Marie Margarethe, known as Grete Beier, was born on September 15, 1885, in Brand-Erbisdorf, Germany. Her father, Ernst Theodor Beier, was the mayor of the town, and her mother was Ida Karoline Clausnitzer. Growing up as the daughter of a local official, Grete's early life was likely influenced by her family's status in society.

In 1905, when she was about 20 years old, Grete met Johannes Heinrich Merker, a clerk. They became secretly engaged without telling her parents. However, their relationship soured, and Grete ended the engagement due to Merker's infidelity. In the following year, she started a new relationship with Heinrich Moritz Curt Pressler, the chief engineer. Their engagement was at the request of Pressler's parents, but Grete found the relationship to be cold and often clashed with Pressler's controlling nature.

Despite her engagement to Pressler, Grete began seeing Merker again, who had become involved in embezzlement. In the summer of 1906, Grete became pregnant from this relationship and decided to have an abortion in November of that year.

Pressler and Grete's wedding was scheduled for May 14, 1907, but Grete was determined to stop it. Both Grete and Merker attempted to disrupt the wedding. Merker even wrote fake love letters from an imaginary Italian suitor to ensure Pressler would believe she was unfaithful.

In April 1907, a relative named Kröner, who managed the local poorhouse, died. Grete took this opportunity to steal from him. She forged a will, took jewelry and a checkbook from her parents' home, and claimed Kröner's savings, sharing the money with Merker.

Grete Beier, a young woman from Freiberg, became involved in a series of serious crimes. She was secretly engaged to a man named Johannes Heinrich Merker but broke off the relationship because of his unfaithfulness. Later, she became engaged to Heinrich Moritz Curt Pressler, but their relationship was strained. Grete wanted to stop Pressler from marrying her, and she tried various dishonest schemes.

In 1907, as their wedding approached, Grete took drastic actions. She plotted to murder Pressler. First, she poisoned him with cyanide on the night before their wedding. After he was dead, she shot him to make it look like a suicide. She also created letters to mislead investigators and protect herself.

When the investigation began, Grete engaged in more deceitful acts to shift the blame onto others. Eventually, she was arrested in June 1907. During her time in custody, further allegations of fraud and an illegal abortion came to light. By November of that year, Grete confessed to murdering Pressler.

In court, she was found guilty of the crime. The king of Saxony denied her a pardon. On July 23, 1908, at the age of 22, Grete Beier was executed by guillotine in Freiberg. After her execution, she was buried in a family grave in the Johannis cemetery in Dresden.