Hinterkaifeck

CASE BACKGROUND

Hinterkaifeck farm, Munich, Germany.

Victims :

Original farm owners : Andreas Gruber, 63 Cäzilia Gruber, 72 Their widowed daughter : Viktoria Gabriel, 35 Viktoria's children : Cäzilia, 7 Josef, 2 Their house maid : Maria Baumgartner, 44

From Left: Josef, Viktoria, Maria, Cäzilia and Unknown.

It's rumoured that six months before the attack, the original maid claimed she had been hearing strange sounds in the attic, believing it to be haunted, she quit her job there. Also a strange newspaper was found in the farmhouse, which no one could remember acquiring, and which infact no one in the vicinity had ever subscribed to.

North side of the farm, showing door with broken lock.

Just days before the murders, fresh tracks in the snow, which lead from Witches Woods to a door with a broken lock, were descovered on the farm...there were only one set of tracks, leading to speculation that the Intruder never returned from whence they came.

Hinterkaifeck farm prior to 1922.

Later that night footsteps were heard in the attic, but upon searching no one was found, and the situation went unreported to the authority. A school friend of Cäzilias, also said that Cäzilia told her, that her mother had fled from the farm that night, due to a violent quarrel and was subsequently found in the forest later on.

On Friday, March 31, 1922, the new maid, Maria, was escorted to the farm by her sister, who was most likely the last person to see any of the inhabitants alive, As it appears that later in the evening, it appears they were all lured one by one to the barn, where they were killed.

Bodys as found, stacked up with mattock laying on top.

Further body's hidden beneath.

The perpetrator then made their way into the home where he killed baby Josef and the house maid.

Viktoria's room where baby Josef was found bludgeoned in his stroller.

Maid's room showing the body of Maria.

Their heads were all smashed in with a Mattock, Viktoria and Cizili also appeared to have strangulation marks. In 1923 the building was razed, which lead to the descovery of another blood stained mattock hidden in the attic and a pen knife in the barn.

Mattock similar to the one used during the murders.

The culprit then lived in the house with the bodys for three days, it is theorised they may have been secretly living in the attic even before the murders took place.

TIMELINE OF DISCOVERY

On the first of April, coffee sellers Hans and Eduard Schirovsky visited the farm to place an order, no one responded to their knocking. They noticed a door to the barn was open before leaving. Also Cäzilia absents from school was noted as was the familys failure to show up for Sunday church.

Supposed photo of Viktoria in the church choir.

On April 4, Albert Hofner arrived to repair the engine of the food chopper. He stated that he had not seen any of the family and had heard nothing but the sounds of the farm animals and the dog inside the barn. After waiting for an hour, he decided to start his repair, which he completed in roughly 4.5 hours. Around 3:30 PM, Schlittenbauer sent his son Johann and stepson Josef to see if they could make contact with the family. When they reported that they did not see anyone, Schlittenbauer headed to the farm with Michael Pöll and Jakob Sigl. They found the bodies of Andreas Gruber, his wife Cäzilia Gruber, his daughter Viktoria Gabriel, and his granddaughter Cäzilia, murdered in the barn. Shortly after, they found the chamber maid, Maria Baumgartner, and the youngest family member, Viktoria's son Josef, murdered in the home.

Jakob Sigl: Neighbour helped descover bodies.

INVESTIGATION Inspector Georg Reingruber led the Munich police department in the investigation. Initially they were hampered by the amount of contamination to the crime scene, bodies and items being moved around, and even meals cooked and ate in the kitchen. The day after the discovery of the bodies, it was established that a mattock was the most likely murder weapon. It is also believed Cäzilia had been alive for several hours after the assault, as she had torn out tufts of her own hair, possibley in Terror. The skulls of the victims were removed and sent to Munich, where they were further examined.

Georg Reingruber: Inspector incharge of Case.

The police first suspected the motive to be robbery, interrogating travelling craftsmen, vagrants, and inhabitants of surrounding villages. But when a large amount of money was discovered still in the house, they abandoned the theory.

