Dagmar Overbye

Serial killer

25known / alleged victims (9 - 25)

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Case Facts

Gender: female
Country: Denmark
Location: Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark
Date of birth: April 23, 1887
Age at first offence: 26
Characteristics: serial rapist, child killer, abuse
Victim profile: Children (of which one was her own)
Method of murder: S he strangled them, drowned them or burned them to death
Date(s) of murder: 1913 - 1920
Years active: 1913–1920
Date of arrest: September 12, 1920
Status: Died in custody
Sentenced to death on March 3, 1921; commuted to life in prison on May 25, 1921; died in prison on May 6, 1929

Case Summary

Case overview

Dagmar Johanne Amalie Overbye (April 23, 1887 – May 6, 1929) was a Danish serial killer. She murdered 25 children during a seven-year period from 1913 to 1920, including one child who was her own.

Overbye worked as a professional child caretaker, caring for babies born outside of marriage. She murdered her charges.

The offence

Overbye strangled children, drowned them, or burned them to death in her masonry heater. The corpses were either cremated, buried, or hidden in the loft.

Overbye was convicted of nine murders, with no proof established for the others.

Background

Overbye was abused herself as a baby. Her lawyer based the case on her being abused as a baby, but the argument did not impress the judge.

Trial and sentencing

On March 3, 1921, Overbye was sentenced to death in one of the most talked about trials in Danish history, which changed legislation on childcare.

The sentence was later commuted to life in prison on May 25, 1921. Overbye became one of the three women sentenced to death in Denmark in the 20th century, but she was reprieved.

Outcome

Overbye died in prison on May 6, 1929, at age 42.

Aftermath

Notes relating to her case were included in the Politihistorisk Museum (Museum of Police History) in Nørrebro, Copenhagen.

The Danish author Karen Søndergaard Jensen wrote a fiction novel called Englemagersken (The Angel Maker) based on Overbye.

Teatret ved Sorte Hest in Copenhagen performed a play named Historien om en Mo(r)der (Morder meaning "murderer" and moder meaning "mother") based on her life.

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