Dagmar Overbye: The Baby Farm Monster Who Strangled Dozens of Infants in Copenhagen
In the bustling streets of early 20th-century Copenhagen, where poverty and social stigma clung to unwed mothers like a shroud, one woman offered a grim lifeline. Dagmar Overbye, a seemingly compassionate midwife, ran a “baby farm” promising care and adoption for illegitimate children. Desperate women, shunned by society, paid her small fees to take their babies away. What they did not know was that Overbye was no savior—she was a predator who murdered those helpless infants, strangling them and burning their tiny bodies in her stove.
Between 1915 and 1920, Overbye’s home at 14 Istedgade became a house of horrors. She claimed at least 25 victims, though estimates suggest she may have killed up to 100 or more. Her crimes exposed the dark underbelly of Denmark’s welfare system, where the vulnerable were preyed upon by those entrusted with their care. This is the chilling story of how one woman’s cold-blooded operation evaded detection for years, only to unravel in a torrent of evidence that shocked the nation.
Overbye’s case stands as a stark reminder of infanticide’s historical roots, driven by societal pressures rather than maternal instinct. Analyzing her methods, motives, and the systemic failures that enabled her reveals not just individual evil, but a failure to protect society’s most innocent.
Early Life and Descent into Darkness
Dagmar Johanne Overbye was born on April 23, 1887, in Adhus, a rural area near Copenhagen, Denmark. Little is documented about her childhood, but records indicate a troubled path marked by instability. By her early twenties, she had married Peter Overbye, a laborer, but the union produced no children of their own—a fact that would later haunt investigations into her psyche.
Overbye worked sporadically as a midwife and cleaner, positions that gave her access to vulnerable women. In 1915, amid Denmark’s growing urbanization and the stigma against single motherhood, she saw an opportunity. Illegitimate births were common, but adoption services were scarce and expensive. Overbye advertised her services discreetly, posing as a foster mother who could place babies with “good families” abroad, often claiming Sweden or Norway as destinations.
Social Context of the Era
Denmark in the 1910s grappled with high rates of out-of-wedlock births, exacerbated by World War I’s economic strains. Unwed mothers faced ostracism, joblessness, and poverty. Baby farms—informal care homes—proliferated across Europe, some legitimate, others deadly. Overbye exploited this desperation, charging 300-500 kroner (roughly $50-85 today) per child, a sum affordable only to the working poor.
- She targeted prostitutes, servants, and factory workers, promising confidentiality and quick resolutions.
- Many mothers never saw their children again, receiving forged letters about happy adoptions.
- Overbye’s own childlessness fueled resentment, according to later confessions, turning her role into one of vengeance against the babies she deemed “unwanted.”
Her operation thrived in Copenhagen’s Vesterbro district, a red-light area rife with transients, where missing infants raised few alarms.
The Baby Farm Operation: A Facade of Care
At her two-room apartment, Overbye cared for up to five infants at a time, feeding them minimally to weaken them before killing. Neighbors recalled constant crying, strange smells, and smoke from her stove, but attributed it to poverty. She maintained meticulous records—not of care, but of deceit: fake adoption papers, payments, and mother names.
Overbye’s business model was ruthlessly efficient. Mothers dropped off newborns, often hours old, and left with assurances. Within days, the infants vanished. She pocketed fees, bought cheap food and clothes, and disposed of remains, netting a steady income equivalent to a skilled worker’s wage.
Daily Routines of Deception
- Mothers arrived via word-of-mouth referrals, often in secret nighttime visits.
- Overbye weighed babies, noted details, and issued receipts promising updates.
- Infants received watered-down milk, leading to rapid decline.
- Killings occurred at night; bodies burned in the cast-iron stove, bones ground and scattered in the yard or toilet.
One mother later testified: “She said my baby would go to a farm family in Sweden. I sent money for clothes, but got silence.” Overbye forged responses, sustaining the illusion for months.
Methods of Murder: Brutal and Methodical
Overbye’s killings were hands-on and savage. Primary method: strangulation with her bare hands or cloth, targeting sleeping infants for silence. She drowned some in washbasins, others starved until death. Burning was disposal: bodies crammed into the stove, fueled by coal and wood, producing acrid smoke that neighbors ignored.
