In 1893 there was a scandal of dimensions in Copenhagen. The famous superintendent of the home for lost or orphaned children, KANA, that is, Vilhelmine Møller, confessed to having murdered one of the orphans. The unfortunate boy was 15-year-old Volmer Sjøgren, and his reasons for taking his life were that they had been lovers and that, sadly, he had learned his best kept secret, namely the fact that “she” was a he or maybe a hermaphrodite.
Vilhelmine Møller’s sexual organs had been deformed since birth. However, when she was arrested and taken to prison, she also underwent a medical examination and it was determined that her gender was male. Even today, the case is not entirely clear, but since his organs were more male than female, he now officially became a male and changed his name from Vilmelmine Møller to Frederik Vilhelm Schmidt. As for his crime, it was always almost incomprehensible that he would hurt any of the children, as he had been an outstanding and very considerate superintendent who also wrote articles about his advanced ideas for the education of these underprivileged children.
Perhaps his good reputation as a dedicated person is the reason why his former assistant, Ms. Mackwitz, was seen as the one who had corrupted his morals, thus being the true criminal. Blaming her did not change the fact that he was a murderer and sentenced to death. This sentence was eventually transformed into life imprisonment. However, as early as 1905 he was released and that same year he married. It seems that since then he has led a good and for all intents and purposes 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 1936 at the ripe old age of 91. One of the reasons this sad murder was a scandal was that at that time these special children’s homes were run by private donations. All the people who were dedicated to this work feared losing the public support from which the houses lived, but that did not happen. The public did not lose sympathy for these marginalized youth or the people who cared for and educated them. On the contrary, they continued to support them until 1905 when the homes became part of a special act for children and thus became guardians of the state. Until then they had lived at the mercy of the public.