Wife, Nurse, Mother, Murderer: The Crimes of Daisy de Melker
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Explore the lesser-known history of South Africa through the eyes of early settlers, intense colonial conflicts, and notorious figures like Daisy de Melker, the country’s first female serial killer.
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A case that is almost completely forgotten now is when an arsenic-laced birthday cake was served at a children's birthday party on 12 July 1947 in the small town of Komatipoort (then eastern Transvaal, South Africa).
Eight adults and 13 children died.
The local shopkeeper's mentally-ill son added the poison to the icing sugar that was used for the cake.
It's a South African disaster that should be more well-known. The only reason I know about it is because my grandfather and his family received an invite to that party. He forgot about it and thereby saved his wife and 4 children, including my 10-month old mother.
Fuuuuuuuck, that's insane.
As an SA girl, I had never heard about this. Is there anything on the internet about it? I would love to look into it more
Yo that's crazy
It sounds like an interesting story. There appears to be no information on it except an “on this day” mention in Afrikaans Wikipedia. It might be really difficult to research.
2:50 -Simon's version is not "the more you know" but "the less you care," absolutely.
"Zuid" means "South" in Dutch. "ZAR" means: "Zuid-Afrikaanse Rand" in Dutch. I don't know what this is in the "Zuid-Afrikaanse" language, but I guess something like it. 🇿🇦 The Rand is the currency they use in South-Africa. 💶💳💰💸
I have family living in Cape Town, Pretoria & Port Elizabeth. I myself live in The Netherlands. 🇳🇱🧀 K.x.
ZAF is the passport code for South Africans, if that helps - makes sense but I can't exactly say why haha
The "Rand" in the currency's name is a homage to the "Witwatersrand" (translated into English as "White water ridge"). This is because gold was first discovered there in South Africa and because the Rand was originally supposed to be gold backed it made sense.
The "Z" in much of the labelling for South Africa is a historical remnant as Afrikaans dropped much of the letter's use as it diversified from Dutch.
Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek became Republiek van Suid-Afrika.
Zuid is suid. ZAR is Suid-Afrikaanse Rand.
It's also because the code SAR was claimed by another country before us, ZAR was second best option.
ZAR stand for Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek ( republic)
OMG yes! As kids, my mum used to threaten us with Daisy de Melker carrying us off into the darkness whenever we misbehave. And I still refer to a bad hair day as a "Daisy de Melker day".
Thanks Emma for covering this story. It's been a long time coming.
We named our dog Daisy and when she turned from adorable puppy into rambunctious chaos goblin we started calling her Daisy de Melker and I am shocked by how few of my friends knew this story. Excited to see it on a Fact Boi channel!
4:00 - Chapter 1 - A series of unfortunate events
18:15 - Chapter 2 - Pushing up daisy
26:10 - Chapter 3 - The prodigal son
34:20 - Chapter 4 - The skeletons in daisy's closet
36:10 - Chapter 5 - The trials of daisy de melker
54:40 - Dismembered appendices
PS: Humbly resquesting Henry Désire Landru, *The Bluebeard of Gambais* that guy had so much punchlines during its trial it has become stuff of legends !!!
Thanks to the editor Robert for putting up the dates when they are mentioned. Makes following the time line so much easier.
I love how Emma brings South African cases. She should do Alison Botha
Saving my work day one video at a time 🙏
Whoop whoop.
A South African one. And one I was wondering about!
THANK YOU EMMA!
This was great! I'm South African and had of course heard of Daisy but had never been told anything else than she murdered ppl. This was very interesting! Thank you
The great Gatsby has taught me to trust anyone named “Daisy” unless they’re in Mairo
Oh my word I couldn't stand a single character in that book.
I would absolutely love to hear the CasCrim teams take on Colton Harris, the barefoot bandit. It’s an absolutely insane story, and much cheerier than most of what Simon covers here.
I really have to voice my appreciation for Simon providing me hours and hours of content to fall asleep to.
Man Fact Boy and his TEAM are actually on fire right now.
What by uploading two videos a week like they used to
Simons pronunciation of South African words is the best thing ever 😂
It actually makes my teeth hurt...
@@ca9968well as someone who speaks Dutch, Afrikaans often makes my teeth hurt as well 😂
Why does most of the comments talk about Simon instead of the video? It’s literally “Simon, Simon, Simon, Simon, Simone” that’s a clear indicator the comments are fake and bought and are robotically misleading
@@BlackRoyalty_Simone? Haha
@@BlackRoyalty_in Simon we trust ❤
I love this channel! You guys do such a great job writing (and Simon talking). I find myself listening to these stories while at work to drown out the background noise. Helps with the monotonous tasks of the day. Thanks for all your work!
This really shouldn’t be surprising, Simon is fact boy after all, but it did catch me off guard. Seven minutes into the script and he mentions Durban. Oh cool, I know where that is.