Autopsies later revealed crushed skulls, ligature marks, and incineration evidence. Overbye confessed to boiling flesh off bones for easier grinding. “It was easy,” she reportedly said. “They didn’t cry much.”
Confirmed Kill Counts and Estimates
- Police confirmed 25 murders via records and witness statements.
- Overbye claimed 41; pathologists estimated 60-100 based on stove residue and bone fragments.
- Two survived briefly under her care but were later killed elsewhere.
Her lack of remorse chilled investigators: no tears for the tiny victims she called “little burdens.”
The Victims: Silent and Forgotten
Overbye’s victims were Denmark’s most vulnerable: newborns from impoverished mothers. Names like Karen Jensen, born to a 19-year-old maid, or unnamed infants from prostitutes, etched in police ledgers. Mothers spanned ages 16 to 40, many suicidal from grief upon learning the truth.
Respect for these lives demands recognition. Each child represented shattered dreams—potential lives ended in secrecy. Survivors’ testimonies humanized the horror: one mother clawed at Overbye’s door months later, only to be turned away with lies.
Discovery and Investigation: Unraveling the Nightmare
The end came in 1920 when a mother, suspecting foul play, alerted police after Overbye demanded more money without proof of adoption. Detectives raided 14 Istedgade on December 29, finding emaciated babies, suspicious ash piles, and ledgers listing 81 placements with no follow-up.
Overbye confessed after initial denials, leading police to dig her yard: 100+ bone fragments emerged. Neighbors corroborated smells and cries. The investigation, led by Inspector Carl Jensen, spanned months, exhuming stove parts for forensics—a novelty in Danish policing.
Key Evidence Uncovered
- Handwritten “adoption” book with crossed-out names.
- Mothers’ addresses traced; 20+ identified victims.
- Chemical analysis confirmed human bone ash.
- Overbye’s stove, warped from overuse, yielded teeth and skull shards.
The case gripped Copenhagen, with newspapers dubbing her “The Baby Butcher.”
Trial and Conviction: Justice in the Spotlight
Trial began March 21, 1921, at Copenhagen City Court. Prosecutor Hans Jensen presented damning evidence; Overbye’s defense claimed insanity, but psychiatrists deemed her sane and calculating. She testified flatly: “I killed them because they were illegitimate and unwanted.”
On April 16, 1921, she was convicted of 25 murders, sentenced to death by guillotine—Denmark’s first female death sentence in 25 years. King Christian X commuted it to life imprisonment amid public debate on capital punishment. Overbye died of pneumonia on January 6, 1929, at Horsens State Prison, aged 41.
Psychological Profile: Evil or Product of Circumstance?
Experts analyze Overbye through modern lenses: possible antisocial personality disorder, marked by lack of empathy and manipulation. Her childlessness bred pathological envy; societal misogyny amplified resentment toward “fallen women.”
No remorse suggests psychopathy: charm to lure mothers, detachment in killing. Yet, poverty and gender roles contextualize her—baby farms were unregulated until her case spurred reforms. Was she a monster born or made? Likely both, her crimes reflecting unchecked opportunism.
Comparative Cases
- Similar to UK’s Amelia Dyer (400+ kills) or Australia’s Baby Farmers.
- Overbye unique in confession detail, aiding criminology.
Legacy: Reforms and Lasting Shadow
Overbye’s atrocities prompted Denmark’s 1921 Child Welfare Act, mandating licensed adoptions and inspections. Baby farms were banned; social services expanded. Her case influenced Scandinavian child protection laws, saving countless lives.
Today, she embodies infanticide’s horrors, studied in true crime and psychology. Memorials are absent—victims’ anonymity persists—but her story warns of exploiting vulnerability. Copenhagen’s Istedgade, once her lair, now thrives, a testament to progress over past darkness.
Conclusion
Dagmar Overbye’s baby farm was no mere crime spree but a systematic slaughter enabled by silence and stigma. Twenty-five confirmed infant lives extinguished by strangulation and flame demand reflection on protecting the defenseless. Her exposure dismantled a deadly trade, forging safeguards that endure. In remembering her victims—not her—we honor innocence amid evil, ensuring history’s lessons prevent repetition. Society’s duty remains: vigilance for the voiceless.
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