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in 1883 that she was only interested in getting money, not in having or spending it, and claimed that she gave the bulk of her ill-gotten funds to the poor. "The moment I discover a man's a fool I let him drop, but I delight in getting into the confidence and pockets of men who think they can't be
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Heyman's typical scheme involved conning money out of men by pretending to be a wealthy woman who was unable to access her fortune. She stayed at the best hotels and retained both a maid and a manservant in her service, while bragging about having influential friends. Her confidence tricks "were
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conductor she had met while on a train from
Chicago. Heyman had told him she had a large estate she wanted him to manage, and he quit his job on her promise to hire him. Heyman then told him she needed to borrow some money to obtain the sum that was due to her from her agent, and furthered the
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72:; and then to a man she identified as John Heyman. Contemporary sources described her as "a stout gross looking woman", or alternatively as having a "somewhat pleasing face" or "a lady of the same smart appearance and engaging manners." Byrnes profiled her in his 1886 book
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in
America", and was considered by the New York City police to be "the boldest and most expert of the many female adventuresses who infest the country." She managed to swindle several men out of a total of many thousands of dollars, even while behind bars.
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Thirty-five years old in 1886. Born in
Germany. Married. Very stout woman. Height, 5 feet 4½ inches. Weight, 245 pounds. Hair brown, eyes brown, fair complexion. German face. An excellent talker. Has four moles on her right
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broker who she had convinced she was worth $ 8 million, with forged securities. For this crime, she was again convicted in the Court of
General Sessions, on August 22, 1883, and sentenced to five years in prison.
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47:) was a 19th-century American criminal, also known as "Big Bertha" or the "Confidence Queen." She was described by famed New York City detective
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Heyman was arrested and jailed numerous times over the course of her criminal career. She was arrested in
September 1880 for conning a
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68:, and came to the United States in 1878. She was married twice; first to Fritz Karko, with whom she lived in New York and later
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businessman. She stood trial in June 1881 for stealing $ 250 and two gold watches from an elderly woman she boarded with in
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As part of a scam on her own attorney, she once claimed to be worth $ 20 million. She also defrauded a
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extraordinarily bold and ingenious, and they were covered by much ostentatious display."
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deception by taking him to a large house she claimed to own, as evidence of her wealth.
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on
February 8, 1881, charged with swindling several hundred dollars from a
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Swindler, Spy, Rebel: The
Confidence Woman in Nineteenth-Century America
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205:(February 2011), "Grifters, Bunco Artists & Flimflam Men",
286:, London, etc.: Cassell and Company, Ltd., pp. 463–464
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Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States
96:'skinned.' It ministers to my intellectual pride."
181:, New York: Cassell & Company, pp. 200–201
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60:Background, description, and criminal methodology
255:Miscellaneous City News; A Smart Female Swindler
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331:Consumer Price Index by Ethel D. Hoover
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303:Women Swindlers in America, 1860–1920
283:Mysteries of Police and Crime, Vol. I
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64:She was born Bertha Schlesinger in
112:Heyman was soon arrested again in
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178:Professional Criminals of America
74:Professional Criminals of America
368:, University of Missouri Press,
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393:19th-century American criminals
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398:American confidence tricksters
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327:"Minneapolis Federal Reserve"
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413:Criminals from New York City
360:De Grave, Kathleen (1995),
30:Heyman depicted on an 1888
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280:Griffiths, Arthur (1898),
22:Bertha Heyman in June 1881
227:"Bertha Heymann's Pride"
51:as "one of the smartest
301:Segrave, Kerry (2007),
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337:on December 20, 2014
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260:The New York Times
234:The New York Times
126:Blackwell's Island
100:Crimes and arrests
92:The New York Times
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312:978-0-7864-3039-0
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339:. Retrieved
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133:Wall Street
45: 1851
387:Categories
341:August 14,
203:Jay, Ricky
140:References
240:August 7,
70:Milwaukee
175:(1886),
118:Montreal
66:Prussia
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81:cheek.
40:(born
230:(PDF)
208:Wired
370:ISBN
343:2011
307:ISBN
242:2011
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