Hinterkaifeck?

[Hatchett]

Hi,

Another thought that comes to me is why kill the little boy?

It could have been, and I only say could have been, if it was LSs son, it would have looked incriminating if he had been unharmed.

That is a terrible thought, I know. But it is a terrible case.

Best wishes.

[GUT]

The poor Pom might have had a general dislike for LS or even for a certain type of person or people in general.

I had a dog that hated bald men, why I have no idea, I can say with near certainty that no bald man ever hurt her because we bred her and had her all her life.

I've got one dog now that just hates people in general other than me the bride and our daughter, our son he despises.

[Ausgirl]

Animals can sometimes sense things and I wonder whether the Pom went for a bite, and so was attacked? The dog's peculiar cowed reaction to LS when the bodies were discovered could be a pointer, ie 'you did this to me!'

Another good point~!

I too have been very open minded, as I've hunted through the available information.. but there's just such a long laundry list of points against LS! A very good circumstantial case, if it'd happen nowadays, I think.

Still, it's possible it was somebody else. I highly doubt it was the supposedly dead husband though.

[Rosella]

Yes, I agree! I think someone, (LS, in my opinion, though I'm open minded about other suspects) definitely did not want the bodies to be found until they (he) was good and ready for them to be so. The significance of that quarrel between LS and Viktoria on the day of the murder can't be underestimated, IMO. LS was not quite sure about little Josef, and if a meeting had been arranged for later....?

Hence the feeding of livestock, smoke seen in chimney,etc etc. I always wonder whether the visit from the farrier was a nasty shock to the killer, or was he expected?

Animals can sometimes sense things and I wonder whether the Pom went for a bite, and so was attacked? The dog's peculiar cowed reaction to LS when the bodies were discovered could be a pointer, ie 'you did this to me!'

[Ausgirl]

Hi,

This is really a very disturbing case.

I was just thinking ....
There can only be a number of reasons why the murderer(s) remained in the farmhouse. Could it have been to help create an alibi in making people believe that the murders had happened more recently than they had done?

Could this have also been the reason the bodies were covered? To try and preserve them into looking like recent deaths?

A bit clumsy I know, but that could possibly have been the idea.

What do you think?

Best wishes.

Hatchett, yes it is really disturbing. I've been researching it a while, and STILL can't allow myself to think too hard about the actual murders (especially the kids..).

I think you're probably spot on, re the staging of the bodies and an attempt to mislead regarding the time of deaths.

For one -- why tie the dog up in view of potential visitors, only to try to kill it later? (the dog, I think, actually survived, bless him...). Why feed the livestock, keep a fire going in the kitchen, etc?

If it was indeed to delay discovery of the bodies, then mission accomplished. Visitors found it curious that no-one was (apparently) at home, but not alarming enough to call police, as after all there were *signs* of life..

My question, therefore, is not whether there was a deliberate delay intended, but WHY. I'll need to fact check a bit to support this properly, before I claim it as a theory - but LS's own infant son was deathly ill and died on the 26th, just days prior to the murders on the 31st. Perhaps he wanted the funeral out the way, or had to deal with mourners and visitors before feeling he could 'raise the alarm'.. or maybe there was another reason I just cannot see yet, with LS in mind as my prime suspect.

Being 250 metres (roughly, the same in yards) from the Gruber home, it wouldn't be that hard for him to flit back and forth between the properties, giving the illusion that somebody had been *staying* there, when in fact they had not.

Keep in mind too, that much of the talk of incest originated with Schlittenbauer, and as far as the "mysterious" footprints and newspaper, etc, it was LS whom supposedly heard Gruber's complaints about these things. IF, indeed, any such complaints were ever made...

He feasibly *could* have set this all up to mislead the police about a murder he'd planned and prepared for quite meticulously and for some time. He certainly seems malicious in his prior dealings with the family.

Anyway, whoever the killer was -- yep, 100% on board with the idea the scene was staged to delay discovery, for whatever reason.

[Ausgirl]

Rosella, I can't take the bulk of credit, as I've pulled info from several sources that already collated a lot of material. But thanks, I was very happy to find transcripts of the original docs, even if they were in German. Re forums - there's a couple of German ones, I'd love to see an English language forum, though.

I don't think it was itinerants, either, at this stage. The Schlittenbauer farm was only 250 metres from the Gruber property, which only adds to my suspicions about him. Plus all the years of ongoing angst the families had obviously caused each other, including arguments over Josef's paternity and child support - good motive.

