Martha Rendall

 VICTIMS: 3

This was one twisted bitch. Many have argued, and rightly so, that she is the most sadistic child killer in Australian history. After you've read this story I think you will agree.

In 1906 Martha was living with Thomas Morris, a carpenter, and his five kids. I'm not sure if she was a 'nanny' or Mr. Morris's girlfriend, but either way she wasn't too friendly toward the children. Many of their neighbors noticed that since Martha had moved in to the house the children had become much thinner, and many had also witnessed the violent thrashings that she subjected the kids to when they 'played up'. But since most believed it was none of their business nothing was said against Martha Rendall.

In 1907 the children's condition became a little worse. Since they were no longer given a healthy amount of food, they became ill quite easily. One particular complaint was a sore throat. A doctor prescribed 'throat swabs' for two of Mr. Morris's daughters. It would seem that a 'throat swab' is particularly painful as the neighbors reported some rather horrible screams coming from the Morris household.

On July 28, 1907, one of the girls, Anne Morris, died. It was officially listed as being due to diphtheria. It seems that the 'throat swaps' did not do it's job.

Three months later Olive Morris, another daughter, also died. Once again a doctor pronounced the cause of death as diphtheria. Again, poor Martha's work was in vain as she could not save the child.

One year later Arthur Morris, the deceased girls 14 year old brother, joined them. He had been complaining of a sore throat so Martha decided that he need a 'throat swab' to cure this problem (just as it had with his sisters). Those 'throat swabs' must have been bloody painful because he soon stopped complaining about the sore throat and started on about the swabs. From all accounts Martha took great satisfaction from giving the swabs, so much so that she was always ready to give another. But she wouldn't be able to keep giving young Arthur them as he died on October 6, 1908.

Not surprisingly the family doctor had become a little suspicious about the demise of the Morris family and ordered an autopsy on young Arthur. Nothing was found out of the ordinary, so death was attributed to that great disease, diphtheria.

The next Morris kiddy to fall ill to the dreaded sore throat was George Morris. But having watched his siblings all suffer at the hands of Martha Rendall, or "Mother" as he was supposed to call her, he ran away from home. A bloody good decision one would think. So police started to look for the young run away. During their investigation they spoke to neighbors of the Morris family, many of whom were ready to talk.

It seems as though there were one of two interesting tales told to police during these chats with the neighbors. Enough for police to suspect that maybe the three deaths were a little more than suspicious.

The bodies were exhumed and intensely checked over. The findings were very interesting.

The children had not had their throats swabbed with any kind of medicine prescribed from a doctor, they had actually been swabbed with hydrochloric acid. I'm guessing that most of you know what that means, but for those that don't, well it's pretty hard to see how there could be any other reason that the kids died. It could also be the reason the friggin' throat swabs hurt so much.

It came out that Martha had been lacing the children's drinks with the acid. This caused the sore throat. Once the kids complained of the sore throat she would pour more acid down their throats, and performed the now well known 'throat swabs' with more acid. She was able to continue killing as the mucous membrane of the throat tends to swell with acid, just as it does with diphtheria.

Police charged both Martha and Thomas Morris with the murders of the three Morris children, but at the court case Thomas Morris was cleared of all wrong doing. Martha Rendall wasn't so lucky. She was found guilty and sentenced to death.

On October 6, 1909, Martha Rendall became the last woman to be hung in Western Australia.
 

MY OPINION

Would you believe that even here in Australia, a country with very few serial killers, this woman is unheard of. In fact the only information I have on her is written by a Pom (Englishman). This really upsets me. She seems to be such a total bitch, this is the kind of story that should become an urban legend type thing. We should tell our kids that if they don't behave then Martha will come and give them a throat swab. I know that would have made me shut up when I was a kid. But no, instead we have to have stupid American stories to scare us. This really does suck. So come on Australia, wake up and give this chick some credit.