Post by Sher on Jun 2, 2005 16:07:20 GMT -5
Germany's Peter Kurten was born into an awful situation, one of eleven children of an alcoholic father who molested Peter's sisters and abused the entire family. Not suprisingly, Peter followed in his father's footsteps and was sexually abusing his younger sisters from a young age. Then when he was only nine Kurten drowned two playmates while rafting on the Rhine River. The incident was written off as a tragic accident but it apparently stoked the homicidal fire inside of him.
As he grew up in Dusseldorf, Kurten began practicing bestiality and sexually assaulting girls. He began to rack up arrests for offenses from fraud to attempted murder while in his mid-teens. Between prison stints he spent much of his time raping women and setting fires in an attempt to satisfy his twisted impulses. He finally killed his first female on May 25, 1913, when he sliced the throat of 13-year-old Christine Klein while she slumbered in her bed. Klein's uncle was nearly convicted in the murder.
After a few attempted murders Kurten was jailed on unrelated charges until 1921 and upon his release married and apparently settled down to a relatively normal, crime-free life in Altenburg, Germany. He relapsed in 1925 and fled back to Dusseldorf to escape charges of sexual assault. This marked the beginning of a crime spree that would eventually earn Kurten the nickname the "Vampire of Dusseldorf."
After a few more unsuccessful attempts at murdering women he stabbed a mechanic to death in February of 1929. On March 9 he abducted eight-year-old Rose Ohliger, raped her, and stabbed the little girl to death. In August Kurten strangled a woman and dumped her body in a river. She was never recovered. Three more attempted slayings followed before the successful slayings of Gertrude Hamacher, 5, and Louise Lenzen, 14. Both girls had been strangled by Kurten before having their throats slashed for good measure.
The next day Kurten attempted to stab a young woman to death and soon after that failed in his attempts to strangle three others. He scored a successful kill in late September when he bludgeoned Ida Reuter and again in October when he dispatched of a woman named Elizabeth Dirries. Both woman were killed with a hammer.
November brought the discovery of two more Kurten victims, both found after the serial slayer led police to the remains via an anonymous letter mailed to a local newspaper. The first was five-year-old Bertrude Alberman, who was stranged and stabbed to death. The second was Maria Hahn, whom Kurten raped, stabbed, and buried in August.
Kurten's reign ended in May of 1930 when he failed in an attempt to kill a woman who knew where he lived and subsequently led authrorities to him. He was arrested for the assault and quickly confessed to his previous murders, attempted killings, and rapes. Kurten pled insanity at his 1931 trial but was found guilty on nine counts of homicide and sentenced to death. On July 2 the guillotine rid the world of the "Vampire of Dusseldorf."
As he grew up in Dusseldorf, Kurten began practicing bestiality and sexually assaulting girls. He began to rack up arrests for offenses from fraud to attempted murder while in his mid-teens. Between prison stints he spent much of his time raping women and setting fires in an attempt to satisfy his twisted impulses. He finally killed his first female on May 25, 1913, when he sliced the throat of 13-year-old Christine Klein while she slumbered in her bed. Klein's uncle was nearly convicted in the murder.
After a few attempted murders Kurten was jailed on unrelated charges until 1921 and upon his release married and apparently settled down to a relatively normal, crime-free life in Altenburg, Germany. He relapsed in 1925 and fled back to Dusseldorf to escape charges of sexual assault. This marked the beginning of a crime spree that would eventually earn Kurten the nickname the "Vampire of Dusseldorf."
After a few more unsuccessful attempts at murdering women he stabbed a mechanic to death in February of 1929. On March 9 he abducted eight-year-old Rose Ohliger, raped her, and stabbed the little girl to death. In August Kurten strangled a woman and dumped her body in a river. She was never recovered. Three more attempted slayings followed before the successful slayings of Gertrude Hamacher, 5, and Louise Lenzen, 14. Both girls had been strangled by Kurten before having their throats slashed for good measure.
The next day Kurten attempted to stab a young woman to death and soon after that failed in his attempts to strangle three others. He scored a successful kill in late September when he bludgeoned Ida Reuter and again in October when he dispatched of a woman named Elizabeth Dirries. Both woman were killed with a hammer.
November brought the discovery of two more Kurten victims, both found after the serial slayer led police to the remains via an anonymous letter mailed to a local newspaper. The first was five-year-old Bertrude Alberman, who was stranged and stabbed to death. The second was Maria Hahn, whom Kurten raped, stabbed, and buried in August.
Kurten's reign ended in May of 1930 when he failed in an attempt to kill a woman who knew where he lived and subsequently led authrorities to him. He was arrested for the assault and quickly confessed to his previous murders, attempted killings, and rapes. Kurten pled insanity at his 1931 trial but was found guilty on nine counts of homicide and sentenced to death. On July 2 the guillotine rid the world of the "Vampire of Dusseldorf."
