Haunting crime scene photo from the Hinterkaifeck case. It was the home of Viktoria Gabriel and her two children, 7-year-old Czilia and 2-year-old Josef, as well as her parents. They noticed that none of the family members were tending to the farm, the family dog was not roaming around and barking, and it was eerily quiet. On April 4, 1922, neighbors of the Gruber-Gabriel family noticed a pervasive silence at the Hinterkaifeck farmstead.

The daughter Viktoria also had her skull shattered, with signs that her face had been hit with a blunt object. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. The search party found four brutally battered bodies in the barn. Please, The Hinterkaifeck killings are one of Germanys most. He determined that the murder weapon was probably a mattock or pickaxe. Cazillia Gabriel (daughter Viktoria Gruber): lower jaw shattered, cervical injury due to shock, severe head injuries. The two of them seem to have died fairly quickly after a number of blows to the head and face. The Hinterkaifeck Murders memorial near the vicinity of the crime scene. As Mental Floss explains, in the days leading up to the murders, Andreas had been noticing strange things at the farm, such as footsteps in the snow leading out of the woods toward the house and never heading back out, a newspaper in the house that he didn't remember buying, and one of the family's two house keys disappearing. The original Hinterkaifeck farm as it looked in April 1922 shortly after the murders. Moreover, he found a newspaper on his homestead that did not belong to anyone in the family. Under a board covered with hay, the men found the victims. In 1931, police interviewed Schlittenbauer during their reinvestigation. Inside the house, the men found the youngest child and the family maid slaughtered in their beds. IAmTheRedWizards 8 yr. ago. On April 4, their neighbors decided to investigate. Police had also thought that Viktorias husband may still be alive and came back to murder them. There were only five photographs ever taken of the crime scene; two of the bodies in the barn, one of Maria in her bedchamber, one of Josef in his bassinet, and an outside view from the yard. What inevitably runs in your head is a montage of unspeakable images, probably the worst things that could happen to you. Imagine thinking youre safe in your own home, not knowing that something terrible is about to take place, something that isnt going to be solved.

Inside the house were the bodies of Josef and their maid, Maria Baumgartner. The police initially suspected vagrants, but nothing from the farm had been stolen, with large sums of money found still within the house. While Andreas remarked on these odd occurrences to his friends, he never reported them to the police. The Hinterkaifeck killings continue to be one of Germanys most famous true crime cases, and the brutality of the case is especially sad knowing that it will likely never be solved. Eventually, someone alerted the nearest police department in Munich, some 45 miles from Hinterkaifeck. Viktoria Gabriels husband, Karl Gabriel, was also among the suspects. What they found was a truly shocking, grisly scene, and you might want to skip the next paragraph if you don't care for those kinds of details. Some people theorized that Karl Gabriel returned to the Grubers home to seek revenge because he did not believe he was the father of Josef. photographer taking photos of crime scene by the river - crime scene photos stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. WebWhat happened at Hinterkaifeck Farm reads like a horror story [] The Mysterious Slaughter of an Entire Family; Who is the Hinterkaifeck Killer? The farmstead was in the Free State of Bavaria. The small rural property of Hinterkaifeck lay approximately 70 kilometres north of the German city of Munich. Andreas had blood caked all over his face, which was described as "shredded," with his cheek bones sticking out of his ragged flesh. As Mental Floss explains, the members of the Gruber family likely all died instantly, with the exception of the 7-year-old Czilia. Snke Lars Neuwhner. However, police couldnt find any evidence to place him at the crime scene. The Creepy Truth About The Hinterkaifeck Murders. The story of the family is especially chilling because it takes place in their home, a place thats supposed to be safe. The reports from the families' autopsies showed signs of strangulation, blows to the head for both mothers, and multiple different wounds in everyone's skull. Today, the town goes by the name Waidhofen. This tale gained currency and received a boost at the end of WWII when some German prisoners claimed to have seen Karl Gabriel in a Soviet Russian uniform. Andreas had dismissed her concerns as superstition, much to his own detriment, it turns out. After looking through these photographs taken by serial killers, look through these harrowing crime scene photos. 2023 Casefile True Crime Podcast. Select from premium Hinterkaifeck Murders of the highest quality. Alan McNairn holds degrees in biology, art history, and archaeology. Nearly 100 years later, nobody has ever been arrested for the crime. The family was known for keeping to themselves, but neighbors were concerned on April 1, 1922, when the daughter missed school and the entire family missed church where Viktoria was a member of the choir. 