Serial killerstend to be men by an consuming allowance . One psychoanalysis said only 8 percentage of the serial killers in the U.S. were woman [ root : Amicus Curiae ] . Yet some call back a woman was the most prolific serial killer of all meter . Erzsébet ( Elizabeth ) Bathory , a Magyar countess , is believed to have killed as many as 650 women and girls during the 54 yr she was alive .
And exactly how the Earth ’s most prolific serial killer took the sprightliness of her victims has proven grisly fodder for storytellers . She is even believed to have inspiredBram Stoker , the Maker ofCount Dracula . The count is purportedly a hybrid of Wallachian prince Vlad Tepes and Bathory [ source : NNDB ] . However , some mod historians guess the allegation about her murderous manner could well have been enlarged [ source : Brittanica ] .
Elizabeth Bathory , thewomanwho came to be recognise as the " Blood Countess , " was born into Hungariannobilityin 1560 . She was well educated , at the metre a rarity for girls , and could speak several spoken language . She also seems to have digest from fits and outbursts of rage — perhaps even epilepsy . From an early age , she find her father ’s officerstorturethe peasantry who lived near her family ’s estate of the realm . Young Elizabeth is say to have seen a captured thief being sewn into the stomach of a go sawhorse and left to perish [ source : Sheldon ] .
This story underscores two major aspect that may have influenced Bathory : photograph to unbelievable violence and her home ’s excuse position toward it . Accounts key her penchant for inflicting pain on others and claim that she worked with accomplice . One may have been her hubby , Ferencz Nadasdy , and others were members of her motor hotel .
NadasdymarriedBathory when she was 15 . A soldier , he spent most of his time off from place . There ’s speculation that Nadasdy may have taught his wife new torment methods , while other researchers believe he was ignorant of her actions . What ’s agreed upon is that Bathory drill most of her crimes in his absence and that the crimes got worse after he died in 1604 .
Bathory’s Crimes
Bathory had a taste for torturing young daughter in particular — historian submit that she was epicene . The number she committed ranged from drive phonograph needle through her servants ' lip and fingernails to leaving her victims bare in the Charles Percy Snow , dousing them withwaterand letting them immobilize to death to covering her victims with love , link them up and pull up stakes them to be attack by emmet and bees [ source : account , Biography ] .
Perhaps the most ill-famed legend about Bathory is that she bathed in her victims ' blood . Inevitably , this led to rumor that the countess was avampire . She reportedly claim to utilise virginal descent to keep her skin unseasoned — she wanted to remain beautiful for her husband . But this tarradiddle was first write in 1729 by a Magyar priest long after Bathory ’s death [ origin : Biography ] .
When Bathory move from killing barbarian female child to pocket-size noblewomen , the authority got involved . In 1610 , Bathory ’s cousin Count Gyorgy Thurzo ( who was in charge of judicial matters in the region ) convey a foray on Bathory’scastle . He reportedly surprise her in the act of torture and imprisoned her in her home while he enquire .
Four servants were arrest and questioned , under torture . They admit to burying many victims although they denied kill anyone . The number of bodies they admitted to burying wide-ranging between 36 and 51 . Three of the servants were sentenced to death and executed [ rootage : Biography ] .
In all nearly 300 people gave testimonies . The testimonies , which are still in Magyar archives , are both questionable and convict in nature . These testimony are questionable because most of them were from people with only used knowledge of the allege crimes . But the fact that there even were trials regarding Bathory ’s execution lends some credence to the tarradiddle surround the fair sex . One attestator named Suzannah testified that Bathory kept a registry of her murders and that it total 650 , although the account book was never launch [ sources : Biography , Sheldon ] .
As for Bathory , she exact she was destitute but she was never tried for her crimes . Instead , she was walled into a room in the castle with just two slits for air andfoodto pass through . She spent the remaining four years of her lifespan there , until she was observe dead on the floor in 1614 .
In late years , some historians questioned whether she was indeed a prolific killer . Some speculate that Count Thurzo want to get her out of the way so that other family members could take over her state and holding , and since there was very little eyewitness testimonial of her crimes it is concentrated to tell .
" If we examine the testimony side by side with contemporary medical text , the descriptions of so-called torture by Erzsébet ’s servants will show a remarkable correspondence with aesculapian and surgical instructions for specific diseases . According to the testimonies , the countess herself was not even present at most of these procedures performed by her servants , as she often traveled among her numerous castles and estates,“wrote Hungarian historian Irma Szádeczky - Kardossin 2005 .
On the other script , it is unconvincing she was completely impeccant too . Back in 1602 , a non-Christian priest had drop a line a letter of the alphabet describing the inhuman treatment with which Bathory and her husband treated their servants . There were also a large number of body found buried at her acres , whom Bathory describe as cholera victims [ sources : Szádeczky - Kardoss , Biography ] .
