Amelia Dyer: Britain’s Baby Butcher, Part lV

By 1890, Amelia seeking higher profits had started targeting the babies of the more affluent for this would increase her wealth. She now received £50-80 one-off fees. Some speculate that she took this additional risk for she felt that she would not be able to baby farm much longer without being caught.

Amelia Dyer serial killer.

In this year she arranged to take into her care the illegitimate baby of a governess. This young woman had fallen in love with the young master of the house she worked in—she became pregnant.

She saw one of Amelia’s adverts and moved in with the older woman to hide her condition, Amelia then was able to gain her trust. She convinced the governess to leave her baby in her care.

This governess returned to visit her baby months later. She quickly became suspicious because the infant she was handed was not hers—it did not have a birthmark on its hip that her baby had.

This young woman then informed the authorities but Amelia managed to stall them by sending them on a wild goose chase—she told the police the couple that adopted the baby moved here-- no they moved there.

Amelia moved to several towns after this, but the governess continued to pursue her.

Feeling pressured and in a panic, she fell into another depression and drank two bottles of Mother’s Friend laudanum in a suicide attempt. But she survived. This overdose would have killed most people, but her extended use of this opiate had given her a cushion.

She was placed in an asylum once more but when she was released, she quickly went back to farming and murder.

Amelia had one last breakdown in 1893. She by this time was an expert at feigning insanity—after all, she had watched her mother’s spiral into mental illness. She made repeated statements such as, “The birds were telling me to do it.”

All of her asylum placements had been timed to avoid capture by the authorities.

When she was released from Wells Mental asylum she quickly recovered. She then landed in a workhouse where she managed to lure an older widow, Jane Smith to a supposed better life—helping unwanted babies.

She told Jane to call her “Mother” and she called the old lady “Granny Smith” to create the illusion of a mother-daughter relationship in front of prospective clients.

It isn’t long before Granny Smith realizes she is just a servant who has to care for all the babies that Amelia brings.

In fact, so many babies arrive and leave that Granny Smith cannot even learn their names. The neighbors begin to notice 6 infants arriving every day.

Mother entrusting her baby
into Amelia's care.

It was during this period in 1896, that Evelina Marmon responds to Amelia’s advertisement for a lovely home in the country.

After Amelia took possession of Amelia's daughter Doris, she wrapped white edging tape around her neck, making a strangling knot. But the female baby did not die immediately.

Amelia admitted later that she enjoyed watching the tape around little Doris’ neck—but alas it was soon over. She then took the clothes Evelina had given her and pawned them—she used the money to pay her rent.

The following day, April 1,1896 Amelia accepted another baby, a one-year-old boy named Harry Simmons. She was out of tape, so she retrieved the tape from Doris’ corpse to strangle Harry.

The next day she put both bodies in a carpetbag weighted with bricks and threw them into the River Thames at a secluded spot at Caversham Lock—but a witness passing by spotted her.

In Part V of Amelia Dyer: Britain’s Baby Butcher suspicions lead to Amelia’s downfall, and her ghost is seen in a historic place.

Amelia Dyer: Britain’s Baby Butcher, Part l

An idyllic view of a baby farm.

It was January of 1896 when a barmaid named Evelina Marmon gave birth to a daughter she named Doris. Her baby was born out of wedlock.

The 25-year old Evelina was a God-fearing farmer’s daughter who had gone astray. She left her family’s farm for the excitement of the city only to find she had to work as a barmaid in the saloon at the Plough House—an old coaching inn—to survive.

Evelina was a buxom blonde with a quick wit. She was popular among the male customers, one of which got her pregnant and then deserted her. She lost work while she gave birth.

Evelina knew she could not bring up a baby on her own. Desperate she had to find a place for Doris.

She placed an ad in the “Miscellaneous” section of the Bristol Times & Mirror newspaper.

“Wanted, respectable woman to take young child.”