Good spot, re the trousers!!! I'm going to be squinting at that picture now. And I agree, there's many elements of familiarity to this crime, between killer and victims.

Just a couple more random facts I remembered as I post this:

-- the attic of the farmhouse was HUGE and as far as I can tell, ran the whole way around the L-shaped farmhouse, uninterrupted. It was (I think? translation makes this hard) used for drying hay, which was speculated to be how someone could move about quietly for the most part up there, until hay season was over, after which only bits and pieces would remain for mattress stuffing and the like. But this needs verifying.

-- Gruber's dog is a "Pomeranian" but I doubt it was the little toy version that was starting to become popular back then. I tend to think it was rather the old-fashioned variety Queen Victoria started out with, which were pretty much the size of the modern "American Eskimo Dog", quite a bit larger. Pomeranians are highly territorial (they were bred for protecting homes and carriages) and VERY barky (I suspect they were employed as 4-legged alarm systems, moreso than guard dogs of any great calibre..) and the question there is - if someone really was creeping around the farm, why did the dog (Gruber's dog was, even for a Pom, notoriously barky and nasty of temperament to boot) NOT BARK its head off?

Speaking of the dog, there were other peculiarities there. It was tied up shortly after the murders, when the farrier came calling and found no-one home. But days later when the bodies were discovered it was found locked in an outbuilding and severely injured, close to death.

Which brings me to my next reply..

(so glad others are interested in this... )

[Hatchett]

Hi,

This is really a very disturbing case.

I was just thinking ....
There can only be a number of reasons why the murderer(s) remained in the farmhouse. Could it have been to help create an alibi in making people believe that the murders had happened more recently than they had done?

Could this have also been the reason the bodies were covered? To try and preserve them into looking like recent deaths?

A bit clumsy I know, but that could possibly have been the idea.

What do you think?

Best wishes.

[Rosella]

You have done a truly marvellous job, especially as a non-German speaker, in collating so much information on a really quite obscure case. I am full of admiration! This case needs an English language forum on its own, and if the Villisca Axe murders can have a forum so can Hinterkaifleck!

I have never subscribed to the theory of mad itinerants, mainly because the killer or killers knew so much about running a farm, feeding livestock etc. It's clear I think, that the family were murdered by someone who was familiar with that farm and with the routine. A person familiar with a mattock.

Was old Andreas wearing trousers over his nightshirt, by the way? Photos in the barn seem to show a body with trousers.

I don't really think it was mad soldier Gabriel, coming back for revenge. I don't think his and Viktoria's marriage was a particularly happy one, really, and if he survived he could well have skipped off and not bothered to return at the end of the war. Why wait for three years to come back and murder, anyway?

I agree the skulls of mother and daughter were especially damaged. Did they fight back in some way and so had to be partially strangled too. The little girl may have been hiding and was attacked last.

It's a truly fascinating case with its footsteps in the attic and in the snow, strange newspaper and disappearing keys. Members of a family lured out one by one to a lonely barn, then the toddler and the maid finished off briskly in the house. Some have gone for a supernatural approach. I think it is someone who knew the family well, possibly wanted to scare them by playing tricks and stalking them.

I feel the murder of Viktoria at least was deeply personal. She teased LS about Josef. Are we quite sure Josef wasn't the product of incest? (the family seems to have been very insular and private. Was Louis S's second wife ever interviewed by the police with regard to his movements at the time?

Of course it was a very troubled time in Germany and police resources were stretched and badly funded. Nevertheless, they seemed to have done a very sloppy job.

[Ausgirl]

Rosella, it does take a bit of time to sort through it all, lots of small details and shoddy translations, and gossip. Yes - a book in English would be wonderful, if it was well-researched of course. Hopefully by someone who can actually translate records from the German, heh. And yes, strange they were fully dressed when everyone else was in their nightclothes.

The German Wiki has a lot more info than the English version, including the following info on various suspects.. which I have parsed for better English grammar without actually knowing a word of German, so I've probably made a few errors. But the gist is there:

Suspects

The following people are listed which were considered by police and / or the population as potential perpetrators, but could not be convicted of murder.

Karl Gabriel

The death of the young farmer Karl Gabriel (Viktoria's husband) in December 1914 during the First World War was in doubt. He may have learned that Victoria Gabriel after their daughter (Cäzilia) had an illegitimate child (Joseph), and perhaps with her own father (see: incest). He then is said to have killed the entire family to take revenge. Although soldiers from his regiment testified to his death, this theory was fed over the years, after repeatedly persons reported that they had met Gabriel or could confirm that he had switched identities with fallen comrades.

