April 23, 1887 - Dagmar Overby
Her crimes were enabled by a social gap — illegitimate children whose mothers paid for discreet care had few protections and left little trace. Operating as a professional caretaker across seven years, Overbye turned a position of trust into systematic killing, with the true number of victims remaining uncertain due to the care she took in disposing of remains.
From Wikipedia
Dagmar Johanne Amalie Overbye (Danish: [ˈtɑwmɑ ˈɒwɐˌpyˀ]; 23 April 1887 – 6 May 1929) was a Danish serial killer. She murdered between nine and 25 children, including one of her own, during a seven-year period from 1913 to 1920. On 3 March 1921, she was sentenced to death in one of the most noted trials in Danish history—one that changed legislation on childcare. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
Overbye was working as a professional child caretaker, caring for babies born outside of marriage, and murdering her own charges. She strangled them, drowned them, or burned them to death in her masonry heater. The corpses were either cremated, buried, or hidden in the loft.
Overbye was convicted of nine murders as there was insufficient proof of the others.
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