By chance, next to her ad was an advertisement that read:

“Married couple with no family would adopt healthy child, nice country home, Terms, £10.”

Marmon answered the ad, which was placed by a “Mrs. Harding.”

This was one of the aliases used by a woman, Amelia Dyer who was a baby farmer.

In Victorian England, women who gave birth to illegitimate children had few choices. Society condemned women who had babies out of wedlock stigmatizing them for life.

Abortions were illegal and the few women who had back alley abortions most often died of hemorrhaging. Birth control was frowned upon and not easy to come by.

With the passage of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act fathers of illegitimate children were not obliged to pay for their upbringing, there was a clause in this act passed by Parliament that stated women who had babies out of wedlock were immoral. Read more here.

Orphanages would not accept illegitimate children and there were no social service programs or welfare available during most of the Victorian era.

Finding abandoned and dead babies and children in train stations, church steps, and in the street was common.

One out of every twelve women in England at the time were forced to become prostitutes to survive.

Children born in normal circumstances had only a 50-50 chance to live to the age of 5—the outlook for illegitimate children was even worse.

A simple solution was presented when baby farming began. During the Victorian era, there were 2,000 of these farms in London alone but they could be found all over Britain and around the world.

Baby farms took babies and cared for them for a fee, on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. They fostered these children or in many cases for a higher one-time fee of £5-10 the mother’s used these farms to “get rid of their babies” by arranging to have them adopted out.

Often these mothers were happy to dispose of their infants—not asking too many questions.

Other mothers who did care, often found their efforts blocked when they tried to check on their children after placing them in a farm’s care. They felt they could not report this suspicious activity to the police—for their own discretions might be discovered.

Unfortunately, many of these farms could not be associated with the word “care.”

Amelia Dyer
aka Mrs. Harding.

When Eveline Marmon approached “Mrs. Harding” she wanted to negotiate a weekly fee for the care of Doris—she hoped to reclaim her daughter in the future.

But Mrs. Harding insisted on a substantial one-time or one-off fee to be given up-front. Eveline desperate and running out of time reluctantly agreed to the £10 price. However, when she met Mrs. Harding at Cheltenham station she had second thoughts.

This woman was much older than she expected, she was heavy-set and 57 years old. In her advertisement, she had indicated that she and her husband could not have children and were looking to raise a family.

But as Eveline observed, Mrs. Harding appeared to be a caring and affectionate woman who covered Doris with her shawl. Eveline gave Mrs. Harding a box filled with: “clothes, nappies, chemises, petticoats, frocks, nightgowns and a powder box.”

She also handed over the one-off fee. Still nervous, she accompanied her baby and Mrs. Harding to the Cheltenham station and then on to Gloucester where she took a tearful departure from Doris.

When she returned home Eveline confided in friends that she was “a broken woman.” Days later she received a letter from Mrs. Harding that reassured her that all was well with Doris.

Eveline wrote back but never received a reply.

Mrs. Harding when she parted from Eveline told her she was headed for Reading—but she lied. Instead, she went to a flat in London where her daughter Mary Ann aka Polly was staying.

What she did next is something she had been doing for almost 30 years—it had nothing to do with the care of Doris—but was instead for money and perverse pleasure.

In Part ll of Amelia Dyer: Britain’s Baby Butcher become acquainted with the UK's most prolific serial killer.

Felipe Espinosa: The Headless Horseman, Part ll

Felipe Espinosa went on a brutal killing spree in 1863 in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. He vowed to kill 600 Gringos. 

It was a violent time but Espinosa’s murders where he mutilated his victims shocked the frontier residents of this new American territory.

A posse had managed to track down Espinosa and his cousin Vivian who was his partner in crime. His cousin was killed but Felipe managed to escape.

Resumption of a Crusade

For months after the posse killed Vivian everything was quiet. Some Colorado residents hoped Espinosa had returned to Mexico. But Felipe returned to the Rocky Mountains in October of 1863.

