A Healer Who Liked to Kill

Daisy Daisy De Melker: South Africa’s First Female Serial Killer

This is the story of Daisy De Melker, a young woman from Grahamstown, South Africa, who came from dirt and decided she wanted more out of life. She was willing to do whatever it took to ensure she lived a pampered, cushy life far from the poverty-stricken home she grew up in — this meant crushing anything and anyone who stood in her way. Daisy was a mother and a wife — and she would become one of South Africa’s most prolific female serial killers.

Before she was ever the infamous Daisy De Melker, she was born Daisy Hancorn-Smith on June 1, 1886, in Grahamstown, South Africa. She grew up in a very poor family. There were 11 children in the family in total, so there were a lot of mouths to feed.

When Daisy was 12 years old she moved to Rhodesia, which is now what we call Zimbabwe, with her father and two brothers. She would spend three years here before her father decided it was time she focused on getting a good education. Daisy was enrolled in…