Martha Rendell

Martha Rendell moved in with Thomas Nicholls Morris at 23 Robertson St, East Perth after he had separated from his wife, who had moved out and lived elsewhere.[1] Morris had custody of his four children at the time. Rendell, who had known Morris in Adelaide, South Australia, and had followed him west, moved into the house and posed as his wife. The children were told to call her "Mother".[2]

Rendell brutally abused Morris' children, once beating Annie so savagely that she could not walk. Arresting officer Inspector Harry Mann said "she delighted in seeing her victims writhe in agony, and from it derived sexual satisfaction".

Rendell killed nine-year-old Annie first. Her method was to put something in the child's food that would result in a sore throat. It was alleged that she killed the children by swabbing hydrochloric acid on the backs of their throats, claiming it was medicine. This would inflame the throat until the child could no longer eat and thus would starve to death. Annie died on 28 July 1907. Dr. Cuthbert issued a certificate stating the cause of death was diphtheria. After killing Annie, she turned her attention to Olive, aged 7. Olive died on 16 October 1907, and once more, Cuthbert issued a certificate stating the cause of death was diphtheria.

In the winter of 1908, Rendell tried the same method on Arthur, the third son and youngest child still alive. Arthur, age 15, took longer to succumb to the treatment, finally dying just short of a year after Olive's death, on 8 October 1908. This time, Cuthbert asked permission for an autopsy. Rendell said she wanted to be present during the investigation and stood by as the autopsy was performed; the doctors found nothing to incriminate her.[2]

In April 1909, Rendell began targeting the second son, George. It didn't take long for him to complain of a sore throat after drinking a cup of tea. Rendell coated his tonsils with the syrup, frightening the boy, who ran to his mother's place some streets away. Neighbours enquired as to the boy's whereabouts; however, his father Thomas Morris stated that he did not know.[2]

Rendell and Eric Edgar Cooke's grave in plot 409, Fremantle Cemetery

Neighbours went to the police, and Inspector Harry Mann conducted inquiries. Mann heard repeated references to the children having their throats painted, and Rendell's apparent indifference to their pain. One neighbor claimed he often peeked in the windows to see Rendell standing in front of a screaming victim, rocking back and forth as if in ecstasy. Some also claimed to have witnessed her masturbating. Mann located George, who claimed that he had run away because his stepmother had killed his siblings and was trying to poison him with spirits of salts (i.e. hydrochloric acid).[2]

The inquiry was hampered by the period of time that had elapsed since the deaths, and because doctors could not say what effect swabbing with spirits of salts would have. Suspicions were further aroused when it was shown that Rendell had purchased large quantities of spirits of salts during the period of the children's illnesses, but none since the last death. Armed with this information, the detectives obtained permission to exhume the bodies and this was done on 3 July 1909. Police exhumed the bodies of the three children; diluted hydrochloric acid was found on the throat tissue.[2]

Rendell and Thomas Morris were both charged with murder, the former being sentenced to death by hanging. Rendell protested her innocence, maintaining that she was treating the children for diphtheria. Although Thomas Morris was also charged with the murders, he was acquitted; it was believed that while he'd purchased spirits of salts, he was not aware of what Martha was doing until after the children's deaths. The jury had wanted to find him guilty of being an accessory after the fact, but this was not allowed.[2]

The window with "Rendell's" image

Rendell's crimes aroused considerable public outrage at the time; the press portrayed her as a "scarlet woman" and "wicked stepmother". Rendell herself proclaimed her innocence.[3] She was hanged at Fremantle Prison on 6 October 1909. She is buried at Fremantle Cemetery, in the same grave where serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke was interred more than half a century later. Martha Rendell was the last woman executed in Western Australia.

An illusion appears on one of the prison windows which can only be seen on the outside of the window; when inside the church looking out the glass is smooth and even, with no unusual shape or texture. An example of pareidolia, urban legend has it that this illusion is the portrait of Rendell, who watches over the prison.

The crimes of Martha Rendell were featured in an episode of the true crime TV series Deadly Women entitled "Pleasure From Pain" Season 5, Episode 14.

• Fremantle Prison a brief history, Cyril Ayris ISBN 0-9581882-1-1
• Murdering Stepmothers: The trial and Execution of Martha Rendell, Anna Haebich 1997
• South Australian Births 1842 – 1906, SAGHS 1998

• American Chronicle, 17 January 2007
• Statement of Martha Rendall (sic) – Daily News, 05/10/1909
• News and Notes – In the Condemned Cell – The West Australian, 30/09/1909