Béla Kiss was born around 1877 in Hungary. He worked as a tinsmith and moved to the town of Cinkota, near Budapest, in 1900. Kiss was known to be friendly and well-liked by his neighbors. He had interests in astrology and the occult. In 1912, Kiss’s wife, Mária, and her lover, Pál Bihari, disappeared after Kiss discovered their affair. Kiss claimed they had run away together. He then hired an elderly housekeeper named Mrs. Jakubec to help at home.

From around 1903 to 1914, Béla Kiss secretly committed several murders. He tricked women by placing ads in newspapers, pretending to be a lonely man named "Hoffmann" looking for companionship or marriage. He invited women to his home and then strangled them. After killing his victims, he preserved their bodies by placing them in large metal drums filled with alcohol.

Kiss told neighbors that the metal drums stored gasoline in case of shortages during wartime. In 1914, he was called to fight in World War I. In July 1916, while Kiss was away, the police searched his property after the landlord became suspicious about the drums. They found the bodies of 23 women and one man (Pál Bihari).

The police discovered letters from 74 different women, showing Kiss had planned these crimes for years. Authorities tried to arrest him, but Kiss disappeared after reportedly being injured during the war. He may have changed identities with a dead soldier and escaped capture. Although there were rumored sightings, Béla Kiss was never found or arrested. His exact fate remains unknown.