Becker, Marie Alexander (1877–194?)
Becker, Marie Alexander (1877–194?)
Belgian housewife and mass poisoner. Born Marie Alexander in 1877 in Belgium; date of death lost during the German occupation of Belgium in World War II; married to a cabinetmaker.
The 53-year-old Marie Becker of Liège, Belgium, was said to be a quiet, law-abiding housewife until she was captivated in 1932 by the advances of Lambert Beyer, a man she met while shopping. Becker then embarked on a passionate affair that led her to poison her cabinetmaker husband with digitalis. Soon bored with Beyer, she dispatched him in the same manner. To obtain money for subsequent romances with a series of gigolos, Becker began poisoning elderly women patrons of her new dressmaking shop, stealing what she could. After each murder, ten in all, she reportedly attended the funeral of her
victim, dressed in black and making a dramatic show of her grief and sorrow. Finally caught through an informant, Becker was said to have gloated over her crimes. She was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison where she eventually died in obscurity while Germany occupied Belgium during World War II.