MY CRIMINAL MUSEUM.

NZ Truth, Issue 128, 30 November 1907, Page 7

MY CRIMINAL MUSEUM.

BY GEORGE R. SIMS,

Mrs. Dyer's Dual Personality.

One summer afternoon I was standing some years ago m a sunny cell m Reading Police Station* It was the cell m which a woman of 57, named Amelia Elizabeth Dyer, had been placed immediately after her arrest on a charge of child murder. ...

While I was conversing with the official a prisoner m the opposite cell, a young man charged with being » deserter from the Army, befian to sing m a light te*or voice, "A boy's Jbest -friend is his mother."

It was a curious song to strike across the silence of the cells at the moment that I was concentrating my thoughts upon the wretched woman who had found scores of mothers to conn.le their infants to her, knowing nothing of her except that she was willing for a monetary consideration to relieve them of their offspring. . Most of THESE UNHAPPY WOMEN 'doubtless believed, or hoped, that the helpless little ones that they had brought into the world, and who had by the laws of nature a right to their love and protection, would be well treated. But they paid a lump sum for their b»oy to betaken away by a strang-. or* and many of these babies were foully murdered within a few hours 'df their mother's last look at them. The business correspondence of Mrs Amelia Dyer., baby farmer and "Maker of Angels," as the French have it, proved her to be a canting hypocrite of the first water. Writing m the name of "Harding" she secured one of the children she murdered, and she led the unfortunate mother to believe that ske was trusting her baby to a dear, motherly., soul. She wrote :—

Dear Madam, — Tn reference to your letter of adopting a child, I ■beg to say I shall be #lad to have a little baby girl, one I can bring up as mv own— a child with ' me would have a good home and a mo* Cher's love and care. We belong to the Church of England. [n another letter to the same, applicant she wrote >— There is an orchard opposite our front door. You will say it is ■healthy and pleasant. . . I ftrink Do r is is a very pretty 1 name. I am s"re she ought to be a very pretty cbiirt.

3v tMs letter Amelia Dyer obtained pos^c-pion of l ' "PRETTY LITTLE DORIS," and she murdered her just four hours after the mother, had given her dear Uttle Do is her parting kiss. Tie day a»tcr Mrs Dyer had murdered poor little Doris she wrote mo her letter to the mother m these wo? ds :— }ty dear little girl is a traveller, an.' no mi-taVe. She was so good and ('id not mind the journey a bit. A lone; letter next time. When she wrote this letter she had siran.-'lfMf fit tie Doris, and she bad the murdoral . body •m a carpet bap iy her side. After posting t-his letter Mrs Dyer met another woman who had a child to part with. She <ook this child id ire wilh her, murdered it, and pul ' itr'into the carpet bag that already ontained the dead body of little )oris. ' m the case for which this cold-

blooded murderess of infants 'had «ventually to answer, with her life, a young mother handed her baby, Doris Maxmon-, aged 10 months, over Mrs .Dyer, at Cheltenham, at 5.20 , m>) on March 31. 1896. At 10 p.m., Mis Dyer, carrying Doris Marmon, a parcel, and a carpet bag, got out of a 'bus at the corner of Mayo:oad, Willesden. Shortly afterwards she ' arrived at the house of her daughter, who lived m Mayo-road, -(,nd knocked at the door. The daughter saw she. had a child with her, and asked her to come m. She s^-id, ! "'No, I'M HOLDING THE BABY for someone who is coming on be•>id." , The daughter went into the house and into the' back yard, leaving her nol-her on the doorstep. When . she •eturned her mother was m the sit-ting-rocm putting the carpet bag uner the couch.

There was no baby to be seen, and Mrs Dyer told her daughter . that the lerson she was waiting for outside i'a f l come up and taken .the baby away vithher. ■ -„.':

Little Dorjs Marmoh, aged ten nonths, had. disappeared. Mrs Dyer had the £10 paid over with her m cr pocket, and the little white frock und clothes for the baby, which the oung mother had given her, were har evening presented by Mrs Dyer -> her daughter, who also had a "nurse child" called "Harold" that K- had taken for a. Jump sum.

Tl\e next -day! April 1, Mrs Dyer .rA her daughter went to Paddingon Station, taking little Harold vith them dressed m Doris Marmon's niQe new clothes,. An/d there met a woman who handed her over a 13---non^s-oM boy named Harry Simmonds. The woman was placing the. »Mld for a friend of hers m troubl<v She naid out of her own pocket '£-5, to Mrs Dyer, who for that sum had undertaken to be a mother to the little one. . ;

Mrs Dyer and her dan enter returned to the Mavo-roa'd with the ndw. •>aby. At 6 q'f-iocV the datitrhter went ■to h^r own bedroom, and put Harold to bed. Sbe left her mother iv •h>. Pil.-finsi-room with little Harvv : tin to that time little Harry Sim monds bad been ..