After the end of World War II returning soldiers from the region around Schrobenhausen, who had been released early from Soviet captivity, claimed independently that they had been sent home by a bairisch speaking Soviet officer, who had indicated that he was the murderer of Hinterkaifeck. Some of these statements were later revised by the returnees themselves. Whether these were fictional stories or truthful statements today can not be unequivocally established. Even in the event that the allegations are true, it must have not necessarily traded to Karl Gabriel with the Russians; although some of the witnesses who allegedly met him shortly before and after the murder, had testified that he wanted to settle in Russia.

Lorenz Schlittenbauer

Lorenz Schlittenbauer in 1918, shortly after the death of his first wife, had a relationship with Victoria Gabriel and was also considered as a possible father of her son Joseph. He was a suspected offender because he is said to have been betrayed by some actions and remarks regarding the murders - even by the people.. (next sentence nonsensical, heh) After finding the dead, he left his two companions shocked in the stable, while Schlittenbauer went alone in the house, which he seemed to know his way around well. He then closed - for the other witnesses clearly audible - the front door from the inside with the key. This single key was missing from the victims shortly before the crime. Schlittenbauer stated, however, that it was already in the door. Whether or not to Auffindezeitpunkt (???) a rope hanging in the barn, which could have used an offender to escape, there were conflicting statements.

Even years later Schlittenbauer was. due to strange utterances (he shall have occasionally spoken at the local Stammtisch in speculation about the crime by the offender in the first-person), repeatedly been associated with the act. Contributing to the files was also a meeting of the then village teacher Hans Yblagger with Schlittenbauer, to the remains of the broken Court Hinterkaifeck in 1925. The young teacher surprised him bent over the still existing basement entrance and was surprised at his very jumpy and confused reaction when he spoke to him. Schlittenbauer then told of an alleged attempt by the offender to bury the bodies at their place of finding but the soil was too hard. This information was previously not on record from him, or any other witness.

Before his death in 1941 Schlittenbauer led several civil actions for defamation against persons who called him a "murderer of Hinterkaifeck". [2] [3]

Joseph Bärtl

Born on nearby Geisenfeld, supposedly insane baker Josef Bärtl was soon suspected of murder after the fact, as he was in 1921 escaped from the mental hospital Günzburg. He was allegedly involved in a murder in 1919, and a medium had identified him at the séances from a photograph as the perpetrator. Although many witnesses claim to have seen Bärtl, he was never picked up by police.

Brothers Gump

By April 9, 1922 Detective Chief Inspector George Reingruber was already searching for Adolf Gump, William Dressel, Wilhelm Musweiler alias Weiland and former police officer Frederick N. Fischer. All four are with the Freikorps Oberland which invaded Silesia, where they have been involved in the murder of nine peasants. Reingruber could not rule out that Adolf Gump was also involved in the murders in Hinterkaifeck, so he instructed the relevant police stations to arrest Gump and check his alibi, on 30 and 31 March and from 1 April 1922.

In 1951 prosecutor Andreas Popp established against Adolf's brother Anton Gump suspicion that the two brothers had committed the murders on Hinterkaifeck. The suspicion was based on the accusation of the sister of the two. Kreszentia Mayer claimed on her deathbed to the priest Anton Hauber that her two brothers Adolf and Anton had committed the murders. Anton Gump came as a result, on remand, Adolf was passed in 1944. After a short time, however, Anton was released, in 1954 the case against him was finally stopped because it was no detectable complicity.

The brothers Karl and Andreas S. from Saddle Mountain

In 1971, a woman named Therese T. wrote a letter in which she referred to an event in her youth: At the age of twelve, she witnessed her mother receive a visit from the mother of the brothers Karl and Andreas S., who claimed that her sons were the two murderers of Hinterkaifeck. What was interesting was the fact that during the visit, the mother spoke the phrase "Andreas was sorry that he lost his penknife". In fact, during the demolition of the court in 1923, a pocket knife was found that could not be definitely assigned to anyone, nor was its existence previously known. However, the knife could have belonged to one of the murder victims. This track also was pursued unsuccessfully. [4]

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinterkaifeck

It seems that the scene was staged to look like a robbery-gone-bad -- although Schlittenbauer discovered and pointedly pointed out an empty wallet lying on the Grubers' bed, nothing else of value was taken, including a large wad of cash that was not very well hidden.

[Rosella]

Thanks so much for this. Must have a little time to absorb it though. As you said, most info on this fascinating case is in the German language , which I do not speak, unfortunately.