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. These bodies were found in the barn covered with hay, while the maid Maria and little Josef were found inside the farmhouse, covered with sheets and a dress, respectively. This is why this case is so eerie for so many people. Director. http://realparanormalexperiences.com/the-hinterkaifeck-mystery Lorenz Schlittenbauer, Michael Pll, and Jakob Sigl entered the Hinterkaifeck barn and discovered the bodies of Andreas and Czilia Gruber, their daughter Viktoria Gabriel, and her daughter, Cilli. Therefore, the police needed to confirm his death. The academy was unable to conclusively solve the murder, but they did devise a theory that has been kept private out of respect for the families of those involved. A monument stands today near where the farm used to be, memorializing the victims. It was readily apparent that they, too, had succumbed to violent blows to their heads. Smoke had been seen coming from the chimney in those days as well, suggesting that the murderer had been living calmly at the farmstead. In the evening of the 31st of March 1922, an entire family of five, plus their new maid, were murdered in their home. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. But photoshop or not, these are downright creepy. One major indiscretion kept surfacing. Stars. Cazillia Gruber (wife of Andreas Gruber): bruising near the right eye, seven blows to her head, one in triangular shape. Skull was smashed with several blows and her neck revealed a wide gaping, transverse wound. Viktorias father had told neighbors that he had found a newspaper he didnt buy in his home, and he found a set of footsteps leading from the forest to the farm. Bert Ko. Case of the Month: Hinterkaifeck from 1922. Imagine yourself in a dark deserted road with no one in sight. When police asked her later why she believed Hinterkaifeck had ghosts, she said it was because she kept hearing footsteps in the attic and had a constant feeling of being watched. I write about old, unsolved cases from the pre-DNA era. Despite repeated arrests, no murderer has ever been found and the files were closed in 1955. But when Viktoria pleaded with him in tears to accept fatherhood of the child, he agreed and withdrew his complaint. The Hinterkaifeck killings are one of Germanys most famous unsolved crimes. 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. Few days prior to the murder, homeowner Andreas Gruber noticed some footprints from the forest in the snow leading into the back of the family home, but none leading out. Tansy Bradshaw. (Das Wiki). Andreas Gruber (husband Cazillia Gruber): right half of the face smashed, cheek bones protruding, flesh seemed shredded, face caked with blood. Californias Unsolved Keddie Cabin Murders. Its unsure why the murderer covered the bodies afterward or continued to take care of the farm animals, but it shows that the person was even more twisted for staying at their house afterward while their bodies remained. This theory was abandoned quickly after many soldiers attested to seeing his body. WebFind Hinterkaifeck Murders stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Members of the Gruber-Gabriel family could usually be seen milling about, but in early April 1922, locals noticed that the Hinterkaifeck farmhouse was unusually void of activity. If the Grubers' former maid was to be believed, it's possible he had been living inside the Hinterkaifeck home for over six months. Around 70 kilometres (43 mi) north of Munich in 1922, there was a farmstead. As with all close-knit, rural communities, news of the horrific scene spread rapidly. Since police couldnt come up with any answers, the case remained a mystery. She had often heard movement upstairs when there was nobody home. Immediately, Schlittenbauer filed a complaint with the police against Andreas Gruber and Viktoria Gabriel for incestuous relations. These pictures seem straight out of such a nightmare. Crime scene of the Hinterkaifeck murders in Germany where a family of six were slaughtered with something like a pickaxe. The footsteps were in untouched snow, and they only led in one direction, showing no evidence of the person leaving. The family didnt have any known enemies, so their murders were especially unusual. was a lonely, quiet place located outside of the Bavarian town in Germany. Due to how long ago the crime was committed and how no real evidence remains, its unlikely that the case will ever be solved. Lorenz Schlittenbauer and his friends met with a grisly scene when they entered the barn on the Hinterkaifeck farmstead in Grobern, just outside the town of Kaifeck, Germany, on April 4, 1922. He also acted rather nonchalantly about finding the bodies. Therefore, it was evident that the horrifying crime happened Friday night. Lorenz Schlittenbauer, who had been in a relationship with Viktoria and might have even been Josef's father, became a suspect, but he was cleared of suspicion when police couldn't place him at the crime scene. The young Czilia had her jaw shattered and her face and neck were covered with slashing wounds. Christian Limmer. Top. Read More. It reads On March 31, 1922, the Gabriel-Gruber family fell victim to the ungodly hand of the murderer. Image: Public Domain. Crime Scene photo The Maids room The bodies were finally found on Tuesday April 4 th, by Lorenz Schlittenbauer and four other neighbours, who had been alerted to something gone wrong by Grubers absence at church that past Sunday, and the absence of the younger Czilia at school on the Monday. The farm was demolished in 1923, and the families were buried in a plot in Waidhofen without their heads after the skulls were sent away for clues and were lost