Chat – 25 July 2019

SalmaHayek

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slimlineBeck

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SPOILER

ALERT!

THE MOVIE

TAKE...^

61

Janet’s head in with
a hammer.
Raymond then
strangled poor Janet.
With Janet now
missing, her family soon
became concerned.
So Martha and Raymond fled.
The couple travelled to
Michigan, where they stayed
with Delphine Downing, a
young widow with a 2-year-old
daughter Rainelle.
But Delphine became
suspicious of the so-called
brother and sister.
Reluctant to marry
Raymond, Delphine didn’t
want to give him access to
her funds.
On 28 February 1949,
Delphine became agitated.
Eager to calm her down,
Raymond gave her sleeping
tablets.Butseeinghermother

in a drug-induced

stupor, Rainelle began to cry.

Enraged, Martha began

choking the little girl.

She didn’t kill her, but

Raymond panicked.

He thought Delphine would

become suspicious if she saw

her bruised daughter.

So he shot the mother while

she was unconscious.

The pair stayed in the house

for days after Delphine’s death.

Enraged by Rainelle’s crying,

Martha drowned her in a basin

of water.

The couple buried the bodies

inthebasementand stayed

in the house.

However,

neighbours

quickly became

suspicious.

On 1 March

1949, police

arrived at

Delphine’s

house.

It didn’t take

them very long

to discover

the makeshift

grave...

Martha Beck

and Raymond

Fernandez

were arrested

immediately.

Fernandez quickly

confessed to killing

Janet Fay. He thought

his confession would

protect Beck.

Police began

investigating the

couple for 17 murders,

but they were only

convicted of one.

Beck and Fernandez

thought that they were

safe in the non-capital

punishment state

of Michigan.

But they were

extradited to New

York, where they faced

the electric chair.

And so, on 8 March

1951, Martha Beck,

30, and Raymond

Fernandez, 36, were

executed at Sing Sing

prison – where the

execution building

was known as the

Death House.

When asked if she

had any last words,

Beck said, ‘My story is

a love story. But only

those tortured by love

can know what I mean.

I am a woman who had

a great love and always

will have it.

‘Imprisonment in the

Death House has only

strengthened my

feeling for Raymond.’

T

he notorious crimes

of Martha Beck and

Raymond Fernandez

inspired the 1970

cult-film classic The

Honeymoon Killers.

Written and directed by

Leonard Kastle, the film

starred Shirley Stoler

and Tony Lo Bianco in

the lead roles and

accurately portrayed

Beck as an overweight,

sullen singleton.

But in Lonely Hearts, a

2006 remake, Beck was

given the Hollywood

treatment and was

beautified, with Salma

Hayek cast as the

infamous killer.

With glamorous red

lipstick, elegant black

gloves, pearls and a

sophisticated hairstyle,

Hayek’s portrayal was

a far cry from the wretched

murderer who stole

away innocent lives

for her own gain.

Jared Leto played

Raymond Fernandez, while

John Travolta and James

Gandolfini were the

homicide detectives

hellbent on bringing

the couple to justice.

1949: Beck on

the courthouse

steps

Loved-up Beck

and Fernandez