I had never heard of Hinterkaifeck until I holidayed in Germany many years ago now. Through friends there I got to know a woman whose parents had lived in a village in the district in the 1920's.

The murders were of course discussed by her family over the decades, and she told me the basic outline of the case with a few details which I later found were incorrect, (fading memories, probably.)

Interestingly, at the time this woman's family veered between a mad itinerant and Viktoria's late husband as their suspects (husband not really killed during the war as supposed.) I became interested and have been so ever since.

I've thought for a long time that the murders at Hinterkailfeck would make a fascinating book published in the English language. Not in Australia, though, our population is too small!

Interesting, isn't it, that Viktoria and Cazilia were dressed while the others weren't? An assignation/meeting in the barn planned for Viktoria and a male (probably LS) has been speculated, of course.

[Ausgirl]

In September 1919 Viktoria gives birth to her son, Josef. The woman refuses to reveal the boy's father. It is known that she had a short affair with her (widowed) neighbour, Lorenz Schlittenbauer. Schlittenbauer confirms his paternity on a certificate to the authorities (he later confirms his affair with Viktoria during a police interview, but insists that he slept with her only five times and that she had "forced herself unto him"). Shortly after confirming being Josef's father, he seems to have second thoughts and withdraws. On the day of the murder, Lorenz Schlittenbauer and Viktoria Gabriel are spotted quarreling on a road, he urging her to reveal the name of the boy's father at long last, which she refuses vehemently. On the same day she mentions to another neighbour that she'd now finally do the job properly and reveal the boy's father or (the witness wasn't sure anymore) she mentions that she would see to it that Lorenz again pays alimony for her (their?) son.

http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/1173786

I hadn't seen the bolded part before, as happening on that same day..

eta: also interesting..

Andreas Gruber is appointed legal guardian of Josef Gruber, Lorenz Schlittenbauer has to pay alimony. After the murders of Hinterkaifeck he files a request to get the money back, which is denied.

[Ausgirl]

These texts need better translations, but they're kind of parsable as-is.

Info on LS:

http://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.hinterkaifeck.net/wiki/index.php%3Ftitle%3DPersonen:_Schlittenbauer_Lorenz&prev=search

Interrogation Johann Schlittenbauer from 12/17/1951

http://hinterkaifeck-mord.de/homepage/html/Unterseiten/Vernehmung_Johann_Schlittenbauer_vom_17_12_1951.html

[Ausgirl]

Some lengthy info, translation's better than mine:

http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/1173786

re the inheritance:

Cui Bono?

As no will is left, the estate and everything on it goes in equal parts to the "clans" of the Grubers and Gabriels who promptly start fighting over it. The matter is even taken to court. Both "clans", however, reach an agreement outside court: The Grubers sell their share to a lesser price to the Gabriels. Their attempts to rent or sell the property are thwarted - nobody wants to take up residence at Hinterkaifeck. One year later the Gabriels give up and tear the buildings down, that's when the Reuthaue is discovered. The area where the farm once stood is plowed over and from then on used as field. From the original farm remains only the one photograph taken by the police photographer, a sketch in the police files plus a drawing ordered by a family member shortly before the houses were torn down. Even the exact location is still a matter of discussion, some place it closer to the street, others closer to the adjoining Hexenhölzl (Witches' Wood).

[Ausgirl]

A somewhat inaccurate in places but okayish doco:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yR207u1FYCs

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.

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/09/the-mysterious-unsolved-murders-of-hinterkaifeck-farm/

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.

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Hinterkaifeck-Germanys-Most-Famous-Cold-Case-343240.html

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.

http://martinjclemens.com/the-hinter...ls-footprints/

[Ausgirl]

Further autopsy info, run through GoogleTranslate, so it's a bit of a mess:

The results of the autopsy

On 06.04.1922 the district court physician Dr. Johann Baptist Aumüller and the Legal Assistant Henry Ney arrived in Hinterkaifeck. A policeman was instructed by Dr. Aumüller unmount a door and put it on two wooden trestles on the farm.

There, one after the bodies were autopsied under the open sky.

On 06/04/1922 Dr. Aumüller obduzierte the bodies of Cäzilia Gruber, Viktoria Gabriel and Gabriel Cäzilia.

