Killer Couple: The Twisted Tale Of The "Lonely Hearts Killers"

In the late 1940s, Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck scammed women they met through "Lonely Hearts" classifieds. It wasn't long before fraud turned to cold-blooded murder

Depiction of the Lonely Heart Killers.

In today’s day and age, most of us are familiar with internet romance scams and catfishing. Most of us are at least somewhat cautious or skeptical when interacting with strangers. We also have the luxury of being able to look up a person online and run an instant background check.

It is important to keep in mind that this technology is still relatively new, and was not available to previous generations. In the past, a person could live an unsavory life and ruin their reputation within the city or town they lived in, and simply pick up and start over someplace else. Sometimes under a new name where nobody knew them or their past.

Scammers, crooks, conmen, etc. plied their trade, moving from one place to another trying to stay one step ahead of the law. Additionally, society as a whole was far more trustin…