The 1932 trial of Daisy de Melker was a first in many respects. It drew unprecedented media coverage, locally and abroad. Spectators queued from sun-up just to get a glimpse of her. Never had public sentiment been consolidated so completely against an accused – she was condemned before she even appeared in the Johannesburg High Court.
Daisy de Melker is considered to be South Africa’s first serial killer – but did she really murder the three men she had been accused of poisoning? What if … she had not?
This is not a plea for acquittal, nor an application for a belated reprieve, but a query as to whether there was not more room for reasonable doubt than was considered in 1932. It is a plea for justice. Instead of imparting a sinister slant to every circumstantial incident, it takes an impartial look at the facts and asks the questions that should have been asked all those years ago - but were not.
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