Piroska Jancsó-Ladányi (born Piroska Mária Ladányi; 15 January 1934 – 12 December 1954) was a Hungarian serial killer who killed five teenage girls in Törökszentmiklós between 1953 and 1954 in order to satisfy her sexual urges. Hanged in 1954, she remains one of the most infamous and insidious killers in Hungarian criminal history, with her case covered extensively in the novel Little Saints by author Szilárd Rubin.
Family history and early life Piroska's mother, Borbála, was born on 1 May 1909, as one of 16 children of postman János and street sweeper Mária. Twelve of her siblings died in infancy, while two of her sisters would later commit suicide. Borbála lost her father at age 8, leaving the family without any income, resulting in her dropping out of school. At age 16, due to her desperate financial situation, Borbála began to offer sexual services, for which she was shunned by her peers. Officially, she worked as a maid for male farmers who paid off her living and housing expenses. As a result of these liaisons, Borbála gave birth to five children to four different fathers.
Piroska Mária was born on 15 January 1934 in Törökszentmiklós, the offspring of Gyula Ladányi, a local farmer; her half-brother, József, was born on 5 August 1943 to Jewish merchant Lipót Weisz. Neither man recognized their paternity at first, but Ladányi was eventually pressured to do so in 1949, paying off an alimony of 600 forints to never deal with his daughter again. Weisz was deported to a concentration camp, and never returned. Due to change in legislation at the time, József became an heir to Weisz's fortune, with the family being given a building at 171 Red Army Road (present-day Széchenyi Street).
The building was regarded as a brothel by local villagers. In a contemporary report, the house was described as a "simple farmhouse, painted in yellow, consisting of three rooms. The two windows of the room faced the street and the kitchen and the pantry looked out onto the porch. The fence was set in the winter, in the summer they just cut through their yard, trampling between meters of weeds on the path, to the kitchen door. The two street windows were covered with tar paper."
Borbála and Piroska were often visited by men to satisfy their sexual needs, for which they were paid in cash, bread or tallow. It was also reported that both had contracted STDs from their casual partners. While Borbála often had sex with the Hungarians, 14-year-old Piroska serviced the Soviet soldiers from the local garrison at the telephone station on the Czégény farm. In her free time, she would wander around the area, stealing and getting drunk. She had attempted to take on several honest jobs, but often quit.
Jancsó-Ladányi finished her education up to the 5th grade, but was noted for reading books and novels about human anatomy. According to one psychiatrist, she had above-average intelligence compared to her peers, wrote poems and spoke fluent Russian. By 1952, she had been prosecuted for a theft, and police had arrested her in several cities. One police officer later claimed that "[Jancsó-Ladányi] lives an immoral lifestyle, and if she could, she would go to the Soviet soldiers, doesn't usually stay at her parents' house, goes out and lives like a tramp rather live a normal life." She also had to undergo treatment for her STDs on three separate occasions.
Murders In the summer of 1953, Jancsó-Ladányi first met 11-year-old Marika Komáromi, who herded cows in the city's outskirts. A few months later, on 13 October, she met her again in front of the vegetable shop in Törökszentmiklós, standing in line for some fries. It was then that she decided to lure the little girl to her house by promising that there were more fries there. When they reached the house, Jancsó-Ladányi gave her a novel to read, and while Komáromi was reading, she was strangled from behind with an electric wire. After strangling the girl, Jancsó-Ladányi undressed the corpse and then rubbed herself against it. She then covered it up with a blanket, tied a noose around the neck and dragged it out of the house, dumping it down a well.
Based on initial testimonies, it was claimed that the little girl had disappeared near the Czégény farm populated by the Soviets, but nobody present there was questioned by local police. According to one researcher, Tibor Legát, this was a result of the fear the police department felt from the invading forces, and the contemporary belief that no violent crime occurred in socialist countries.
At a witness hearing in the fall of 1954, 13-year-old Mária Markoth testified that the Soviet soldiers did indeed solicit young girls for sex, which was backed up by Ilona Czene, who admitted to prostituting herself to them. However, Czene also claimed that on 27 August 1954, a drunken Jancsó-Ladányi had confessed to her about killing the Komáromi girl with the help of her mother. This account was backed up by yet another witness, Rozália Lajkó, who had come across the pair near the Czégény farm. She had asked them what were they gonna do there, to which little Marika replied to "talk to the Russians", but when queried about what for, she just shrugged. Lajkó parted with them shortly after they reached the homestead, but had seen a soldier come out and greet them. When she went to the authorities, they advised her to remain quiet on the matter, and thereafter suspended the investigation out of fear for repercussions from the soldiers. Jancsó-Ladányi's presence was completely ignored, despite her known association with the troops and the fact that both of her children were born to different fathers serving in the garrison.
