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A somewhat inaccurate in places but okayish doco:
Some more notes, sources linked below.
Preliminary autopsies done on the bodies showed that all of the victims had been killed with blows to the head inflicted by a pickaxe. Viktoria’s body also showed signs of strangulation as well but it was not thought to be the cause of death. The perpetrator was guessed to be very familiar with the use of a pickaxe, since all of the wounds had been precise and confidently delivered, with only a single, decisive blow to the head evident on each corpse and no such wounds to the bodies. All of victims except one were believed to have died instantly, all except Cäzilia, who showed evidence of having survived several hours after being grievously wounded, and tufts of hair had been torn from her head for unknown reasons. Most of the victims were dressed in bed clothes except Viktoria and Cäzilia, who were dressed in regular clothes. This plus the fact that Maria and Josef had been killed in bed suggested that the murders had happened in the evening, right around bed time.
The murder weapon was a pickaxe which was not left with the victims, and it was assumed that the perpetrator had removed it from the scene. In 1923 the farm was razed to the ground, and the pickaxe was discovered hidden in the attic, with blood still on it.
Witnesses reported that LS was very active after finding the bodies in the barn, and that he was the only one of the three people who discovered the crime who entered the house. He then used the keys to unlock the kitchen door from the inside, claiming they had been in the lock, even though Andreas Gruber had missed those keys some days previously.
(AUSnote: and, as with other reported "disturbances" prior to the murders, it's Schlittenbauer reporting what Gruber allegedly told him, which has then been repeated by others as "fact")
When the murder weapon was found in 1923, (LS) claimed it belonged to him even though a former farmhand at Hinterkaifeck testified that the pickaxe belonged to Andreas Gruber. Since (LS) would have had a personal motive, it would also explain why a large amount of money was left untouched in the house, effectively ruling out burglary as a motive. The fact that the killer must have stayed at/returned to the scene for days after the crime also indicates someone from the neighborhood rather than a passing opportunist. There is no proof, however, and all those inconsistencies can easily be explained away.
According to a former classmate of the young Cäzilia, Cäzilia fell asleep in class some days before the crime and, when asked why, she told the teacher that she had been up all night looking for her mother, who had ran away and was found crying in the woods. (When that classmate was interviewed again years later, she said it was Cäzilia's grandmother, not her mother.)
In 2007, a special task force of a Bavarian police department took a fresh look at the case, trying to solve it with today's forensic means. The final report of that project is kept secret, though, since there is no real evidence to support the theories. Therefore, naming a suspect, no matter how credible, would not be fair towards that suspect's descendants.
Neighbours reported seeing smoke rising from the chimney on the following Sunday, and the family dog had been handled and tied up near the barn when the postman arrived on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately the dog was later brutalised and left for dead with the family in the barn, though it survived.
** Ausnote: the dog was apparently a rather famously nasty-tempered Pomeranian. I wonder if it was the original, sheep-dog sized version of the breed, rather than the teensy toy version more common today. The dog was said to bark loudly at strangers. I find it VERY odd they'd tie the dog up for days, and then attack it later. What a strange detail. But it fits with the killer (killers?) moving into the house for a few days and treating it like home.
It turns out that paternal responsibility for young Josef had long been in question. Viktoria, who was the official owner of the farmstead, was a rather promiscuous young woman. Several men later came forward, claiming to have known her intimately, but a veritable war went on between Andreas Gruber and their long time neighbour and widower (LS). It seems (LS) had also been with Viktoria, and it was believed that Josef was his son. (LS) was required to make an alimony payment to the family, and retired any rights he had in parentage. However, during these events Viktoria had elected to marry (LS), who was several years her elder, but Gruber objected, and in return allegations of incest were leveled at Gruber, and he was ultimately imprisoned for a year prior to the murders.
An escaped mental patient was also among the suspects. Joseph Bärtle had slipped away from an asylum at Günzburg in 1921, and was apparently at large, possibly in the area of south Bavaria at the time.