"CROSS AND FTDG-ETY." 3e cried' continuously: But when bhe daughter came back into the mother's room a marvellous improvement had : taken place m little Harry SHnmonds's behaviour. He lay quite still upon the couch, covered over with a shawL ■ He made no-more noise- that night. Not th<? feeblest little cry came from the baby's lips. Mrs Dyer said he was asleep, ami was not to be disturbed, and Mrs Dyer's daughter and her son-in-law were satisfied with the explanation. • . At .' 8 o-'clock the, next morning, the daughter- went to her "mother !s room. Harry Sinvmonds was 'not only silent, but There was no baby to be seen anywhere m the room, but. there was a parcel under the head of the couch. .

Mrs Dyer ha-d her breakfast and enjoyed it, and then asked casually for a brick. She was not supplied with one by anybody, so she found one for herself. , .'• There were a number of bricks ly-

ing loose within easy reach. There were several under a rabbit hutch m the back yardMrs Dyer went out into the yard and PICKED UP A BRICK, brought it back into the room, aad put it under the couch. That evening Mrs Dyer requested her daughter and her son-in-law to accompany her to Paddington. She was going back to Reading, where she resided.

The daughter went to her bedroom to get ready, leaving her mother alone m the sitting room, m which there was a brick, a carpet bag and something done up m a parcel. When the daughter returned she noticed that the carpet bag which had been under, the sofa was tightly packed. It looked very bulky, and would not close at the top. The top was covered with a piece qI brown paper, and \\\e bag, to make it secure, was tied round with a piece of cord.

There was no longer a parcel under the sofa, and there was no longer a brick.

The little family party then left the house, Mrs Dyer carrying the carpet bag. The daughter who had, according to- her evidence, been assured that little Harry Simmonds was all right, asked her mother m all simplicity what the neighbors would think seeing her come there with a baby and go away without one. Mrs Dyer repeated that it was "all right," and that evening, after an affectionate parting with her relatives, Mrs Dyer took the train from Paddington to ßeadme 1 , where she resided, and with an old lady as her assistant, carried on the

BUSINESS OF A BABY FARMER. She got into a compartment by herself, taking the carpet bag with her. When the daughter returned, to her home m Mayo-road she noticed that her Avofk-box had been opened, and she missed a skein of tape. It was on the evening of April 2 that Mrs Dyer left Mayo-road, Wiilesden. At 10 minutes to 11 that same night an engineer employed at Reading prison passed. a woman under a railway arch. The woman was coming., from the direction of the river: He recognised the woman as Mrs Dyer. \ She was not then .carrying a carpet bag. About this time a strange thing happened. Some men working on a barge on the river saw a fcrowh paper parcel suddenly rise to the surface of the water! They secured it, opened it, and mit discovered the dead body of an infant. The child had been strangled with a bootlace, and attached to its body was a brick. The stirring of the barge poles had brought the gruesome little parcel to the surface. The cunn ingest criminal invariably leaves a clue to his or her identity. Sometimes the police are fortunate enough to notice it ; sometimes it escapes their attention. In this instance, the criminal, who had put the strangled baby into the river, had wrapped the body m a large sheet of brown paper. On the inside of this brown paper was written the name and address of a woman who resjded at Reading. The writing, m spite of the action of the water, was still legible The name that the police read on the m

side of the brown paper '■ IN WHICH A MURDERED BABY, had been wrapped was "Mrs Dyer." Mrs Dyer was found to be a woman who took m. "nurse children." Inquiries were' made, and observation was kept upon her. Then her house was searched, and a quantity of baby clothing and pawn tickets for baby clothing was found. A visit was then paid to an address which had been found during the search, an address m Mayo-road, WULesden.

The discovery of the one body and certain facts which had come to the knowledge of the police' had led to the belief that there might be more babies m the river. That p#rt of it m which the ibrown paper parcel with the ackiress of Mrs Dyer on it had been found was dragged, and on April 10 a large carpet bag; was taken out of the water. The carpet bag was tied round with cord. This was cut, and inside the bag was found

". TWO DEAD INFANTS AND A BRICK. The mpther of little Doris Marmon and the woman who had with the best intentions m the world placed Little Harry Simmonds m a happy home, fora friend, saw ouce again the little ones they had parted with on March 31 ' and April 1. But they saw not the living children, but two murdered little babies lying side by side m the mortuary at Reading.

Two persons were arrested m consequence of these discoveries. One was Amelia Elizabeth Dyer and the other was the husband of Mrs 1 ' Dyer's daughter, who lived at the house m Mayo-road. He was arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact.