He now traveled with his 14-year-old nephew Jose Espinosa. "These two drunk, attacked a wagon traveling through La Veta Pass in southern Colorado."

In this wagon was Deloris Sanchez and her Anglo companion a man by the name of Philbrook. When these two heard gunshots they scattered. The Espinosas chased Philbrook but lost him so they circled back to where Deloris was.

They raped her and then tied her up. They told her they were going to get Philbrook and then return for her. But Philbrook managed to reach Fort Garland and returned with soldiers from this fort.

Fort Garland at base of
Sangre de Cristos

In the meantime, Deloris had managed to untie herself and the group found her hiding.

A Reluctant Hero

Thomas “Tate” Tobin was summoned to Fort Garland in order to track the Espinosas. He was a well-known mulatto trapper, tracker and mountain man who had scouted for the army. He was friends with and fought alongside Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody and Kit Carson during various Indian campaigns.

Tate Tobin

"At first glance Tobin was unremarkable--he was short and bowlegged." But he was miffed when he was informed that a detachment of 15 soldiers was being sent with him. He felt he could handle this assignment on his own.

He traveled 3 days and 3 nights only stopping for a few hours each night--he did not let the soldiers build any fires--several were sent back to the fort exhausted. He tracked the Espinosas campfires. It was said of him once, “He can track a grasshopper through sagebrush.”

On the fourth morning he spotted a thin wisp of smoke, he left the soldiers behind as he crawled on his stomach to where Felipe and Jose were warming their hands over a small fire.

Felipe stood, stretching his arms out wide. "Tobin fired and Felipe whipped around holding a gaping hole in his side and fell backwards into the fire." Jose took off for the nearby woods--Tobin aimed, fired and hit him in the spine where he then fell dead.

Felipe still alive managed to pull himself out of the fire. Tobin approached with his Bowie knife drawn. He grabbed Felipe’s hair and bent his head over a log where with two slashes of his knife he beheaded him.

When he returned to Fort Garland he had both Felipe’s and Jose’s heads in a sack.

At the time Tobin killed the Espinosas there was a $5500 price on their heads. Tobin never collected this bounty stating years later he didn’t know there was one.

The Headless Ghost

Felipe Espinosa’s ghost is seen where he died. As early as 1865 there were reports about this ghost.

Spot were Felipe Espinosa
was killed.

One eyewitness sighting happened in the summer of 1869. Charles Streeter was heading home when he reached the area where Tobin killed Felipe. Ahead of him on the trail he spotted a immobile horse with a rider.

As he drew near he realized this man sitting astride a jet-black horse was headless. The figure was pointing a firearm at his chest. Streeter didn’t stop to think as he raced down the hill.

In 1874, Ramon Costa and Juan Sales also fled when they saw the same sight in the exact same spot where Streeter had seen this specter.

The next year a Lieutenant Wilson T. Hartz reported that he not only saw this headless horseman but that it had galloped after him, holding a gun. Hartz reported he quickly raced down the trail.

Later, in 1875 two friends Philip McKay and Thomas Hatchwood, two businessmen from Denver, reported as they rode through the area they also saw this frightening ghost.

The two men had heard about this haunting and were skeptical but when they caught a glimpse of this rider on a black horse they realized it was very lifelike except for the fact it had no head.

They rode off in the opposite direction, Espinosa’s horse at first chased them but it then just vanished.

It is said the heads of Felipe and Jose were at one time kept in the basement of the Colorado state capital. There are stories about these two heads haunting this building.

Read Felipe Espinosa: The HeadlessHorseman, Part l to find out more about the murders this Mexican bandit out for revenge committed.

Excerpts from TheVendetta of Felipe Espinosa by Adam James Jones

Felipe Espinosa: The Headless Horseman, Part l

In 1863 a Mexican bandit by the name of Felipe Espinosa became one of America’s first serial killers. "In a 12-month period he shot, stabbed, and brutally mutilated 32 people"--some reports put this number as high as 60.

