, so Polly became the sole caregiver. Amelia continued to claim to hear voices and even attacked Polly on at least one occasion. Amelia likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD as a result of her six months in prison. According to Dr. Lee G. Thomas, symptoms of PTSD include, quote, reliving a traumatic event, avoiding anything which brings back memories of the trauma, abnormal jumpiness or irritability, feeling stressed out constantly, a low or depressed mood most of the time,

and feelings of self-blame or anger towards some other figure supposed to be responsible for the present situation. The threat of possibly going back to prison theoretically made Amelia relive her time in Shepton Mallet and caused a mental breakdown. But Amelia had also proven herself to be smart, calculated, and manipulative. She had witnessed the mental deterioration of her mother and spent time working as a nurse in an insane asylum. She knew that life as a patient in an asylum was far better than that of an inmate in prison.

Despite being rattled by her time in prison, Amelia had never before shown signs of PTSD. It wasn't until the police came knocking that she suddenly fell ill, leading some to speculate that Amelia's mental breakdown was completely fabricated. if she could get thrown into the asylum, the police might ease up, or at least believe that she had no idea what happened to the governess's baby.

After weeks of Amelia's erratic behavior, William decided to call a physician and have Amelia looked at. The physician, Dr. David Bernard, believed that Amelia was a danger to herself and to her family. He referred her to the county asylum in Gloucester, 30 miles from her current home in Eastville, Bristol. The process of admission into a Victorian-era asylum wasn't the easiest. Legally, a potential patient required two written certificates of recommendation for medical physicians and, in some cases, an order from the magistrate.

But in practice, the system was abused. There is no record of a legal order by a magistrate for Amelia Dyer to go to the county asylum in Gloucester. Dr. Bernard's letter seems to have been enough. Amelia arrived at the asylum in the middle of November, 1891. Upon her arrival, Amelia's mental state drastically changed. No longer was she raging about voices or violently attacking the people around her. In fact, she was known for being quiet as a mouse. It appeared that Amelia was perfectly sane. There's also a possibility that she was going through

Laudanum withdrawal. Laudanum has the capacity to make people extremely volatile and aggressive. And perhaps the stress of the police visit led Amelia. to abuse more of the drug in the weeks following when her behavior went downhill. Once in the asylum, Amelia could no longer take laudanum. As the laudanum wore off, it may have affected the way Amelia acted while in the asylum,

numbing her to the world around her. Life in a Victorian mental asylum was one of routine. Amelia would be given three meals a day, at 7 a.m., 12.30 p.m., and an early evening meal before bed. usually it was tea and bread. When she was receiving treatments, Amelia would be forced to work indoors,

either in the laundry room or the needle room. Since knowledge of mental health was still vastly misunderstood at this time, the key form of treatment for residents would be to try to relax them. The daily routine was seen as a way to keep patients from becoming too aggressive and irritable. It was boring, but it kept Amelia out of trouble

and out of prison. She rather enjoyed it. But her stay at the asylum wouldn't last long. She quickly recovered, and by January of 1892, was discharged and back in her home. She moved back to Totterdown, and feeling the governess business was behind her, immediately opened up a farm. And though it might seem ludicrous, given the circumstances. Throughout 1892, the number of babies she took in increased. It seems that at this point, Amelia was addicted to the money baby farming brought in,

in the same way she was addicted to laudanum. Around this time, Amelia and William's relationship was beginning to strain. To Amelia, William had always been a step down from her first husband, George. She didn't value him or his opinion, as became evident when their daughter, Polly, began a courtship with a man named Arthur Palmer. Arthur was a few years older than Polly, and was something of a dandy. He owned a store for those with expensive tastes. In due time, Arthur sought out Williams' permission to marry Polly.

Instead, Amelia gave her approval without William's consent. She largely ignored William, focusing instead on her farm. Throughout 1893, Amelia continued taking in baby after baby. The house is said to have been littered with them. Amelia, always one step ahead, managed to evade any kind of attention. But that changed in December of 18. Days before Christmas, Amelia Dyer opened her door to discover a ghost from her past. To her shock and horror, the governess and her husband had come calling.

It had been nearly two years since Amelia had last seen them. Somehow, they managed to find her, and they still wanted to know the truth about what happened to their child. No one knows exactly how this meeting went. The fine details are, like much of Amelia's life, lost to history. It is known that the meeting was short, and when the governess and her husband left, Amelia went for a bottle of laudanum. Polly claims that Amelia went out and returned with enough of the drug to kill someone. Amelia was genuinely scared, and this time it seemed like her intentions to commit suicide were real. Amelia had a nervous breakdown.