Cäzilia Gabriel

For the child, the lower jaw was shattered (source: phone message from the Munich Police Headquarters 07/04/1922)Dr. Aumüller explained in the section of the 11-year-old Viktoria Gabriel (In. He said Cäzilia Gabriel) that the child with timely discovery still could have been saved after a neck injury has been caused by the strike, the first 2-3 hours after the shock death brought about. (Source: Statement of Henry Ney from 19/01/1953)

The body has strong head injuries. The skull had been smashed with several blows. On the neck reveals a wide gaping, transverse wound. Besides the nose, on the right side of the face, there is a circular wound, her face is smeared with blood. In the cramped fingers of the right hand are tufts of hair, which is mentioned in several newspaper articles in the days after the crime were.

Cäzilia Gruber

The woman Gruber's face was also bruised in the area of the right eye. (Statement of Henry Ney from 20/03/1953)

Cäzilia Gruber had seven blows to the head, also Würgespuren (AUS: signs of strangulation?), a further blow to the head in triangle shape. The skull was cracked. (Source: Munich Police Headquarters, telephone memo of 04/07/1922)

Viktoria Gabriel

Viktoria Gabriel had nine "star-shaped" wounds to the head and strangulation marks on the neck. She was not pregnant.(Source: Letter from the StA Renner from 04.10.1922 to the superior OSTA State Superior Court in Augsburg)

Her right side of the face was smashed with a blunt object. A small round injury of a pointed tool was Coming to the upper skull. The skull was smashed. (Source: Munich Police Headquarters phone message from 04.07.1922)

On 07/04/1922 Dr. Aumüller obduzierte the bodies of Maria Baumgartner, J. Gruber and Andreas Gruber

Maria Baumgartner

The maid Maria Baumgartner was killed by crosswise blows to the head. Her face was crusted with blood. (Source: inspection protocol senior judge Wießner from 05/04/1922)

Her head had a hole that was 4cm deep and blood-encrusted and probably resulted from a sharp hoe. (Source: Statement of Henry Ney from 20/03/1953)

J. Gruber

The lying in the bassinet J. Gruber was killed by a massive slap in the face, where the roof of the stroller (crib?) was destroyed. (Statement of Henry Ney from 20/03/1953)


Andreas Gruber

The right half of the face of the old gentleman Gruber was smashed. The cheek bones stood out, the flesh was torn, his face was caked with blood (statement of Henry Ney from 20/03/1953)

After the autopsy all the victims of the head was separated. Dr. Aumüller had visited shortly before a training course for district court physicians. There was taught that the heads of victims the best evidence must be provided that the murder weapon was not known. The victims were placed in coffins without heads.

sources:

There are far to the results of the autopsy in addition to the statements of Henry Ney from 1953 only a phone message from 04.07.1922 and a letter from the StA Renner from 04/10/1922 to his superior, the chief prosecutor at the District Court of Augsburg. In the phone message from 07.04.1922 there is a telephone conversation between the prosecutor at the LG Neuburg and the Munich Police Headquarters. In this telephone conversation StA Renner mentioned that signs of strangulation were present at the funeral of Cäzilia Gruber. Signs of strangulation on the corpse of Victoria Gabriel, he does not mention, though he also informs the results of the autopsy in a telephone conversation. In the letter dated 10.04.1922 StA shares with Renner that signs of strangulation were present at the funeral of Victoria Gabriel . signs of strangulation on the corpse of Cäzilia Gruber he does not mention. Thus, one can assume that StA Renner has made contradictory statements to the signs of strangulation. There can be no autopsy protocol does not provide the necessary reassurance notice at which female body now signs of strangulation were present.

In Leuschner-book 3rd ed. 2007, p 373, we read that Henry Ney had testified that signs of strangulation were been found only at the corpse of Victoria Gabriel. This must be a mistake, because Ney says about signs of strangulation from nothing.(Note. See also allmystery.de contribution ofkcefiak from 18.2.2008, 20.51 clock, see also contribution ofkcefiak from 19.2.2008 22.31 clock, see the article by @ grisu035 from 17.3.2008 4.48 clock, see the article bykcefiak from 30.3.2008, 21.07 clock)

According to § 87 II Code of Criminal Procedure, a dissection of two doctors is to be made, a doctor must be court physician or coroner. The six victims of Hinterkaifeck were, as far as hitherto known only autopsied by the court physician of the district court Neuburg, Dr. Johann Baptist Aumüller.

An autopsy protocol, as it should be actually made in the context of a forensic autopsy and shall be signed by the exporting doctors, is so far not available. Maybe it was destroyed during the fire of Justice building in Augsburg in 1944.

However, 1926 is not referred to an autopsy protocol, as StA Pielmaier prepared a summary report on the murder case Hinterkaifeck which is available from the State Archives of Augsburg.