Helmuth Schmidt

Helmuth Schmidt, a.k.a. "American Bluebeard", was a "bluebeard " murderer, bigamist, and suspected serial killer active in several U.S. states.

History
Not much information about Schmidt's early years is disclosed, other than he settled  in the  U.S. in 1913 in an apparent escape from military service in his native country Germany. He eventually met a woman named Anita, whom he would later marry and have a daughter named Gertrude {born 1900}  with her. At some point in the early 1900s, Schmidt married several other women and robbed them of thousands of dollars, most likely for financial reasons. He apparently started his killings soon after, allegedly starting with Anita, who disappeared at their Lakewood, New Jersey home. Schmidt then allegedly killed Margaret "Greta" Darsch, a woman who posed as Anita for some time after Anita's disappearance, before fleeing to Detroit, Michigan, with Gertrude. There, he met Helen Teitz, whom he married. In his time at Michigan, he killed his only confirmed victim, Augusta Steinbach, whom he robbed of $500 and her jewelry, and also apparently strangled to death 28-year-old Irma Pallatinus, his housekeeper and alleged mistress. On April 23, 1918, police investigating Steinbach's disappearance somehow traced a connection between her and Schmidt, storming into his "murder plant" and arresting him, Helen, and the then-18-year-old Gertrude; the latter two would later be cleared of any involvement in the crime and released. At the residence, police found evidence of other victims. Schmidt confessed to cremating Steinbach's body, but insisted that she committed suicide instead. Later that day, he crawled under the iron bed of his prison cell, lifted it, and brought it down upon himself, crushing his skull and effectively committing suicide. It was through the persistence of Stenbach fellow maid Agnes Dominie that authories in Michigan and New York tracked Schmidt down; one complicartion was that Detriot sherriff O.H.P. Greene had burned papers relating to the case before committing suicide. Pallatinus remains were found buried under cement in the basement of Schmidt's house

Modus Operandi
Schmidt's targets were young, single women immigrating to the U.S., all of whom were lured in with matrimonial advertisements he posted using aliases. He killed most of his victims by poisoning them, though Irma Pallatinus was killed by strangulation with an unspecified object. All of the victims were lured to so-called "murder plants", which included crematoriums that was used to cremate the victims' bodies.

Known Victims

 * March 1917, Royal Oak, Michigan : Augusta Steinbach

Suspected

 * Unspecified dates, Lakewood, New Jersey :
 * Anita Schmidt
 * Margaret "Greta" Darsch
 * May 2, 1918, Detroit, Michigan: Irma Pallatinus, 28
 * Note: In addition to those three murders, Schmidt was suspected of committing an estimated thirty other murders of women.

Bigamous Crimes

 * c. 1914, Lakewood, New Jersey: Adele Ulrich Braun
 * c. 1916, Chicago, Illinois: Unnamed victim
 * Unspecified dates:
 * Detroit, Michigan: Helen Schmidt (née Teitz)
 * New York City, New York: Unnamed victim-Schmidt married her under the alias of John Switt
 * Note: Judging by the high number of possible murder victims, it could also be possible Schmidt might have had numerous other bigamous marriages.

On Criminal Minds
Schmidt's habit of cremating at least one of his victims and disposing their ashes appears to have been an inspiration behind Anita Roycewood's method of killing her victims and the scenes of Roger Roycewood sprinkling the ashes onto roses as means of disposal. It should be also be noted that Schmidt's wife was named Anita, and that Helen Schmidt was briefly suspected of being an accomplice, which appear to be nods toward Anita Roycewood.