From 1912 to 1914, killer, George Joseph Smith married and murdered three women in their bathtubs in England: Beatrice Constance Annie Mundy, Alice Burnham, and Margaret Elizabeth Lofty. His motivation: money. These wealthy women were the perfect victims to a seemingly perfect crime. But who were these unfortunate women? How did he manage to avoid getting caught fro years? How did he pull of the flawless murders?

Since the young age of 9, Smith was known to steal, cheat. and manipulate those around him; making maids steal from their employers, stealing fruit from shop keeps, and taking money from his own mother. All this behavior landed him in reformatories and eventually, jail. When his time had been served, he decided to turn his life around. A whole 180. Changing everything from his name to his occupation. Smith’s life revolved around marrying women and taking them for all they’re worth without getting caught.

In 1912, he decided to become Henry Williams – an art dealer – and swept Bessie Mundy off her feet and right into a bathtub. A lonely maiden, Mundy was looking for a man to love at the ripe old age of 31 – much too old to be single without children. When they met, the two were sure of their love and got married only a few months after meeting. Smith left her shortly after, claiming his wife had given him the “bad disorder” [assumed STI] and got Mundy to send him money for the “treatment.” He returned a year later and rejoined his wife. Three days later, Bessie Mundy was found dead in her bathtub.

Changing his name back to George Joseph Smith, he ventured on another conquest of supposed love; this time, with one Alice Burnham of Milton Keynes, England. Meeting at a church, Burnham’s prayers of finding an eligible bachelor were answered immediately. Smith had his future victim smitten and managed to convince her to abandon her family, get life insurance, and move to a new town all in the matter of two weeks. Those two weeks were extended to a total of six before Smith drowned and drained her of her life savings. It was this couples landlady, teamed with the parents of Miss. Burnham, that let Scotland Yard know their suspicion of Smith.

After Scotland Yard took over, the investigation went into full swing with all the works: an arrest, many hearings, a jury’s decision, and finally, a hanging. This eventual result of death was supposed to bring justice to the brides in the bathtubs, Ms. Bessie Mundy, Ms. Alice Burnham, and Ms. Margaret Lofty.

 

 

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mqrarchive/act2080.0001.001?view=text&seq=73 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scotland-Yard