On 9 June 1954, Jancsó-Ladányi came across 13-year-old Piroska Hóppal, who was selling chickens at the Törökszentmiklós market. Sensing an opportunity, she lured the girl to the farmhouse, ostensibly to sell her some chickens, but when they arrived, she gave her a book to distract her. While Hóppal was reading, Jancsó-Ladányi strangled her with a wire. Then, according to her later confessions, "[she] looked at the corpse's genitalia, licked it, and then stuck a carrot in her own genitalia, causing her to ejaculate. She then inserted a long broomstick into her vagina. Later, she licked Hóppal's genitalia with her tongue while holding on to her corpse, causing her to ejaculate again". In addition, she stole 200 forints that the girl had on her.
In the spring of 1954, Jancsó-Ladányi became acquaintances with 17-year-old factory worker Irén Simon, who came from Budapest. According to her, Simon was also secretly a lesbian, but rebuffed her advances, as she was afraid of somebody finding out about their intimate relationship. On 9 August 1954, Jancsó-Ladányi lured Simon to the farmhouse, where she strangled her with the electric wire. She undressed her body, but noticed that she was suffering from a venereal disease and refrained from performing any sexual acts with her corpse. She instead dragged the victim's body to the well and dumped it there, before rummaging through her clothes' pockets, stealing 30 forints and then throwing the clothes away.
Two days later, she intercepted 12-year-old Marika Botos at the bus stop in front of the Törökszentmiklós council house. The girl, who came from Mezőtúr, told that she was visiting her godmother for the holidays. Jancsó-Ladányi offered to escort her there, but on the way, she asked Botos to help deliver a package to her farm. When they reached the farmhouse, Jancsó-Ladányi strangled her with a cotton cord. After satisfying her sexual urges with the little girl's naked body, she dragged it to the well and threw it in. She then hid Botos' clothes under her bed, stealing the 7 forints she found on them.
On 14 August, Jancsó-Ladányi approached her fifth victim, 12-year-old Katóká Szőke, on the railway, luring her to the farmhouse under the pretext of helping to carry a package. When they entered the farmhouse, Szőke was given a book to read, while Jancsó-Ladányi snuck up behind her and strangled her with a trouser strap. She then undressed the body, mutilated it and then threw it into the well, keeping the girl's clothes. She then went to the market, selling her victims' clothes and shoes for 15-20 forints a piece. She got the most out of Hóppal's jacket, shirt and sandals, for which she was paid 45 forints.
Panic, attempted murder and arrest As the disappearances continued, locals began to panic, with parents refusing to allow their children to go out without supervision. The cases were reported to the crime department of the Szolnok Police Headquarters, with some people suggesting that the Soviets were responsible for the abductions. Despite this, no patrols were dispatched and authorities did not ask the parents for photographs of the children, ordering only that a car with a loudspeaker drive around the town and describe the victims.
In 1954, two teenage boys disappeared: Albert Kenyeres on 2 February, and Imre Vígh on 21 June, but it later turned out that both of them had run away from home. The population became increasingly suspicious towards outsiders, especially travelling gypsies and motorists passing through the city, eventually leading to more than a thousand residents of Törökszentmiklós protesting in front of the police station, demanding that the kidnappers be apprehended. There were also rumors that local Jews were kidnapping the children to "use their blood to rebuild the synagogue", and that a local funeral company director was abducting them in his company car.
On 2 September 1954, at 9 o'clock in the evening, Istvánné Balászi, a 21-year-old resident of Pusztakengyel, reported to the Törökszentmiklós police that Jancsó-Ladányi had attempted to rob and then strangle her with a wire. According to her, the two met at the Szolnok-Alcsi railway station, where they got acquainted over their mutual search for a job. The two of them discussed going to the amusement park in Tiszaliget to have some fun, for which they were joined by a man who was carrying Piroska's suitcase. The next morning, Balászi realized that her new companion had stolen her package. Knowing that she worked as a maid, she notified authorities, who found her on a construction site. In the end, Balászi did not make a complaint, as Piroska promised that she would return the suitcase if she accompanied her to Törökszentmiklós. When the pair arrived there, Jancsó-Ladányi gave her some brandy, causing Balászi to feel sleepy and fall asleep in the yard, since the room was dirty and the three small children were scattered around the house. In the evening, she woke up to Jancsó-Ladányi trying to strangle her with a wire, and in her fear, she wrestled off her assailant and escaped. Balászi told a friend working at the police station about the attack, who, together with two of his colleagues, brought Jancsó-Ladányi for interrogation. Since she refused to admit whether she was guilty or not, the authorities went to the farmhouse to find the stolen clothes.
Investigation