Bloody Trail of the Espinosa

Beginnings

Espinosa was born in Northern Mexico in 1827, in what later was to become a part of New Mexico territory in El Rito a village 40 miles from Taos. During the Mexican-American War six of his relatives were killed. "It is said that Espinosa vowed to take 100 American lives for each of these six deaths."

El Rito New Mexico

He and his family were devout Catholics. Espinosa belonged to a fanatical religious sect known as Los Hermanos Penitentes.

Gathering of Penitentes
E. Boyd collection

The Spanish Conquistados first introduced this penitentes sect to New Mexico in the 16th century. This brotherhood believed in self-flagellation. 

By the late 1800s this sect was banned by both the church and state government for extreme practices. Later, when Espinosa became a bandit this brotherhood sheltered him on more than one occasion.

Promises Broken

After the Mexican-American War when the Treaty of Guadalupe was signed it stated that Mexican families could keep their lands in what was now a part of America. They also could retain their Mexican citizenship if they wished. But this treaty was broken.

Felipe’s family lost their home and land and now found themselves poor. In 1862, he and his family were "living in a cramped jacale outside the village of San Rafael near Antonito, Colorado."

By late 1862 or early 1863 Felipe and his cousin Vivian took up banditry.

A Killing Spree

Felipe already fanatical and seeking revenge now believed that the "Virgin Mary had been sent from God to tell him he must kill."

One of their first victims was a Mexican freight driver who was a neighbor to the Espinosas. They looted this man’s wagon and then tied him to the wagon tongue. They whipped his horse team into a frenzy and watched this man being dragged for miles.

This neighbor managed to survive and was able to describe the cousins. The first of many bounties was placed on their heads. 

A U.S. Marshall and soldiers from the newly formed Fort Garland were sent to pursue the cousins but they managed to escape into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

The cousins started their own personal war in Colorado in an area known today as Dead Man’s Gulch.

They murdered a man named Jim Harkins who was found dead in his cabin. At first it was believed Indians had killed him but shortly afterwards a couple of miles away another Anglo, William Bruce was found dead outside his ranch house. He had been hacked to pieces and a makeshift crucifix was found near his body.

The cousins continued to move north to what is now Fremont County killing randomly as they went. They preyed on isolated communities where there was no one around to hear gunshots or their victims screams.

The two bandits murdered several settlers near the small mining community of South Park.

Two  of their victims, Jacob Binkley and Abram Shoup stopped their wagon in Kenosha Pass on their way to Denver. While they slept the Espinosas stabbed one and shot the other.

The cousins after killing their victims mutilated the bodies so badly they were hard to identify. "They disemboweled, decapitated, and cut their hearts out. Crosses were often found in the victim’s chests."

Newspapers stated to refer to these murders as "The Axeman of Colorado." The bounty was increased once more.

One victim managed to get away. Matthew Metcalf was driving his team of horses through South Park’s "California Gulch" when he came around a bend. There stood the Espinosas. They said nothing as they fired upon Metcalf.

A bullet hit his chest and sent him flying backwards. His horses reared and raced down the trail toward the camp. They felt they had killed Metcalf so they didn't pursue his wagon.

Just that morning "Metcalf had placed a copy of Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation in his breast pocket." The thickness of this booklet stopped the bullet.

Metcalf was able to describe the cousins. Now the axeman had a face.

A Posse

A posse led by John McCannon was sent after the Espinosas. He and his men came across a freshly mutilated body that was butchered beyond recognition. Later McCannon tragically discovered this dead man was his brother.

The posse caught up to the cousins. They shot and killed Vivian. But Felipe managed to get away once more.

Read Felipe Espinosa: TheHeadless Horseman, Part ll where I share the story of his capture and the man who succeeded in doing this. I also share witness sightings of Espinosa’s ghost.

Excerpts from The Vendetta of Felipe Espinosa by Adam James Jones.