Daisy Louisa C. de Melker, born Daisy Hancorn-Smith on June 1, 1886, stands as one of the most infamous figures in South African criminal history. Her life, cloaked in superficial normalcy, unraveled into a chilling tale of greed and murder, leading to her becoming the second woman to be executed in South Africa.

Raised in an era when the role of women was largely confined to domestic duties, Daisy appeared to embody the archetypal nurturing figure. Trained as a nurse, she seemed dedicated to caring for others. However, beneath this facade lurked a sinister disposition.

Her descent into criminality began with her marriages. Daisy married William Alfred Cowle in 1909, a union that ended in tragedy when Cowle died mysteriously in 1923. The cause of death was determined to be strychnine poisoning. Undeterred, Daisy remarried in 1926 to Robert Sproat, who met a similar fate in 1927, again due to strychnine poisoning. In both instances, Daisy de Melker benefited financially through life insurance policies taken out on her husbands.

The most heinous of her crimes, however, involved her only son, Rhodes Cecil Cowle. In 1932, he died under suspicious circumstances, with the cause of death being arsenic poisoning. This event marked a turning point in the investigation of Daisy's activities.

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