But then I remembered WHY I know where Durban is. He did a video a year and a half ago on the Decoding The Unknown channel about the SS Waratah, and I watched about half of that video with a map of South Africa open to track all the locations mentioned between Durban and Cape Town. That city, that I had never heard of before, is now burned into my brain because of an unintentional geography lesson about a ship that disappeared 🤦🏻♀️🤣
Simon is just out here reminding us how much his hundreds of channels teach us every day 🤣
Ditto. Just watched that one yesterday LOL
at least you know Durban because its a place, and not just from being a pothead (Durban Poison). ive met stoners who think Durban is a disease
Thank-you for that belly laugh you gave me at pronouncing Jan van Riebeek. Gave me good memories of my own British grandparents trying to pronounce Afrikaans words.
Growing up in South Africa, we all knew who Daisy de Melker was. Mostly because if you went to school with messy hair the teachers would compare you to her (I felt really sorry for the girls with thick unruly hair). Also the SABC made a TV Series about this.
Why do people who hate children become teachers?
12:47 after working for more than 10 years in the insurance industry.....Yes, that's what insurance actually is. Gambling on a persons life. The insurance company is gambling that you will live, and you are gambling that you will die. One of the reasons I got out of the gig.
George Carlin agrees with you. It's in one of his routines.
Ryan George calls it monetizing your anxiety.
I think Dick Gregory had a bit like that too. I'm sure others did as well. It's true, though.
I love your pronunciation of Afrikaans' words. ❤ I am really enjoying this one. Thank you
You do tell these stories so well.
Thank you to all involved in making this.
A very interesting case that I wasn't familiar with before this. Thank you to Simon and his writers for continuing to find new cases to present to us.
Just a side technical note: the outro audio has been cutting off prematurely in the last few episodes; not a big deal, but a sudden cutoff is a bit annoying. I understand that some heavy episodes end in silence, and that's as it should be.
That thumbnail is nightmare fuel lol.
You can’t unsee that, can you?
Are you talking about that hot chicks?
@@ChaosUnleashed265 👈 he’s thinking “I’ve done worse” 🤣🤣
It looks like Woody Harrelson in a wig lmaoo
Quite the Uncanny Valley, this one.
The pronunciations 🤣🤣 but thank you for a new episode I’ve been waiting 😁
Whoop whoop another SA case!🎉🎉🎉 Thank you Emma, these are lekker.
This is true crime. You should just spell out South Africa.
@@samclydemayeswomp womp
@@samclydemayes lol yeah sounds like she meant sexual assault!
I am confused by the lack of tangents 🤨
Finally! Suggested this ages ago. Pure evil. Grew up in South Africa hearing about her.
Thank you Simon!
I have not heard the story Daisy de Melker in a long time! Really enjoyed it as it was well written.
Like others have said i like that the writers get stories from all over the world and just not the US.
Zuid Dutch for South mate
Great script, Emma! Would you consider writing one about Kenya's Happy Valley Set and the murder of Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll? It's such a who-dun-it; I'd bet it would make for a great (long) episode!
Brilliant script Emma, interesting background information and captivating telling of her selfish crimes. 💫
Great video! keep them coming fact boy
A new video is a great way to start the work week!!
Fun Fact: the only video game to depict Henry the Sixth is the Yugioh video game Duelist of the Roses, wherein you, the player, reenact the War of the Roses using the card game. No, I am no kidding.
Damn, Simon, you're really taking the Casual part seriously these days!
Thank you Emma! I love your 🇿🇦 S.A. cases!
I grew up on the border of Germiston and Boksburg...
Daisy De Melker, Moses Sithole...that area it seems has always been a loose cannon factory...
Simon's defeat every time he remembers he's filming The Casual Criminalist 😂😂💀
The best pronunciation in one pf Simon's videos... as a South African, its torturous.
That turned dark fast, lol.."he so spoiled.. and now he's dead"
the Z is probably for Zuid aka how the Dutch write south
It is.
I wondered if that penny was going to drop.
Nice
I hope y’all do an episode on the Gilgo Beach Killer/LISK sometime, if you haven’t already. happened right where I grew up, crazy that it’s still not resolved.
Buy that house she used to live in, claim it's haunted with her ghost, and turn it into a B&B for supernatural and macabre enthusiasts. Watch the money pour in!
It never ceases to amaze me that Simon can read so very many scripts…yet retain so little information! 😂
I like Simon's heart shaped glasses.
Can we stop talking about Simon? Like geez. Every video you guys cum your pants over Simon. Talk about the stories.
I thought that there was enough, “reasonable doubt” too!
Do you have merch you can buy for the casual criminalist? I love the show and the podcast. I listen while I work.
Ah yes, nothing better than an episode of the CasCrim to cook some dinner
6:19 watching from Zambia 🇿🇲 what ! What !
Just have to say that she looks like a mashup of Martin Van Buren and Andrew Jackson and would have been the perfect person to play Miss Trunchbowl in Roald Dahl's, Matilda.
Not the Jack Unterweger script i was hoping for..
Still good 👍
I think I’m suddenly interested in grade school curriculum history books from other countries. They sound awesome! 🤩 😅I think getting the history from other peoples view especially what they teach their kids can tell us a lot.