Tic' tightly round the throat oi each baby found m the carpet bag was a piece of tape. It, was a portion of the skein of tape which Mrs DyprV daughter had missed, from her work-bax when she got home after seeing her mother off to Reading on the nip-ht of April 2.

When the prisoners were charged at the police court the magistrate said that evidence ought to be obtained as to when and where the murders were committed.

So far nothing had been proved but that two babies had been put into the river after 'they had been strangled, -

The proof, so far as Doris Marmon and Harry SiTnmonds were concerned, was furnished by Mrs Dyer's daughter, who, at the Old Bailey, told the story of the happenings at the house at Mayo-road on March 31 and April 1 exactly as I have told it here. She was the principal witness against hei mother.

The defence raised on behalf of Amelia Dvcr was \

A PLEA OF INSANITY. The woman had been on more than one occasion the inmate of a lunatic asylum. But she was sane enough m her business methods. She obtained chil'ren— love children, as the poor (little creatures are called— by specious advertisements offering a happy home and a mother's care for a sum of money paid down. She received as pay for these infants m one instance £80, and m another £50, and innumerable sums of £10 and £12. After her arrest the police continued to drag the river, and more bodj ies of babies were found. The re- ! mains of children avore also found iin the garden of a. house she had occupied m afiother part of the country.

How many children she had murdered will never be known.

She was not practising her simple method of tape tied tightly round a little throat and a brick tied round the body for the first time when she caused Doris Marmon and Harry Sinwnonds to disappear as if by magic from the small sitting-room m the house m Mayoroad. \ The JURY TOOK SIX MINUTES to find their verdict. Mr Justice Hawkins, m sentencing the wretched woman to death, dwelt upon the monstrous nature of the black trade by which she had gained her living. She had many emotional moments after her . conviction, and was said to have died "penitent," and prior to her death to have held much edifying; discourse with those about her.

Amelia Dyer was an extraordinary mixture of sentiment and heartlessness. S-h,e murdered some of the children confided to her m the most callous and cold-blooded manner possible. But she was kind and gentle to others. .

After she had been arrested she was genuinely concerned as to the welfare of two of her nurse children, to whom she was devotedly attached,

While awaiting her trial she wrote and asked^ her daughter to send her "East Lynne." After she read the book she wrote, "Oh, how I cried over the death of Little Willie." . She was greatly .attached to her daughter and to her son-in-law, before her trial at the Old Bailey she WROTE A CONFESSION, stating that she and she alone was responsible for the murders, and that her son-in-law and her daughter knew absolutely nothing about them. After she had made the confession she said that she felt "quite, quite happy." Her son-in-law was acquitted. The daughter gave the evidence "that at the 'Old Bailey brought the actual murder of the children home to her mother. ;

I have m my possession a number of the letters .Mrs Dyer wrote before and • after her condemnation. They are all sentimental, and some of them hypocritically and cantingly "religious."

In all her letters to "dear ones" she signs herself by that one sweet word, "Mother."

Her letters, to her daughter up to the last are filled with affectionate and of+eri pathetic references. In one "her heart bleeds" for what her dear ones must, be suffering.

The woman was a "peculiar," but she was mot a lunatic. Thot she had attacks of ronhincholy at various? times of her life, and that during tbe=e attacks she developed a

TENDENCY TO SUICIDE, there is evidence, though it must be' admitted that it is not quite convincing. But she was undoubtedly a "dual personality." The personality that procured poor little babies for money down and then murdered them to save trouble and expense was sane enough. That was the personality that was hauged. The other personality was emotional, •hysterical and morbidly sentimental.

This personality endeavored more than once to commit suicide For the safc 11 of lv- inanity it was a pity that the early effort was frustrated.

It was this personality that caused her, before she knew that hei: daughter was going to give damning evidence against- her, to make a full confession exonerating her "dear ones" from all share m her infamies.

From facts which transpired long after the inhuman woman, had been laid m her grave of shame there is little doubt that she had carried on a wholesale trade of "baby murder. The conditions under which she received the children made that trade comparatively easy. She. took them "for ever and ever." In ' the few cases m which mothers made inquiries she . wrote lying letters filled ■with motherly sentiments, and "our little darling". was always well and happy, and growing into a handsome child.

It is quite possible that the sentimental personality may have believed it, although the children she referred to had already been done to death

BY THE "BRUTAL PERSONALITY." ■ There were moments of dual personality m Amelia Dyer even at the time she was comanittinp; her heartless and cowardly murders. Five minutes after- murdering little Doris Marmon she was giving the murdered child's clothes to little "Harold," the nurse child of her daughter. She thought the little darling would look, "nice" m them.

The morning after she had deposited Doris Marmon and Harry Simmonds m the river with a brick to keep them down she was displaying genuinely motherly affection for two children at her home whom she had* taken for "good" on the lump sum' system.