She downed a lethal amount of laudanum. William ran for two doctors, who Amelia suddenly and violently attacked. It seems that when Amelia realized her suicide attempt had failed, she immediately pled insanity. As the doctors tried to subdue her, she claimed that the voices were telling her to hurt them. She even said she was hearing non-existent birds. The doctors had seen enough. They recommended she returned to the asylum. With the magistrate's approval, Amelia Dyer was committed to the Somerset County Asylum in Wells.

But in less than a month, she was released. By the end of January 1894, Amelia had returned home, although the family reunion would be short-lived. For whatever reason, Amelia decided to leave William, taking their children with her. For the first half of 1894, Amelia moved from house to house, never settling down long enough for anyone to find her.

The governess was always on her mind, and yet Amelia continued to take in babies. She refused to find any other means of income. but if Amelia thought that the constant moving would be enough to lose her arch foe, she was wrong. Four months after returning home from the Somerset asylum, Amelia was once again confronted by the governess and the police. Once again, no charges were brought.

And, like a vicious cycle, Amelia tried to make her way to the asylum. However, this time she forewent the nervous breakdown. Instead, Amelia went directly to the Somerset County Asylum. Though the asylum allowed Amelia to stay the night, the attending doctors didn't find cause for her to be admitted and sent her away. Disgruntled, Amelia reached into her bag of tricks and decided to do what always got her out of trouble. Attempt suicide.

This attempt, unlike previous attempts, was clearly for show. Amelia tried to drown herself in a body of water that barely came up to her skirt. She was feigning insanity, discovered by police officers, quote, in an excited state and taken to the Bristol General Hospital. For two weeks, Amelia was under observation, but ultimately released. The doctors noted that she was clearly suffering from melancholia, but there was no reason to admit her into any kind of asylum.

It's clear Amelia was using the asylum as a security blanket, but that doesn't mean that every one of her symptoms was faked. According to Project No, an American, American Addiction Center's resource, a side effect of laudanum addiction is dysphoria, marked by depression and anxiety. It is possible that Amelia was using more laudanum than usual, which could have led to genuine melancholia. Either way, Amelia had another breakdown and told Polly and Arthur that she was going to drown herself. She was admitted to the Gloucester County Asylum at Wadden. As with her other stays, this one wasn't for very long, though she would later

claim, the experience broke her spirit. Her exact treatment isn't known, but it seems to have stayed with Amelia for the remainder of her life. Amelia was released from the asylum in March of 1895, but it didn't mean she was entirely free. Although Amelia had made decent money as a baby farmer, the almost constant moving, and life as a single mother, had proven expensive. Amelia was destitute. For the first time since her late teens, Amelia found herself impoverished. After officially pleading poverty, she was sent to the Barton Regis Workhouse in Bristol. Life at the Workhouse was monotonous and hard. She spent her days weaving, breaking stones, or picking Oakham. It was bleak and backbreaking. Staying at a workhouse, though hard, would at least provide her with a place to sleep. Polly and Arthur had since since

married and moved far away to Plymouth. Because of this, Amelia had no place to go, though it is possible that Amelia chose to remain destitute for the time being in the hopes of remaining incognito. The governess was always on her mind. For now, in the workhouse, she was just a 59-year-old pauper. It was miserable, but safe. However, safety was never enough to quell Amelia Dyer's love of money. It seems that all the while at the workhouse, she was plotting her return to baby farming. With Polly and Arthur gone, she would need to find a new assistant. She found that help in the form of a 70-year-old pauper named Jane Smith. In a moment, we'll meet the woman who provided Amelia some temporary relief before causing her a world of pain.

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into helping her start her next baby farm. Jane was a widow who relied on the workhouse to survive. When Amelia told Jane about her baby farming operation, she convinced her that it was a noble and virtuous profession. They would be helping young girls unburden themselves. Jane Smith bought into what Amelia was selling. Amelia even promised that the two would live together for the rest of their days as sisters. Jane Smith was in.

They left the workhouse and moved in together in fish ponds. Almost immediately, Amelia began running ads for babies. It had been too long since Amelia had seen any kind of real money. Right off the bat, she took in as many babies as she could. Naturally, Amelia never told Jane about the killing aspect of their farm. When Amelia left the house with one baby and returned with a different one, Jane thought that was part of how it worked. She trusted Amelia fully.

