The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

Minnie Dean - a local legend, like Babayki. New Zealand children were told that if they misbehave, angry Minnie Dean will come after them and carry off with him into hell. It was (and is likely to remain) the only woman who was executed in New Zealand - a country of green pastures and idyllic landscapes. Dean gave shelter children abandoned by their parents, and then - according to rumors - killed them.

The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

Minnie Dean was born in 1844. She was the daughter of an ordinary conductor, but pretended to be an educated woman from a middle class. Dean earned that gave shelter to children abandoned by their parents - of course, money. It is known that under its supervision were 27 children at different times, of which 10 survived 6 - died, the fate of the remaining obscure. Dean herself claimed that seven children were adopted and the adoptive parents did not want to disclose their person and were asked to keep the adoption secret. But the police were convinced that the missing children were not included in the caring family and were killed.

The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

Who was she?

Now we would call Minnie Dean "guardian", but then used the term "farmer children" (baby farmer). In those years - we are talking about the mid-end of the XIX century - the children born out of wedlock, were subjected to social ostracism. Dean arrived in New Zealand from Scotland. Woman caught in infamy, waiting for severe punishment or even death. But for what some 10-20 pounds woman like Minnie Dean could solve the problem. Desperate family paid money to Minnie, and she promised to take care of Bad baby. It is known that at least 16 of the 27 pupils Minnie children were born out of wedlock.

The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

Minnie was not the only woman who hunted in this way. Some families were very fond of, but it was not their main function. "Farmers children" were to save a woman from unwanted child, and this is important.

Villaminaya sailed to New Zealand directly from Scotland, is rumored to somehow hide his own illegitimate child. There she met Charles Dean, infirm person and sloppy. Charles liked to drink, and with the work he went wrong. They lived for a while in the Southland, the wallowing in poverty, the surfacing of her for a while. But in the end, the family moved to Winton.

The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

Charles Dean began to raise pigs, and Villaminaya take back charge of unwanted children, just to make ends meet. In the years 1880-1890 Minnie even gave the newspaper a few anonymous ads: "Dear married woman wants to adopt a child, a comfortable house in the village."

Historian Lynley Hood in his book "Minnie Dean: Her Life and crimes" (Minnie Dean: Her Life and Crimes) writes: "There can be no doubt that Minnie loved their pupils (maybe some more than others), and it I intended to take care of them as much as she could. "

In 1890, the police became interested in Dean family activities: by the time her care were approximately 9 children up to three years. Of course, the house was overcrowded. It was dirty, the children - unkempt, and a year ago, a six-month baby died. That, however, for those times it was not such a rarity - the infant mortality rate was high. But Dean's family continues to advertise that will take care of children. What was happening with the kids behind the doors of their homes - a mystery that the police are going to solve.

The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

In 1895, the police managed to find something. Newspaperman saw Minnie Dean was part of the train, carrying with them a child and a box with a hat. But when she returned, the baby was gone.

Dean later admitted that she went into the train, she put the child on the pillow. The baby was asleep. Dean gave the girl a lethal dose of laudanum - opium tincture, which were treated in those days everything. Without calculating the amount she had killed the child, and to conceal their own crimes, he hid it in a box for a hat. The body of the dead girl and two other children found buried in the garden of the family Dean, Minnie was sent to the court.

The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

It was a sensation: the first time a woman appeared before the court, but the first time it put forward such serious charges. The process was somewhat theatrical.

Local hustlers and all concocted a terrible business - selling dolls representing children in the hat boxes.

The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

Dean were a monster, an infanticide. Worse was the fact that she belonged to a system of "children's farm". Women already brought to trial for infanticide before, but the death penalty they commuted to life imprisonment.

Minnie Dean has become a brand, her trial turned into a spectacle that willingly visited everything from small to large.

"God, do not let me suffer"

The only woman who was executed in New Zealand

on a summer morning in 1895 Dean hung up. When the sheriff asked, she just wants to say something at last, Minnie replied: "No, except that I am innocent." Newspapers claimed later that when the door opened beneath it, Dean cried out, "God, do not let me suffer!" The police also took tight children's farm. Since then, if the parents leave children under four years of someone's care for a few days for the money, this place must have been registered as a foster family.

Not so simple

Over the centuries Dean holds a strong position in the New Zealand folklore. It frightened the children who misbehaved, her ghost is often declared here and there, without promising anything good. But after a hundred years of Minnie Dean spoke differently.

Perhaps it was not a villain? This does not mean that she did not kill the children - she might poison their literacy and carelessness, but to do so unintentionally.

In 2009, a distant relative Villaminaya paid for something to put on her grave gravestone. And although there is still no lay flowers, her story now looks like is not so simple.