There were two more murders, 15 miles away in the silver-like-section-upon-

We have a weird...

...described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird religion.

It's no secret that most true crime stories center around the crimes of a male killer.

That's not to say that women don't commit heinous acts.

It's just not something we hear about as often.

On September 2nd, 1884, a woman was born whose name and crimes would become the stuff of folklore.

So, if you like your coffee hot, but your bones chilled, sit back and start your day with a morning cup of murder.

Music Sit back and start your day with a morning cup of murder. Willamina, Minnie Dean, was born on September 2, 1844, in Greenock, Scotland.

Not much is known about her young life, but, by the early 1960s,

she was living in New Zealand with two

young children claiming she was the widow of a Tasmanian doctor. In 1872, she married an innkeeper

named Charles Dean, and the two lived in Etal Creek, a popular stop on the way to the gold fields.

As the gold rush died down, the couple began looking for new ways to

make money. Their dire financial situation led them to taking unwanted children in exchange for

payment, something commonly referred to as baby farming. As we learned with a past case, in an error

where there were very few methods of contraception, and childbirth outside of marriage was frowned

upon, baby farming was a lucrative and seldomly monitored business.

She had many customers, and it is believed that she was responsible for as many as nine children at any given time.

She placed advertisements in the newspaper all across the South Island, noting she was a respectable woman looking to adopt a child to live in her comfortable home in the country.

Another thing you need to know is that infant mortality was a significant problem in New Zealand at the time.

So as time went on, a number of children in Minnie's care died of various illnesses.

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