The scheme Amelia orchestrated was that of a mother-daughter family business. She convinced the susceptible Jane to let Amelia call her mother or Granny Smith. It reassured the young mothers that they were dealing with two sweet, harmless old ladies who would find loving homes for their unwanted children. Amelia kept to her old tactic of moving from house to house every couple of months. She refused to let the governess interfere with her work again. At some point, they moved to 45 Kensington Road in Reading, Berkshire, along the River Thames. For almost 30 years, Amelia Dyer had managed to successfully evade capture for murdering upwards of 300 babies,

but all things must come to an end. Eveleen Marmon was a 25-year-old barmaid who gave birth to little Doris Marmon in January of 1896. In March, she placed an advertisement in the paper seeking a wet nurse. Right next to Eveleen's advertisement was one from a Mrs. Harding looking to adopt a child for a married couple, quite the fortuitous coincidence. Mrs. Harding, one of Amelia's aliases, answered Eveleen's advertisement

and convinced Evelyn that Doris would be in good, capable hands with her. For several weeks, Evelyn and Amelia corresponded, and Evelyn grew ever more pleased that she found the right person to care for her baby. Amelia traveled to the town of Cheltenham to pick up Doris. When Amelia arrived, Evelyn was shocked that the woman she had been writing to was in her 50s. It made her nervous. But Eveleen's fears were put to rest when she noticed how well Doris took to Amelia. For the price of 10 pounds, Amelia took Doris and promised Evelyn that she could come to Redding

whenever she wished and see the baby. A few days later, Eveleen received a letter of safe passage from Amelia. Eveleen wrote back, asking how Doris was doing, she didn't get a response. Amelia never returned to Redding with Doris Marmon alive. Instead, she took the train up to Wilsden, just outside of London. It was here that she visited Polly. While at Polly's house, Amelia took a piece of tape,

wrapped it around Doris' neck, and pulled until the baby stopped breathing. The next day, Amelia decided to kill another baby in her care, Harry Simmons, while she was still with Polly. However, there wasn't enough new tape to tie around Harry's neck. So Amelia decided to use the same tape on Harry that she had used on Doris. Both bodies were then stuffed into a carpet bag and waited down with bricks. She returned to Reading, and the moment the train arrived at the station,

Amelia quickly made her way to a bridge over the River Thames and threw the carpet bag into the river. Amelia was pleased with both of these kills. Sure, they had gone off without a hitch. Little did she know that her partner, Jane Smith, was growing suspicious. In the months leading up to the murder of Doris, Jane Smith had begun to feel unsettled. The number of babies coming and going was becoming too much for her to handle.

Why were the babies she was saying good night to, replaced with different babies in the morning? Something was afoot. While on a stroll one day, Jane passed a shop displaying photographs in the windows. Jane felt sick as she realized that the images were of babies that had been abused. Little did she know, Jane had stumbled upon an office for the National Society. for the prevention of cruelty to children. The NSPCC was a recently created organization whose purpose was to protect children from harm.

Jane broke down in tears over the images. The wife of NSPC officer Charles Bennett saw Jane through the window and went to console her. Jane told Mrs. Bennett about the strange goings-on at her home that she was beginning to think her friend had not found the disappearing babies' adoptive parents. Mrs. Bennett assured Jane that her husband would come and investigate. From that moment on, Charles Bennett became Amelia's shadow.

Weeks later, Amelia's house began to smell foul. Jane was the first to notice it, but Amelia said it was nothing. The stench only grew. Amelia knew the source of the smell. It was the body of Helena Fry. A baby Amelia had adopted for 10 pounds. For some odd reason, Amelia didn't dispose of Helena's body right away. For roughly three weeks, the body sat decomposing in a parcel in the house.

In the early hours of March 30th, Amelia finally took the foul-smelling parcel with Helena's rotting corpse and threw it into the Thames. In an act of pure carelessness, Amelia didn't check to see if the parcel had sunk. She simply walked away. Later that morning, a local bargeman guiding his cargo along the river noticed something floating along the bank. Using his hook, he retrieved the parcel from the water and opened it. Curious, as he unwrapped the layers of brown paper, it slowly revealed parts of a human foot and leg.

The bargeman rushed to the authorities. Constable James Anderson, a Redding police detective, finished unwrapping the parcel with a surgeon, and uncovered the remains of Helena Fry. They were horrified to find the baby with a piece of tape tied around her neck, a clear indication that she was murdered. Constable Anderson noticed a label for the Temple Meade's train station in Bristol inside the parcel.

