Hinterkaifeck?

[Harry D]

I'm sure this has probably been discussed to some extent before but hey ho!

'Hinterkaifeck' was a small farm in Germany that would stage one of the country's most mysterious unsolved murder cases. In March 1922, farmer Andreas Gruber, his wife, his widowed daughter and her two small children, and the maid were all murdered in their home. In the days leading up to the murder, Andreas had told neighbours that he'd found footsteps in the snow which led from the woods to the farm but not back out again. He'd also been hearing footsteps from the attic, an familiar newspaper was found in the house, and a set of keys had gone missing several days before the crime.

Autopsies revealed that all of the victims had probably been murdered with a pickaxe and the estimated time of death was put at March 31st. However, this was deemed impossible, because witness statements claimed that smoke was seen coming from the chimney of the farm over the weekend and the cattle appeared to have been taken care of during this time. The remnants of recently-eaten food was also found in the kitchen. This led police to the only conclusion that the murderer(s) had committed this grisly deed and then for some reason remained at the farm for several days before taking off.

There was speculation that Karl Gabriel, the husband to the Gruber's daughter, Viktoria, might be the killer. While it is reported that Gabriel died during WWI, his body was supposedly never found. Did he survive and murder his wife and her family? It is documented that Andreas Gruber was having an incestuous relationship with Viktoria. Did he find out about this and swear revenge? Only problem with Gabriel as a suspect is that I've read there's several eyewitness testimonies that he did indeed perish in the trenches. Even so, could it have been another lover of Viktoria's who committed a crime of passion? The motive would appear to be a personal one, as there was no sign of a burglary.

Though there was a lengthy investigation, nobody was ever arrested and the Hinterkaifeck murders remain unsolved.

[sdreid]

It's a lot like the Villisca Ax Murders but, of course, is not as well known because it didn't occur in the Anglosphere.

[Ginger]

In the days leading up to the murder, Andreas had told neighbours that he'd found footsteps in the snow which led from the woods to the farm but not back out again. He'd also been hearing footsteps from the attic...

That's always been the strangest part of the affair to me. If you thought an intruder was hiding in your attic, and you mentioned it to your neighbors, wouldn't you ask them to arm themselves and accompany you while you checked it out? It makes me wonder if perhaps Gruber wasn't setting the stage for the murder of his family, but apparently his body was positively identified.

[Rosella]

I first heard about Hinterkaifeck years ago when I was on holiday in Germany and became friendly with a woman whose family came from the local area. Her parents had been in a nearby village when the murders occurred. Some of what she told me was garbled and muddled over the years as such stories inevitably are.

However, I got the distinct impression that the Grubers as a family were regarded as secretive and more than a bit strange. As you know, I suppose, there was incest going on between father and daughter. The family weren't liked locally. Herr Gruber may have given the impression that whoever came on to his land he could deal with, without help.

My friend's parents believed that Victoria's missing husband was to blame, but a neighbour, who ha been sleeping with Victoria, was also a strong suspect. He is believed by writers today to be the murderer.

Unfortunately there are no books in English on this fascinating case, just a couple of websites. It deserves to be better known. It's certainly remained in my memory for over twenty years.

[Harry D]

That's always been the strangest part of the affair to me. If you thought an intruder was hiding in your attic, and you mentioned it to your neighbors, wouldn't you ask them to arm themselves and accompany you while you checked it out? It makes me wonder if perhaps Gruber wasn't setting the stage for the murder of his family, but apparently his body was positively identified.

Yeah, that thought did cross my mind. Also, if you were hiding in someone else's property (while it was inhabited) would you really be so careless as to leave a newspaper lying around?

I'd be interested to know the source of these details. Could be that the murderer(s) falsely attributed these quotes to Gruber in order to make the police think it was some kind of itinerant who killed them?

[Harry D]

Can't people more people aren't interested in this truly chilling case.

[Robert]

The keys reportedly going missing makes me wonder if the daughter smuggled in a lover, perhaps with the idea that he would kill her parents - though why he would kill the daughter and kids is a mystery.