Grubers extended family.

It was clear the perpetrator had remained at the farm for several days: feeding the cattle, eating the entire supply of bread and recently cutting meat from the pantry. Despite repeated arrests, no murderer has ever been caught and the files were closed in 1955.

SUSPICIOUS INCIDENTS On the night after the crime, an artisan named Michael Plöckl passed by. Upon noticing a foul smelling smoke, which was emanating from the oven, he was dazzled by the lantern of someone approaching him, he left hastily. Thinking little of it, he never report the event.

Michael Plöckl.

Outdoor oven similar to that used at Hinterkaifeck farm.

April 1st, 3 AM, A farmer named Simon Reißländer witnessed two unknown figures at the edge of witches woods. When the strangers saw him, they turned around so that their faces could not be seen.

Josef Mayer: a postman who arrived on the Saturday afternoon, only to find the Gruber family dog fed and tied to a fence.

Aerial map showin proximity of Witches Woods.

May 1927, a stranger was said to have stopped a resident of Waidhofen at midnight. He asked him questions about the murder and then shouted that he was the murderer before he ran into the woods. The stranger was never identified. SUSPECTS Karl Gabriel The husband of Viktoria, he had reportedly been killed in France, during the WW1. However, his body was never recovered. Two-year-old Josef was rumoured not to be his, but the offspring of an incestuous relationship between Viktoria and her father Andreas, this was speculated in court and rumoured within the local community. Lorenz Schlittenbauer A neighbor who after the death of his first wife was believed to have had a relationship with Viktoria and to be the father of Josef. When Schlittenbauer and his other locals came to investigate, they found the whole place locked and had to break a gate to enter the barn. However, upon the discovering four bodies, Schlittenbauer began moving them, thus contaminating the crime scene, he then unlocked the front door with a key and entered alone to "look for his son". A key to the house had gone missing several days before the murders. However, Schlittenbauer, as a neighbor or even as Viktoria's potential lover, might have been given a key. Gump brothers In 1951 the sister of the Gumps, Kreszentia Mayer, claimed on her deathbed that her brothers Adolf and Anton had committed the murders. As a result, Anton Gump was taken in to police custody, Adolf had already died in 1944. After a short time, Anton was dismissed and in 1954 the case against him was finally discontinued. It could not be proven he had participated in the crime. Bichler brothers and Georg Siegl The former maid Kreszenz Rieger said she suspected the brothers Anton and Karl Bichler. Anton had helped with the potato harvest on Hinterkaifeck and knew the grounds, he also reportedly suggested the family ought to be dead. She also emphasised in her interrogation that the farm dog barked at everyone, except Anton and thought Anton and Karl could have committed the murder along with Georg Siegl, who had worked at Hinterkaifeck and knew of the family fortune, However, it's important to mention that no money was found to have been stolen after the murders. Supposedly, Siegl stated he had carved the handle of the murder weapon when he was working at Hinterkaifeck and knew that the tool would have been kept in the barn passage. Thaler brothers Again the former maid Kreszenz Rieger stated the brothers had already committed several minor burglaries in the area. She said Josef Thaler stood at her window at night with an anonymous ally and asked her questions about the family, he claimed to know which family member was sleeping in which room and stated that they had a lot of money, again, no money was reported as missing after the murders. He also rather cryptically stated that the "quayside" had a lot of money too. After the conversation Josef and the stranger looked at the machine house and turned their eyes upwards.

TODAY

In 2007 students of a German police academy used modern techniques to investigate the case. They ruled out all but one suspect who they believe could be responsible. Although the suspect is dead, they as of yet, have not named them due to respect for the living members of their family.

Hinterkaifeck Memorial.

A memorial stands at the junction just west of the original farm site. It is dedicated to all the victims. The farm itself was destroyed a year after the events there took place...

Coffins of the Grubers laid out in their barn.