Sadly it all goes down from there
Presented well
Good show
You missed Woody Harrelson lookalike in your video description
Lol
I thought Simon used Emma's pronunciation guides quite well. Obviously he can't roll his r's like an SA person, but he also didn't stutter. 🥉
I miss the jacket over the Tshirt...but still love the show! ❤
I just came over from an older episode of DTU.. and man Simon your beard is so short here xD
Took me a minute to realise Simon was butchering the Koi-San people’s tribal name 😂. It’s pronounced “coy-sahn” for anyone interested. The Koi were the coastal-living members of this tribe while the San were in the inland-living members. They are a peace-loving people who did not really start a war with the white settlers. It was more a case of fighting back when the white settlers began exterminating them due to a small difference of opinion about the settlers now “owning” the land and animals on it; something the Koi-San people did not grasp as they have no concept of ownership.
The Boers "unfortunately" lost... That's a interesting choice of words Emma 😏
YAY! An Emma script!
My great grandfather was a poor Scottish crofter who moved to South Africa in the 1840s and then to Zimbabwe (Rhodesia at the time), and my grandfather was born there and died in one of the wars in the 70s. They may have been living close to where this case happened at the time. Small world.
Don't know if anyone addressed the subject, but as a shipping agent in the US that ships stuff to South Africa the reason why ZA is used is because SA means South America.
Did I miss some iPad lore on why simon is useing what looks like a mini
Came to the comments for this
@@beccaandfreyjaI think he is working from home due to construction at the office.
Emma! Thanks For this! Love your scripts
I'm so early for this video I'm actually terrified
I love how he always manages to forget he's doing an episode of The Casual Criminalist xD
She looks like an Oompa Loompa out of Charlie and the Chocolate factory! LOL 😆 (THUMBNAIL)
Oompa Loompa doobity doo I’ve got some arsenic beer for you - Daisy probably
Farmer Simon has a nice ring to it 😂😂
It's ironic to me that the person she was probably most reluctant to kill would be the death that got her convicted.
How could you not initially figure out that Zuid just means South? 🤦♂
I love looking at the old videos where Simon was in suits and such, and then jumping to these where he’s in tee shirts. 😂
There’s my afternoon sorted.
New series, The Whistlers: The Wild War Dogs of the Rhodesian Civil War. And conquest of the Isle of Man. Which involves Manx gatos.
Have I missed a few new episodes or is Simon trying out some snazzy new glasses?
31:21 six bananas is fucking wild. that's around 660 calories of banana.
Damn. I gotta finish gardening quicker so I can watch this asap
*plants growing faster* 🌿🍀🌳🌲🌼🌻🪻🌷🌹🌱
Never been this early to a video
Thanks For this fact boi! Please consider FTX
You did not host the video about Benjamin Franklin and John Adams sleeping together Daven hosted that video
Thought the thumbnail was an Ommpa Loompa! Hahha
The intro put me in the mood to play again Anno 1701.
It might be a really strange question to ask, but Emma, as a South African write for a British man's podcast. You don't happen to have lived a while at a hostle in Cape Town as part of the management, haven't you? I know, the chances are extremly small, but we might know each other ^^
Whenever there is a script from a context I'm familiar with, I re-realise that I absolutely should not trust Simon's tangential explorations and rather check before it gets stuck as a fact in my head. No matter how good it sounds. Logic does not equate truth. ZAR because local language - bwahahahahahaha!
Simon didnt host that episode mentioned in the beginning. Thats why he doesnt remember it. It was that "other" guy
Davin is a great host. Plus, he owns the channel.
Haha Simon your south african pronunciation took me by surprise 😂
Simon has that leg going!!😂
His knee don't fold, it jiggle jiggles
Imagine if her son knew what she did and having inherited her psycho behaviors, he decided to throw the ultimate temper tantrum and off himself in an extra punitive way.
Is it me or does Simon’s audio sound a bit off? Like high pitched?
Obsession... People do the wrong and don't want to be blamed
That looks like a saturday night live character on the thumbnail
😲 I have never heard of this one before 😱. Thanks Emma 😁
Her wedding date is my birthday and now I'm all creeped out because of that. 👀🤣
It occurs to me this is so weird during this video that she calls the neighbors and they come over to be there as he is sick and dying. If my neighbor called me to come over because someone is sick and dying, I would say no and tell them to call a doctor. Unless I or someone in my house was a doctor why would I come over to watch that or be there? Was this an old timey thing that people did? Not that I am not sad or compassionate to the family but why on earth would I want to be there. Call a doctor not me. I cannot do anything. Maybe she was trying to provide witnesses that the person is sick so she looks less guilty but still. Weird.
It's an old timey thing. It's not about you wanting to be there, It's about being there for the dying, so they are surrounded (and in case of religious communities prayed over) by friends and family.
I am from Bulawayo 😂😂 This has nothing to do with us! I am in South Africa now. Just following Daisy
i clicked cos she looked like Livia Soprano in the thumbnail... and its you! forgive me for only knowing you as 'true crime english bald guy' but you have so many channels that i dont have a name for you.
It's funny how troubling it is to see Simon take a sip from his mug in an episode about men poisoned by drinks