d: 1903
Annie Walters
Summary
Name:
Annie WaltersNickname:
The Finchley Baby FarmersYears Active:
1900 - 1902Status:
ExecutedClass:
Serial KillerVictims:
12+Method:
PoisoningDeath:
February 03, 1903Nationality:
United Kingdomd: 1903
Annie Walters
Summary: Serial Killer
Name:
Annie WaltersNickname:
The Finchley Baby FarmersStatus:
ExecutedVictims:
12+Method:
PoisoningNationality:
United KingdomDeath:
February 03, 1903Years Active:
1900 - 1902Date Convicted:
January 16, 1903bio
Annie Walters, born in 1869, had a less documented background. She had been married and reportedly struggled with alcohol dependency. Walters occasionally advertised herself as a nurse and was described as "feeble-minded" upon her arrest.
murder story
Around 1900, Amelia Sach began advertising adoption services, charging clients—primarily local servants who had become pregnant—between £25 and £30 for the assurance that their babies would be placed with wealthy families. In reality, after the infants were born, they were handed over to Annie Walters, who would poison them with chlorodyne, a medicine containing morphine. This operation allowed Sach to maintain the facade of a reputable maternity home while systematically disposing of the infants.
The scheme unraveled when Walters's suspicious behavior drew the attention of her landlord in Islington, who was a police officer. Authorities arrested Walters after she was found with a deceased infant. Subsequent investigations led to Sach's arrest. During their trial at the Old Bailey, evidence presented included the substantial amount of baby clothing found at Claymore House, indicating the scale of their crimes. Despite a local campaign to commute their sentences, both women were convicted and became the first women to be hanged at Holloway Prison on February 3, 1903, in what was the only double hanging of women in modern British history.