Upon further inspection, he soon discovered handwritten markings that, luckily, weren't affected by the water. The note contained a name and an address. Mrs. Thomas, 26. Piggots Road, Lower Caversham, Redding, Oxton. 26 Piggots Road was an address that Amelia lived at during the early weeks of 1896. Constable Anderson went to the Temple Meads train station, and a clerk was able to identify not only the parcel wrappings, but also tell them that Mrs. Thomas had moved to 45 Kensington

Road. Constable Anderson and Sergeant Harry James began conducting their investigation. Neighbors on Piggott's Road confirmed that Mrs. Thomas was a former resident and that there seemed to be a steady stream of babies coming and going through the house. More interesting to the police, however, was that the former resident was also on the radar of the NSPCC. The pieces were falling into place, but not wanting to scare their suspect away, the police decided on a sting operation. In the first days of April, the police attempted to set Amelia up,

using a young woman looking to arrange an adoption. But Amelia was out of town, visiting Polly. Two days later, on April 2nd, Amelia returned and met with the police decoy. The two struck a deal, and a baby would be delivered the next day. But on April 3rd, Good Friday, Amelia wasn't visited by a young woman looking to have her baby adopted. Instead, she was met by Constable Anderson and Sergeant James.

The police raided the house. and discovered evidence against Amelia everywhere. Spools of tape, baby clothes, a tin can which, judging by the smell, was clearly a place a strangled baby was dashed. Anderson and James were disgusted and arrested Amelia on the spot. The next day, she would be charged with murder.

The police discovered letters that led them to Polly and Arthur, believing Arthur was an accessory to Amelia. The police arrested him too, despite protests of not being involved. A month later, Holly was arrested after accidentally revealing her own baby farm operation that resulted in the death of a child. In the following weeks,

more bodies were discovered in the Thames, including the carpet bag containing Doris and Harry, Amelia's final two victims. 50 babies were discovered in the Thames between Redding and London. Amelia told the police, quote, You'll know mine by the tape around their neck.

end quote. Upon hearing of Arthur and Polly's arrest, Amelia began to panic that her crimes would catch up with her daughter and son-in-law. In a strange, rare act of kindness, Amelia Dyer wrote a confession that exonerated Polly and Arthur. But she still tried to avoid the hanging that was in her future. During her trial at the old Bailey, Amelia pleaded insanity and claimed that it was hereditary.

She even cited her numerous asylum visits over the years as proof. doctors who examined Amelia's mental state claimed that she was far from being insane. The most incriminating testimony against Amelia was when a man testified to having seen her arrive at the river with the carpet bag that contained Helena, but watched her leave without it. It took the jury four and a half minutes

to deliver their verdict, guilty. Her sentence, death by hanging. On June 10, 1896, Amelia walked to the gallows at Newgate Prison. Her executioner, James Billington, asked Amelia if she had any last words. Amelia responded, quote, I have nothing to say, end quote. With that, Billington put the bag over her head and noose around her neck. At nine o'clock in the morning, Amelia Dyer swung.

The Redding Baby Farmer, as she would be labeled in the papers, was dead. Amelia's trial and execution brought a public outcry for stricter regulation on adoption. Parliament did enable local authorities to police baby farmers more closely, but despite their best efforts, the trafficking of infants would not stop.

In the 10 years after Amelia's death, three more baby farmers would be found guilty and executed for murder. After her death, local mythology about Amelia grew. There was speculation that Amelia Dyer was also Jack the Ripper, since their crimes coincided time-wise. The theory was that the sex workers Jack the Ripper killed were actually women seeking abortions from Amelia.

But while it's an entertaining idea, there is many evidence to support this. While Amelia was gone, her legacy was not forgotten. In 1898, two years after Amelia's execution, an unattended brown parcel was discovered in a train carriage. Inside the parcel, a three-week old girl. Thankfully, this little girl was still alive. Investigators discovered that a woman named Jane Hill had answered an advertisement from a Mrs. Stewart, offering to adopt the little girl for 15 pounds. Detectives found Mrs. Stewart and questioned her and her husband about the matter. Soon, they would learn that Mrs. Stewart was an The baby farmer's real name was Polly, wife of Arthur Palmer.

Like mother, like daughter. Polly had seemingly learned from her mother's mistakes and was attempting to carry on the grisly family legacy, killing children, pocketing the change, and letting their bodies litter the River Thames. Thanks again for tuning in to female criminals and serial killers. Join us next Wednesday for another episode of Feudel. female criminals and next Monday for a new episode of serial killers.

And thank you for joining us today, Sammy. Of course. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to female criminals. You can find female criminals, serial killers, and all of podcasts, other podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, Castbox, tune-in, or your favorite podcast directory. Everyone always asks how to help the podcasts, and if you enjoy them, the best way to help is to leave a five-star review. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Female criminals and serial killers were created by Max Cutler, are a production of

Cutler media and are part of the Parcast Network. They're produced by Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Michael Langsner, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, additional production assistance by Maggie Admeyer and Carly Madden. This episode was written by Joe Guerra, and stars Vanessa Richardson, Sammy Nye and Greg Poulson. Do you 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.

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