De Melker, Daisy Louisa (1886–1932)

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De Melker, Daisy Louisa (1886–1932)

South African murderer. Born June 1, 1886, at Seven Fountains near Grahamstown; hanged in Johannesburg, Dec 30, 1932; m. William Cowle (died 1923); m. Robert Sproat (died Oct 1927); m. Sydney Clarence de Melker, Jan 1931; children: (1st m.) 5, only 1 of whom, Rhodes Cecil Cowle (d. 1932), survived infancy.

A trained nurse, murdered 1st 2 husbands with strychnine, benefitting from their wills; murdered son Rhodes Cecil Cowle with arsenic after he boasted to friends that he would soon come into his inheritance upon reaching age 21; tried on 3 counts of murder in Johannesburg (Oct 1932) and found guilty; hanged without having confessed.

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