Today will be discussing Elizabeth Bathory, the blood countess, and Albert Fish, the Brooklyn Vampire.
Elizabeth Bathory
Elizabeth Bathory was a noble Hungarian. Her uncle was king of Poland and nephew prince of Transylvania. So she was well known and wealthy. Born in 1560, she was engaged by age 11 to Count Ferenc Nadasdy. They were married when Bathory was 15 but waited 10 years before bearing kids. Documents show that Bathory and Nadasdy had 4 to 5 children but only 3 made it to adulthood. It is said that after her husband’s death in 1604, Bathory’s more gruesome nature unfolded.
In 1610, Bathory’s cousin was put in charge of an investigation after a few young noble women and servants came forward accusing Bathory of a litany of crimes. At this time in history, it was not frowned upon for cruel punishment for servants or lower class citizens, but the accusations of noble women were taken seriously. Her cousin used eye witness accounts including that of 3 servants of Bathory’s that refuted involvement in the torturous crimes, but did claim to help with burying several victims after the servants were questioned via torture.
Gina’s Macabre Moment
Some of the crimes mentioned in records were interesting. For example, one of the victims was covered with honey and then left outside for an insect snack. There are accounts of her forcing young women to strip and then enter ice cold baths. She liked to bite women's breasts and shoulders. She also enjoyed torturing her victims by poking them with needles, whipping them with stinging nettles, and even cutting off their lips and noses. Researchers today believe these acts suggest sexual motivation. She is accused of murdering around 600 young women, both servants and noble women. It was because of this that her nickname The Blood Countess was born. There is no evidence of her bathing in virgin’s blood and this rumor came about 100 years after her death.
Rumor has it that this cousin doing the investigation was part of the family that was vying for power and Bathory was showing support for the other side o
f the power struggle. The only evidence to suspect Bathory of these crimes was eye witness accounts which most were paid servants of the cousins. Either way, she was convicted and so were 3 of her servants. The servants were put to death immediately while Elizabeth Bathory being of noble blood was confined to her castle until she died in 1614 (4 years after her sentence).
Albert Fish
No lie, this one was not fun to read about so I won’t go into intense detail. Albert Fish, also known as The Grey Man or the Brooklyn Vampire, was born in
1870. It is said that his family had a long history of mental illness. After being abandoned by his parents, Fish was sent to live a brutal life in an orphanage. Here he experienced regular beatings and other acts of brutality. When Fish was 10 his mother removed him from the orphanage and by the age of 20 he had moved to New York. This is where the story takes an even darker turn.
After moving to New York, Fish began to lure young boys from their homes where he would torture and often rape them. His favorite tool of torture was a paddle laced with sharp nails. As the years went on the acts became more heinous and he even began cannibalizing some of his victims. He would also write obscene letters to women who posted personal adds. He would describe vile sexual acts he would like to preform with them. These letters would later be used as evidence in court.
After the murder and cannibalisms of a young girl, Grace Budd, an investigation took 6 years to finally catch Fish. He had sent a letter to the young girls mom describing horrible torture he put their daughter through and how he cut her up and used her meat in stew. He was empathetic and informed them that she had not been sexually assaulted. The letter was traced back to is flat where police apprehended him. He pleaded innocence due to insanity. He was still found guilty and electrocuted to death. His x-ray determined several needles between his anus and scrotum. Many accounts say as many at 29 needles were found.
And there you have the high story of Elizabeth Bathory and Albert Fish. So what did we learn?
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