The Tale of Minnie Dean: New Zealand’s Only Executed Woman

Welcome to The Most Dangerous Podcast, where hosts James and Fraser uncover history’s most notorious and disturbing stories. In this haunting episode, James takes the lead to tell the grim tale of Minnie Dean — the only woman ever executed in New Zealand.Known as a “baby farmer”, Minnie Dean took in unwanted infants for money during the late 1800s. But when babies began to vanish, suspicions turned to horror. In 1895, she was arrested, tried, and ultimately hanged for murder, becoming a symbol of fear, scandal, and social failure.In this episode, we explore:The brutal realities of child welfare in 19th-century New ZealandThe rise of baby farming and how desperate families turned to women like MinnieThe shocking trial and media frenzy that led to her executionWhether Minnie Dean was a calculated killer or a victim of her time and povertyJames provides in-depth historical context, breaking down the societal conditions, legal arguments, and public outrage that defined this dark chapter in New Zealand history. Was she truly guilty — or a scapegoat of a broken system?This episode is a chilling deep dive into one of the most controversial criminal cases in New Zealand, perfect for fans of true crime, historical injustice, and real-life horror.🎧 #MinnieDean #TrueCrime #NewZealandHistory #BabyFarming #HistoricalCrime #ExecutedWomen #TheMostDangerousPodcast #JamesAndFraser #CriminalHistory #DarkHistory