Hilda Nilsson

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Hilda Nilsson

| image = Hilda Nilsson (1).jpg

| image_upright = 1.25

| alt = Police mugshots in black and white of middle-aged woman sitting on a chair wearing a cardigan and looking listlessly into the camera

| caption = Police mugshots of Nilsson in 1917

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 24 May 1876

| birth_place = Helsingborg, Sweden

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1917|08|10|1876|05|24}}

| death_place = Landskrona, Sweden

| death_cause = Suicide by hanging

| resting_place =

| penalty = Death

| motive = Financial trouble

| conviction = Murder (8 counts)

}}

Hilda Nilsson (24 May 1876 – 10 August 1917) was a Swedish serial killer from Helsingborg who became known as "the angel maker on Bruks Street". She is one of Sweden's most notorious female serial killers.

In 1917, she was imprisoned for murdering eight children.{{efn|Some sources indicate her victims may number as many as 17 children.}} Her trial, which included a mental examination, began on 2 June 1917. At the conclusion of the trial on 15 June 1917, she was sentenced to death. She escaped execution by committing suicide while in jail in Landskrona. She hanged herself with a linen cloth which she had tied to a cell door, and was thus the last person sentenced to death in Sweden not to have the sentence commuted.

Background

Hilda Nilsson and her husband Gustaf lived in Helsingborg. The couple had accrued large debts and needed a way to pay their bills.{{cite magazine|url = http://www.popularhistoria.se/artiklar/anglamakerskan/|title = Änglamakerskan|trans-title=The angel maker|magazine = Populär Historia|accessdate = 1 December 2015|language = sv|last = Bolmstedt|first = Åsa|publisher = Populär Historia|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208050955/http://www.popularhistoria.se/artiklar/anglamakerskan/|archivedate = 8 December 2015|df = dmy-all}}

As a way to raise cash, Nilsson cared for infants in return for money from unmarried mothers who needed help.{{cite news|url = http://www.aftonbladet.se/wendela/article11374684.ab|title = Hon mördade fosterbarnen i tvättstugan|trans-title = She murdered children in the wash room|accessdate = 1 December 2015|language = sv|last = Dahlgren|first = Charlotta|date = 15 March 2008|publisher = Aftonbladet|website = Wendela|archive-date = 8 December 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208173616/http://www.aftonbladet.se/wendela/article11374684.ab|url-status = live}} At that time, having a child outside of marriage was considered to be a shameful moral crime, and caring for these children for a fee (known as baby farming) was a common practice.

Nilsson kept her home in a good, clean condition, which made mothers more willing to leave their unwanted children in her care. However, the small sums of money she received were far from what she needed to support all the children she had agreed to look after.

Murders

File:Hilda Nilssons bucket.jpg and coal scuttle that Nilsson used to drown the children]]

File:Hilda Nilsson (2).jpg

Nilsson murdered the children she took care of shortly after their mothers left them in her care. This was possible because the authorities rarely knew of these babies' existence. Furthermore, the mothers almost never came back to learn how their children were doing.

One method Nilsson used for murdering the children was to put them into a washtub and then place heavy objects—such as a washboard and coal scuttle—on top of them.{{cite journal|url=http://www.hemmetsjournal.se/odenochaventyr/Artiklar/Reportage/Anglamakerskan-i-Helsingborg-drankte-atta-fosterbarn/ |title=Änglamakerskan i Helsingborg dränkte åtta fosterbarn |trans-title=The angel maker in Helsingborg drowned eight foster care children |journal=Hemmets Journal |accessdate=1 December 2015 |last=Rystad |first=Johan G. |date=1 April 2015 |language=sv |publisher=Egmont Group |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208134759/http://www.hemmetsjournal.se/odenochaventyr/Artiklar/Reportage/Anglamakerskan-i-Helsingborg-drankte-atta-fosterbarn/ |archivedate=8 December 2015}} She then left the room and returned hours later when the children were dead. The next step in her procedure was to burn their bodies. On occasions when she did not burn them, she dug graves and buried them.

Nilsson was different from other baby-farmer child killers of that time, in that she actively killed the children. Most others simply left the children with insufficient food and unhealthy living conditions which led to their deaths.{{cite news|url = http://www.sydsvenskan.se/malmo/atskilliga-spadbarn-dog-hos-anglamakerskorna/|title = Åtskilliga spädbarn dog hos änglamakerskorna|trans-title = Several infants died at the hands of angel makers|work = Sydsvenskan|date = 2 December 2012|accessdate = 6 December 2015|location = Malmö|last = Andersson|first = Martin|publisher = Bonnier Group|language = sv|archive-date = 10 December 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151210205919/http://www.sydsvenskan.se/malmo/atskilliga-spadbarn-dog-hos-anglamakerskorna/|url-status = live}}

Discovery, trial and sentence

Nilsson's crimes were discovered when a woman named Blenda Henricsson wanted to contact her child.{{cite web|url = http://www.landskronahistoria.se/profiler/1400_1900/hilda_nilsson.html|title = Hilda Nilsson|publisher = Landskronahistoria.se|accessdate = 1 December 2015|last = Koobs|first = Jonnie|editor-last = Mäkynen|editor-first = Tuula|language = sv|archive-date = 8 December 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208160622/http://www.landskronahistoria.se/profiler/1400_1900/hilda_nilsson.html|url-status = live}}{{Unreliable source?|date = December 2015|reason = Cites Wikipedia and another references already referenced in this article. Circular referencing?}} When Nilsson refused contact, Henricsson asked the police to investigate. The police soon found ample incriminating evidence of the murders.

Nilsson was sentenced to death by guillotine for eight murders. Before the punishment could be carried out, she died from suicide by hanging on 10 August 1917.

She was the last death penalty prisoner in Swedish history whose sentence was not commuted.