Hungary: Béla Kiss and the Lonely Hearts

Foul Play: A Historical True Crime Podcast

Shane L. Waters, Wendy Cee, Gemma Hoskins

History, True Crime, Society & Culture

4.5 • 992 Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hungary's Béla Kiss lured and slaughtered those seeking love... Season 36 dives deep into the chilling tales of forgotten serial killers. In a sleepy town in Hungary, the seemingly charming Béla Kiss preyed on the hopes of women seeking companionship through matrimonial ads. Each victim, a dreamer in pursuit of happiness, found only treachery with Kiss. These women, who believed in the promise of love and friendship, were instead met with deception that extinguished their futures. Their stories remind us of the vulnerabilities imbued in the quest for romance. The case highlights a culturally impactful lesson about the dangers of blind trust in potential partners. Kiss's actions shook a world that is still grappling with the anonymity and risks of modern courtship. When authorities searched his property, they uncovered metallic drums containing victims' remains, entangled secrets no longer hidden. Kiss evaded capture, his legacy of horror unfolding posthumously through grisly revelations. Set amidst the quaint backdrop of early 20th-century Hungary, the case unfolded against a period of political upheaval and societal change. Traditional methods of meeting and marrying faced challenges, providing a breeding ground for Kiss's villainy. we explore the unveiling of Kiss's crimes, the community's reckoning, and the continuing cultural mythos surrounding his evasion of justice. This chilling narrative will immerse you in the dangerous tangents of unchecked trust and unseen predators. --- Support Foul Play: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/foulplaypodcast Website: https://www.mythsandmalice.com/show/foul-play/ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/foul-play-crime-series/id1525832703 Follow us: Instagram: @foulplaycrimeseries Twitter: @foulplaypod

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com
* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	May 1916, Poshu Lyosch Street, Cincota, Hungary.
0:07.3	Martun Krasensiki, the landlord, and Bella Tach, the local pharmacist, stood in the locked storage
0:15.3	chamber next to the Tinsmith Workshop. They'd come looking for renovation materials.
0:22.9	Instead, they found several large metal drums, each about a meter long and a half meter wide,
0:30.1	stacked against the wall.
0:32.5	The drums were sealed with lead solder, professionally done, the kind of metalwork you'd expect from a skilled
0:39.4	tinsmith.
0:41.5	Krasinski wanted to see what his tenant Bella KISS had been storing.
0:47.1	The tinsmith had left for war nearly two years earlier.
0:51.6	The drums didn't look like gasoline containers. Kiss had claimed he was
0:56.7	hoarding fuel for anticipated wartime rationing. They looked like something else entirely.
1:03.6	The two men took an axe to the first drum. The lead seal resisted, then gave way.
1:11.4	A terrible stench filled the chamber, chemical and sweet and wrong.
1:18.3	They reached into the drum and pulled out a large cloth bag.
1:23.1	Inside, carefully packaged, was the body of a woman, strangled, perfectly preserved in alcohol.
1:33.4	They breached a second drum, making just a hole in the side this time.
1:39.8	The same pungent smell, a lock of blonde hair fell from the opening. Krasinski and
1:47.1	Tach retreated. They called the authorities.
1:50.6	Hello friend. Welcome to Falplay.
1:54.9	By evening, police had opened all seven drums, seven bodies, all women, all strangled with a grot.
2:05.7	The alcohol preservation had kept them so pristine that some victims were still recognizable,
2:12.6	despite being dead for years. Then investigators found 17 more bodies on the property, some hidden throughout
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Shane L. Waters, Wendy Cee, Gemma Hoskins, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Shane L. Waters, Wendy Cee, Gemma Hoskins and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.