Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings

Fritz Haarmann: The Butcher of Hanover (Part II)

To fortify himself to dismember his victims' bodies, Haarmann would pour himself a cup of strong black coffee, then place the body of his victim upon the floor of this apartment and cover the face with a cloth, before first removing the intestines, which he would place inside a bucket. A towel would then be repeatedly placed inside the abdominal cavity to soak the collecting blood. He would then make three cuts between the victim's ribs and shoulders, then "take hold of the ribs and push until the bones around the shoulders broke." The victim's heart, lungs, and kidneys would then be removed, diced, and placed in the same bucket which held the intestines before the legs and arms would be severed from the body. Haarmann would then begin paring the flesh from the limbs and torso. This surplus flesh would be disposed of in the toilet or, usually, in the nearby river.

The final section of the victims' bodies to be dismembered was invariably the head. After severing the head from the torso, Haarmann would use a small kitchen knife to strip all flesh from the skull, which he would then wrap in rags and place face downwards upon a pile of straw and bludgeon with an ax until the skull splintered, enabling him to access the brain. This he would also place in a bucket, which he would pour, alongside the "chopped up bones" in the Leine.

Haarmann was insistent that none of the skulls found in the Leine belonged to his victims, and that the forensic identification of the skull of Robert Witzel was mistaken, as he had almost invariably smashed his victims' skulls to pieces. The exceptions being those of his earliest victims—killed several years prior to his arrest—and that of his last victim, Erich de Vries. Although insistent that none of his murders were premeditated, investigators discovered much circumstantial evidence suggesting that several murders had been planned hours or days in advance and that Haarmann had both concocted explanations for his victims' disappearances and dissuaded acquaintances of his victims from filing missing persons' reports with Hanover police. Investigators also noted that Haarmann would only confess to murders for which there existed evidence against him; on one occasion, Haarmann stated: "There are some [victims] you don't know about, but it's not those you think."

When asked how many victims he killed, Haarmann claimed, "Somewhere between 50 and 70." The police, however, could only connect Haarmann with the disappearance of 27 youths, and he was charged with 27 murders—some of which he claimed were committed upon the insistence of Hans Grans, who was arrested on 8 July, and formally charged with being an accessory to murder one week later.

On 16 August 1924, Haarmann underwent a psychological examination at a Göttingen medical school; on 25 September, he was judged competent to stand trial and returned to Hanover to await trial.

Trial

The trial of Fritz Haarmann and Hans Grans began on 4 December 1924. Haarmann was charged with the murder of 27 boys and young men who had disappeared between September 1918 and June that year. In 14 of these cases, Haarmann—who insisted upon conducting his own defense—acknowledged his guilt, although he claimed to be uncertain of the identification of the remaining 13 victims upon the list of charges. Grans pleaded not guilty to charges of being an accessory to murder in several of the murders. Initially, following a thorough security search, all members of the public were permitted access to the courtroom, although by the third day the judge excluded all spectators from the courtroom in the opening days of the trial as each murder was discussed in detail, due to the ongoing carnal and gruesome nature of the revelations.

The trial was one of the first major modern media events in Germany, and received extensive international press coverage, being described as the "most revolting [case] in German criminal history." Varying sensational headlines—in which Haarmann was variously referred to by such titles as the "Butcher of Hanover," the "Vampire of Hanover," and the "Wolf Man"—continuously appeared in the press.