Minisode 03 – Bodies in the Woods: Vampire of Dusseldorf
Hello, again! Welcome to our first Bodies in the Woods episode. This is our third type of minisode and its mini-true crime! We discuss the "Vampire of Dusseldorf", Peter Kürten and all his sick, sick ways. Come in and don't forget to wipe your feet on the mat.
TRIGGER WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS DISCUSSION ABOUT MURDER, VIOLENCE, ANIMAL CRUELTY, AND SEXUAL SADISM. WE ADVISE DISCRETION.
STOP! INSIDE JOKES AHEAD!
If you haven’t gotten to listen to the episode yet, spoiler alert! This post contains lots of stuff that will make waaay more sense if you listen to the episode before or while reading. So if you haven’t already, pump the brakes and listen to the episode or just click above to play so that you can be in on all the shenanigans to follow!
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Produced by Peter Woodward
Something Wicked This Way Comes...
This is the face of Peter Kürten, who was known throughout Germany as the “Vampire of Dusseldorf” or “Monster of Dusseldorf”.
By the way, we correctly pronounced his name! Twice! Two pronunciations exist, and we got them both. In case you’re interested, take a listen:
-
- Pronunciation in the States:
- https://www.howtopronounce.com/peter-k%C3%BCrten
- Pronunciation in Germany: https://forvo.com/word/peter_k%C3%BCrten/
- Nailed it! Go ahead and dab with Betty, Jeremy!
A Little Background...
- Born in Germany 1883, Kürten was the oldest of 13 children. He suffered horrible physical and sexual abuse at the hands of his alcoholic father towards himself, his mom and his sisters.
- He began torturing animals at 9 yrs old while working with a local dogcatcher. As an adult, he confessed that at the same age, he drowned two childhood playmates. At the time, police knew of the deaths, but they had been ruled accidental.
- Initially, Kürten started with petty crime after falling in with a bad local element. He found that he had a taste for breaking the law and was jailed several times as teen for a variety of crimes: bestiality, rape, assault, arson, fraud and theft. He discovered his affinity for blood during this time period as well.
- After being drafted into the Imperial German Army around 1905, he deserted. A military court tried him for this in addition to multiple counts of arson and robbery. Subsequently, he was jailed until 1913.
Things are ramping up...
Incarceration did nothing to deter Kürten from his criminal pursuits. Soon after his release, he raped a woman and assaulted a man. Immediately, he was apprehended and jailed for another year! Reportedly, he raped and murdered a girl in 1913, but another man was charged and acquitted for the crime.
Kürten attempted several rapes that year as well as committed arson. Again, he was picked up, and this time, he was jailed for 8 more years.
- After his release in 1921, he married Auguste Scharf, a former prostitute that had been convicted and imprisoned for 5 years for the murder of her fiancé. And together, they relocated…
The Spree...
- Kürten and his wife moved to Dusseldorf in 1925 where he began a crime spree that would last 5 years. And, oh boy, was it spree.
- During this time, he kidnapped, raped, strangled, bludgeoned, and stabbed women and children, and even a few men.
- His weapons of choice in his crimes were scissors and primarily hammers. He also freely admitted to drinking his victims’ blood from their wounds.
- The murders and assaults taking place in the area baffled police. By 1929, the name “Vampire of Dusseldorf” was nationally and internationally known. The combination of the variety of victims, methods of attack, and sheer brutality of his work convinced police at the time that more than one person was behind the crime spree.
- Intermittently, Kürten sent anonymous letters to the newspapers. These letters contained drawings of maps with descriptions of locations and position of the bodies of his victims. In total, he sent four letters, promising further crimes in each one.
The Capture and Trial...
Despite hundreds of thousands of suspects, tips, and leads, police were unable to gather enough evidence to take him in until 1930. After several non-lethal hammer attacks and attempted strangulations, police compiled a description of Kürten based on victims’ accounts. In fact, an escaped victim eventually led them to his apartment.
Once in police custody, he confessed readily to dozens of murders.
Initially, Kürten attempted an insanity plea, but was found to be legally sane by multiple psychologists. Subsequently, they all deemed him fit to stand trial.
During his trial, an iron cage surrounded him…for his protection from the families and loved ones of his victims. Without hesitation, he repeatedly and freely admitted that he committed the crimes of which he was accused, knew they were heinous, and did so without remorse. Maintaining that the sight of the blood was his primary motivation, not the sex acts, Kürten insisted this was the reason so many of his victims lived.
Interestingly, he even attempted to change his plea to guilty a few days into his trial, but for whatever reason, that did not happen.
After 10 days and a 2-hour deliberation by the jury, Kürten was convicted of 9 murders and 7 counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to death by beheading.
Kürten eagerly went to his execution in 1931. It is reported that he said, “After my head is chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.”
Following his execution, his head was bisected and mummified. Forensic studies were conducted on Kürten’s brain and body. Scientists attempted to determine if any physical traits or abnormalities existed within him that could point to why he did the things he did. Aside from an enlarged thymus gland, there were no abnormalities in his body or brain, and certainly nothing that could point to reasons for his behavior.
Peter Kürten’s severed, split, and mummified head is currently on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum in Wisconsin Hills, Wisconsin…you know…if you wanna go take a peek at that. If that’s your thing.
Tell you what. Airfare is expensive. Travel can be stressful. And who has the time…amirite? So we’ve got a photo of that for you. Here ya go!
Okay, then? Okay, then.
What else did we learn today?
This is Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
Bad guy on Phineas and Ferb…
Also German.
Hmm…
The guys are getting old...
They were using these dinosaurs in school…
Take a look, kids. It’s called a “floppy disc.” Its the precursor to the flash drive.
Legal definition of insanity...
It’s a long one, but basically, if it can be determined that a defendant in a case is capable of understanding right and wrong and is capable of assisting in their own defense, they do not meet the legal definition of insanity.
It is an often attempted, but not as often granted plea.
Remember Body Worlds? Yeah...creepfest.
Alright, then! Another one down! We hope you guys are enjoying the minisodes and all their incarnations. Please let us know your thoughts, feelings…hopes…dreams…blood types…mother’s maiden names…wifi passwords…aaaaaaaand…favorite foods.
K? Cool.
We’ll see you on the next one and don’t forget to STAY STRANGE!
Some articles and sources:
Peter’s wife. Registered nurse. Uber-fan of The Strange Woods Podcast.
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