Rita Lodde practically lives at the cemetery at ‘t Keern in Hoorn. As a fanatical volunteer, she mainly searches for the stories behind the collection of gravestones. “Digging is my job,” she says. “I dig through the archives, I love that.”
Poisoned cake
Maria Musman is buried at the cemetery, together with her husband Willem Markus. Maria has gone down in history as the victim of the Hoornse Taartmurder. She died in 1910 after eating a poisoned cake, which was actually intended for her husband Willem.
Through Rita’s digging, she discovered that there was another gravestone where Mary should lie. “I have no idea how that happened,” she says. “The administration was not always in good order.” She also discovered who Mary’s descendants should be. She contacted two of them – Coen van Kalken and his mother Hannie.