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Posted by Master of My Universe

True Crime Friday: Béla Kiss, The Hungarian Serial Killer


Béla Kiss was born in 1877 and died October 4,1916. He was a Hungarian Serial killer. He murdered at least twenty-four people mostly women during his reign of terror. He murdered his victims and kept them in oil drums. Kiss left to go to war, he had no choice in the matter when his landlord discovered the bodies. The landlord immediately called the authorities. Kiss has many women visitors. Many came to Kiss’s lair because of a marriage proposal. Others came because Kiss was a defacto palm reader and fortune teller. The people in his village liked him and thought that he was of good character because he was not in debt. He was known to fulfil his obligations and his lifestyle was solid, he could be offered credit read one of the correspondents sent to the town’s people. After the word got about the authorities finding the bodies in the barrels, somehow Kiss found out and fled the country. Bela Kiss was never seen again.

The Early Childhood of Béla Kiss

Béla Kiss was born in Hungary in to parents János Kiss and Verona Varga. Since 1900, Kiss lived in a town near Budapest. Not much else can be found about his childhood and why he became a serial killer. Kiss had his own business as a tinsmith and had business partners. Kiss hired a housekeeper, Mrs. Jakubec, in 1912 to cook and clean for him. She noticed that Kiss corresponded with several women, typically through advertisements he would place in newspapers offering his services. He brought women to his home, but his housekeeper had little to no contact with the visitors.

The Less Dead

Even though most of the women Kiss met were wealthy, they still fell under the umbrella of the less dead. In those days, women were second class citizens. A man like Kiss could easily prey upon women without repercussions. The Less Dead is a term coined to refer to many serial killers’ victims, who belong to marginalized groups of society. They lack prestige or power and generally come from lower socioeconomic groups or members of their neighborhoods and are generally not missed when they are gone. Examples are sex workers, the homeless, vagrants, migrant farm workers, homosexuals, the poor, elderly women and men, and runaways. They are often vulnerable in locations they frequent, and easy to lure and dominate. They do not come from rich backgrounds or prominent families, which makes them easy targets for predators.

The Victims of Béla Kiss

  • Paul Bikari
  • Marie Kiss
  • Katherine Varga
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
  • Unidentified Victim
While Kiss was serving in the army the first time, it was reported that his wife Maria was having an affair with Paul Bikari. Maria had planned to leave Kiss when she and Paul disappeared. It was said when he lost Maria the love of his life he began to change. He began to seek the comfort of other women by placings ads in the local paper. Bela Kiss received over one hundred seventy-four marriage proposals. He accepts seventy-four. Not all his victims have been identified. The ones that were are because of letters, jewelry, belongings or identifications found with victims or by friends and family of the victims.

Lady Justice

Márton Kresinszky, the owner of the house rented by Kiss, wanted to renovate the building, so Marton asked his friend, pharmacist Béla Takács, to assist with the cleanup. They found a female body in each of the seven barrels. A search of Kiss' property resulted in a total of 24 bodies. Kiss fled the country and was never seen again. It is a stain on society that Kiss’s victims never saw justice.

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