during World War Two. The police interviewed and released many suspects. That is until a French police officer named Alphonse Bertillon found an innovative solution. Nothing had been stolen, and evidence had shown that whoever killed them had been living in their house for the next few days. The court found Andreas and Viktoria guilty, and both of them served one year in prison (there is a conflicting report that Viktoria only served one month). Shortly before his murder, Andreas had informed his neighbors that he found two peoples footprints in the snow leading from the forest to a building on his farm. In 2007, the Frstenfeldbruck Police Academy reopened the investigation. And images like Rhoades' freeze a last moment of horror. WebThe Hinterkaifeck murders occurred on the evening of 31 March 1922, when six inhabitants of a small Bavarian farmstead, located approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) north of Munich, Germany, were murdered by an unknown assailant. Crime scene sketches were not made and finger print traces were not taken or were not properly preserved. It was the Her face was smeared with blood. He is the author of books on art, history, and architecture. At the time, Viktoria would have been pregnant or would have recently given birth to Czilia (January 2015). Flatline intro and Come play with me intro and outro www.dl-sounds.com, Logo and website design Paulina Szymanska, The murder of Hinterkaifeck Augsburger Zeitung, April 8 1922, The murder of Hinterkaifeck Mnchner Zeitung, April 10 1922, The sixfold robbery in Hinterkaifeck Mnchner Zeitung, August 5 1922, Godless murderers hand fell victim Neue Augsburger Zeitung, July 9 1932, Secret to a seventh corpse Sddeutsche Zeitung, May 17 2010, The chilling story of the Hinterkaifeck killings, Germanys most famous unsolved crime Mental Floss, August 31 2017, The Mysterious Murders of Hinterkaifeck Bedtime Stories, July 2018, With the profiler in Hinterkaifeck Mittelbayerische, October 19 2016, The legacy of the commissioner Donaukurier, October 26 2018, Das Hinterkaifeck-Wiki Hinterkaifeck.net (this is where all official statements, documents and records come from), Footsteps in the Attic: A True Account of the Slayings at the Hinterkaifeck Farmstead Edward Chilvers (Published 2016). I had no idea that there even were pictures from this case. A hallway connected the barn to the house. Despite 100 police interviews, the mystery of the Hinterkaifeck murders remains unsolved. Despite this, Chief Detective Konrad Mller held the last interrogations in 1986 before he retired. However, when investigators readily found Andreas Grubers supply of cash in the house, they realized the reason for the murder had to be something else. The murder weapon was a mattock which is similar to a pickaxe. Lorenz Schlittenbauer was one of the main suspects in the Hinterkaifeck murders. This photo was taken after Hurricane Katrina struck the area. The closest police department to Hinterkaifeck was in Munich, Germany, about 45 miles away. However, when investigators spoke to a few soldiers who said they saw Karls dead body, they stopped pursuing the matter. However, evidence had become lost and witnesses had passed on, which made it impossible for them to solve the Hinterkaifeck murders.

It adopted that name after the abolition of the monarchy in the aftermath of World War I. Schlittenbauer immediately recognized Andreas Gruber, then his wife Czilia Gruber, their daughter Viktoria Gabriel and her daughter, Czilia. Evidence also showed that the animals had been fed in the few days between the family's murder and their discovery. However, police concluded that someone had lured the victims one by one to the barn before killing them. Grubers new maid, Maria Baumgartner, 44, was dead in her bed. However, none of the family's wounds were self-inflicted, so this theory was also dismissed. In April of 1922, the bodies of every member of the Gruber family were found slaughtered in hideous and gruesome fashion throughout the property under mysterious circumstances that have, even a century later, never been solved. The Hinterkaifeck murders remain one of Germanys eeriestand most famousunsolved crimes. Some also believed that Viktoria had an incestual relationship with her father and that one of them killed everyone before killing themself, but this theory was also abandoned after it was confirmed that none of the injuries could be self-inflicted. 1. Signs of strangulation, skull cracked. Additionally, neighbors reported that they had seen smoke rising from the chimney after the murder date. Shortly after the autopsies of the Gruber family, their heads were removed and sent to Munich where clairvoyants were employed to seek out metaphysical clues from the Gruber family skulls. Oddly, no tracks headed away. None of his neighbors subscribed to it, so the postman probably did not accidentally leave it there. Contact Us | DMCA Notice, this website uses cookies to improve experience! Child and the files were closed in 1955 and her neck revealed a wide gaping, wound. Communities, news of the Hinterkaifeck murders stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty.! 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The brutality of the murders makes it seem like they had a personal vendetta against one or multiple members of the family. They walked around the crime scene, poking at the bodies, and destroying evidence. You could also argue that some of them are photoshopped.

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