The Honey Moon Killers,

 First Couple to Meet the Electric Chair

By Lynn A. Granata

Who were the Honey moon killers?

At first, I wondered as well.

They were two lame miscreants a total mismatch.  She was morbidly obese.  He was a fledgling drifter of Mexican descent.

The Honey moon Killers scene from the 1970 movie.

But what they did could break the record for the fastest and most undetectable crime spree ever known.
Martha Beck was obese and lacked self- esteem. She was a nurse who juggled full-time in a hospital and was taking care of her aged mother. One day, however, a friend called her and mailed a personals ad in a newspaper to her. Martha looked through it attentively, and found a man she liked. His name was Raymond Fernandez.

Martha (left) watches enviously while Raymond passionately kisses their next unassuming victim.

So, they agreed to meet. Martha's mom however, was concerned that Martha started missing appointments to go see her in the nursing home. Martha's mother became angry and then disowned her. Remember disownment isn't normal for any family member at any age, space, and time. Martha's mother was in the end stages of Alzheimer's disease. A disease that back then was simply called old age dementia. So her mother was technically would've been labeled a paranoid schizophrenic by today's standards.

She and Raymond agreed to start a crime spree campaign which spanned several states across America. Raymond was like a gigolo, who didn't have the gravitas to treat a lady with love and respect. Instead he was a thug that conned every woman that he met through the personals like his personal piggy bank. Martha at first, was high on his list.

The two of them traveled together. Raymond navigated the trips with his personals ad in the newspaper. Where they traveled to was contingent on what fish Raymond could catch while he baited women through his ad's description of himself, he hoped to find not just any woman, but a wealthy one. There was a wealthy dowager he and Martha met. Problem was he only would introduce Martha to them as his sister.

Raymond got them in bed, then talked them out of their bank accounts.
Raymond would get the money, then kill the victim, by bludgeoning them.

There were a few who were poisoned. And then left for dead. Until one day the fun ended forever. The last dowager was hip to his antics. She nearly corralled the two of them, until Raymond killed her first. Then Martha called the police. They were arrested and charged with robbery, first degree murder, and conspiracy. The twain were sentenced to die an execution by electric chair. They were fried in March 1951 at Sing Sing Prison in New York.

Endnote: Personal ads existed back then. The stigma of meeting a person through a personal ad existed just as much then as it does today. Bottom line never meet in a deserted area go with a friend and meet at a public place, such as a coffee shop. Today's dating scene is like a jungle, just a word to the wise stay safe.