Some more notes, sources linked below.
Preliminary autopsies done on the bodies showed that all of the victims had been killed with blows to the head inflicted by a pickaxe. Viktoria’s body also showed signs of strangulation as well but it was not thought to be the cause of death. The perpetrator was guessed to be very familiar with the use of a pickaxe, since all of the wounds had been precise and confidently delivered, with only a single, decisive blow to the head evident on each corpse and no such wounds to the bodies. All of victims except one were believed to have died instantly, all except Cäzilia, who showed evidence of having survived several hours after being grievously wounded, and tufts of hair had been torn from her head for unknown reasons. Most of the victims were dressed in bed clothes except Viktoria and Cäzilia, who were dressed in regular clothes. This plus the fact that Maria and Josef had been killed in bed suggested that the murders had happened in the evening, right around bed time.
The murder weapon was a pickaxe which was not left with the victims, and it was assumed that the perpetrator had removed it from the scene. In 1923 the farm was razed to the ground, and the pickaxe was discovered hidden in the attic, with blood still on it.
Witnesses reported that LS was very active after finding the bodies in the barn, and that he was the only one of the three people who discovered the crime who entered the house. He then used the keys to unlock the kitchen door from the inside, claiming they had been in the lock, even though Andreas Gruber had missed those keys some days previously.
(AUSnote: and, as with other reported "disturbances" prior to the murders, it's Schlittenbauer reporting what Gruber allegedly told him, which has then been repeated by others as "fact")
When the murder weapon was found in 1923, (LS) claimed it belonged to him even though a former farmhand at Hinterkaifeck testified that the pickaxe belonged to Andreas Gruber. Since (LS) would have had a personal motive, it would also explain why a large amount of money was left untouched in the house, effectively ruling out burglary as a motive. The fact that the killer must have stayed at/returned to the scene for days after the crime also indicates someone from the neighborhood rather than a passing opportunist. There is no proof, however, and all those inconsistencies can easily be explained away.
According to a former classmate of the young Cäzilia, Cäzilia fell asleep in class some days before the crime and, when asked why, she told the teacher that she had been up all night looking for her mother, who had ran away and was found crying in the woods. (When that classmate was interviewed again years later, she said it was Cäzilia's grandmother, not her mother.)
In 2007, a special task force of a Bavarian police department took a fresh look at the case, trying to solve it with today's forensic means. The final report of that project is kept secret, though, since there is no real evidence to support the theories. Therefore, naming a suspect, no matter how credible, would not be fair towards that suspect's descendants.
Neighbours reported seeing smoke rising from the chimney on the following Sunday, and the family dog had been handled and tied up near the barn when the postman arrived on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately the dog was later brutalised and left for dead with the family in the barn, though it survived.
** Ausnote: the dog was apparently a rather famously nasty-tempered Pomeranian. I wonder if it was the original, sheep-dog sized version of the breed, rather than the teensy toy version more common today. The dog was said to bark loudly at strangers. I find it VERY odd they'd tie the dog up for days, and then attack it later. What a strange detail. But it fits with the killer (killers?) moving into the house for a few days and treating it like home.
It turns out that paternal responsibility for young Josef had long been in question. Viktoria, who was the official owner of the farmstead, was a rather promiscuous young woman. Several men later came forward, claiming to have known her intimately, but a veritable war went on between Andreas Gruber and their long time neighbour and widower (LS). It seems (LS) had also been with Viktoria, and it was believed that Josef was his son. (LS) was required to make an alimony payment to the family, and retired any rights he had in parentage. However, during these events Viktoria had elected to marry (LS), who was several years her elder, but Gruber objected, and in return allegations of incest were leveled at Gruber, and he was ultimately imprisoned for a year prior to the murders.
An escaped mental patient was also among the suspects. Joseph Bärtle had slipped away from an asylum at Günzburg in 1921, and was apparently at large, possibly in the area of south Bavaria at the time.
)
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