"The Transgendered Murderer": Ezine article by Else Cederborg; revised and previously published

In 1893 there was a scandal of dimensions in Copenhagen. The renown lady superintendent of the home for wayward or orphaned boys, KANA, i.e. (Frederikke) Vilhelmine Møller, confessed to having murdered one of the orphans. The unlucky boy was the 15 year old Volmer Sjøgren and her reason to take his young life was that they had been lovers so that he unfortunately had learned her most well guarded secret, namely that "she" in fact was a "he" or perhaps a hermaphrodite.
Vilhelmine Møller's sexual organs had been deformed ever since birth. However, when she was arrested and taken to prison she also underwent a medical examination and her sex was determined as masculine. Even today the case is not quite clear, but as her (his) organs were more masculine than female she (he) now officially became a man and had the name of Vilhelmine Møller changed into Frederik Vilhelm Schmidt which means that the "she" of this article is now turning into a "he". 

The text reads "It has been revealed, Miss Møller is a man in all respects"

As to the crime it was almost incomprehensible that he would harm any of the boys as he had been an outstanding and very considerate superintendent who also published articles about his advanced ideas for the education of these forlorn children. Perhaps his good reputation as a dedicated head master is the reason why his former assistant, Mrs Mackwitz, was seen by the public as the one who had corrupted his morals, in a way thus being the true criminal. However, blaming her did not change the fact that he was a murderer and he concurrently was sentenced to death. However, this sentence was eventually changed into imprisonment for life, but as early as 1905 he was released and that same year he married. It seems that from then on he lead a good and to all intents "normal" life with his wife. In 1906 he published a short article about his life in a magazine, "Naturen og Mennesket"       (: "Nature and the Human Being"). He died on Christmas Eve in 1936 at the ripe old age of 91. 

One of the reasons this sad murder was such a scandal was that at that time these special homes for the orphaned children were run by private donations. All the people who were engaged in this work feared that they would lose the public support which was the foundation of the homes, but that didn’t happen. The public did not lose sympathy with these young outcasts or the people who tended and educated them. On the contrary, they went on supporting them until 1905 when the homes became part of a special children's act and thus turned State wards. Up till then they literally had lived at the mercy and sympathy of the public.

 

https://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/1191/origin/170/ 

 

https://tidsskrift.dk/fortidognutid/article/download/75161/108878/160404

 

https://tidsskrift.dk/fortidognutid/article/download/75161/108878/160404

http://www.transviden.dk/det-er-opdaget/

 

Wikipedia