Do we know who inherited the farm?

[SirJohnFalstaff]

The keys reportedly going missing makes me wonder if the daughter smuggled in a lover, perhaps with the idea that he would kill her parents - though why he would kill the daughter and kids is a mystery.

Do we know who inherited the farm?

The farm was destroyed the next year. It was during that time that the murder weapon was found.

I find it weird that they sent the heads to Munich for post mortem.

Also, the mother and daughter had the most damage, plus some strangulation signs.

[Pcdunn]

The strangest detail for me was that several of the corpses were found in the barn, "stacked one on top of the other, like toys"-- why?! Very odd case.

[Ausgirl]

Ooh goody, so glad this thread is here!! This has become one of my "pet" cases in the last couple of weeks -- research is just beginning, really, and extremely hampered by the fact that I do not speak German at all (most of the case material is in German and Google translate is .. well.. not terribly adequate where German grammar and vernacular is concerned).

I've made posts about this on another site, will bring them on over here, if people are interested.

[Rosella]

Thanks, I am. I would love to see what posts there are. Been interested in this case for years, ever since a visit to Germany.

[Ausgirl]

Autopsy notes:

Cazillia Gabriel (daughter Viktoria Gruber): lower jaw shattered, cervical injury due to shock, severe head injuries. Skull was smashed with several blows and her neck revealed a wide gaping, transverse wound. On the right of her face was a circular wound. Her face was smeared with blood. In her cramped right hand fingers were hair pieces.

Cazillia Gruber (wife of Andreas Gruber): bruising near the right eye, seven blows to her head, one in triangular shape. Signs of strangulation, skull cracked.

Viktoria Gabriel (mother of Cazillia and Josef): nine “star-shaped” wounds to the head, strangulation marks on the neck, right side of the face smashed with a blunt object. A small round injury of a pointed tool on the upper skull. Smashed skull.

Maria Baumgartner (maid): killed by crosswise blows to the head, face crusted with blood, one head wound was 4cm deep and blood-encrusted probably resulted from a sharp hoe.

Josef Gruber (son Viktoria Gruber): killed by a heavy blow in the face, top of the bassinet stroller destroyed.

Andreas Gruber (husband Cazillia Gruber): right half of the face smashed, cheek bones protruding, flesh seemed shredded, face caked with blood.

All descriptions are awful but it looks like Viktoria and her mother received the most attacks on their heads. Also, they seem to be the only ones with signs of strangulation.

[Ausgirl]

Lorenz Schlittenbauer -- neighbour to the Gruber farm -- is my prime suspect at this point. There's a great deal which points to him, though there's other suspects worthy of consideration as well.

LS was certainly all up in Gruber's business (and his daughter...) for many years, causing serious trouble for the family on more than one occasion. I strongly suspect it's him behind both arrests for incest, and also that he had some sort of dealings with Gruber's former maid, who left the farm prior to the murders apparently because the farmhouse was "haunted". However, she may also have been responsible for the incest charges, and something just does not sit right with her, in my mind. Hopefully I can articulate why in posts to come.

LS also in turns claimed and strenuously denied being the father of little Josef, and this was a hot point of contention between him and Andreas Gruber. Again, there'a a lot of detail I can provide on this, once I smooth out some of the info/translation.

LS *also* was the person to whom Gruber apparently reported all the weird stuff going on prior to the murders - footprints, mystery newspapers, etc. What I'm curious about, right now, is to whom else, if anyone, Gruber mentioned these things.

LS was *also* among the party who discovered the bodies - and his behaviour at the scene was so bizarre (tampering with the scene, treating the farm like a second home..his familiarity with all the buildings..and so on) that it immediately caused his two companions (also neighbours of the Gruber farm) to suspect LS was the culprit.

Whee, I'll spend some time writing up proper notes, including more about LS and some about the other suspects investigated.

[Ausgirl]

Thanks, I am. I would love to see what posts there are. Been interested in this case for years, ever since a visit to Germany.

Awesome! Do you read German at all? If so, may I enlist you for occasional help with some German words?

[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.