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Eleven victims, three countries, one mystery

November 20, 2021 / 01:29:18

This episode covers the cases of Sarah McDermott, Julia, and Margaret Scharfer, focusing on their disappearances and the subsequent investigations. It discusses the criminal history of Jack Unterweger, who was linked to multiple murders in Austria and the U.S.

The episode begins with the mysterious disappearance of Sarah McDermott, last seen walking toward a car park. Witnesses reported blood at the scene, raising concerns about foul play.

Julia's story unfolds as she recounts a terrifying encounter with a man who offered her a ride home, only to drive her into a secluded area where she was assaulted. She managed to escape when another car approached, leading to her rescue.

Margaret Scharfer's case is detailed, revealing her abduction by Jack Unterweger, who had a history of violence against women. After her murder, police connected the dots back to Unterweger, who was eventually arrested and tried for multiple murders.

The episode highlights the chilling similarities between the murders of sex workers in Los Angeles and Austria, ultimately leading to Unterweger's conviction and his tragic end.

TL;DR

The episode details the disappearances of Sarah McDermott, Julia, and Margaret Scharfer, focusing on Jack Unterweger's violent history and multiple murders.

Episode

1:29:18

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she was seen by several witnesses

00:00:02

walking toward the car park and then

00:00:04

sarah mcdermott was gone i could see

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blood on the bitumen maybe he thinks i

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can get away with this they don't know

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where she is they don't know who did it

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and i could hear footsteps behind me and

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they were getting closer i just think

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those men at vidato saved my life pulled

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out a couple of the cards and it said

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sarah mcdermott searching for sarah

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[Music]

00:02:02

our episodes deal with serious and often

00:02:04

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00:02:06

time you need support please contact

00:02:08

your local crisis center

00:02:10

for suggested phone numbers for

00:02:12

confidential support please see the show

00:02:14

notes for this episode on your app or on

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our website

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[Music]

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it was a crisp spring night on may 13

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1974 when a young woman walked out of a

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salzburg bar with a smartly dressed

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stranger

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julia not her real name had started

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chatting to the man after he initiated a

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conversation with her

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although they had just met julia was

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more than impressed with his charming

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and talkative manner

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as he led julia outside he offered her a

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lift home gesturing to his expensive

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ford mustang parked across the street

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accepting his offer julia hopped into

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the car's passenger seat

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as the mustang drove away from the

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bright lights of salzburg and into the

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surrounding countryside

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julia realized that the man was driving

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in the opposite direction of her home

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she began to panic

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they headed down a small laneway and

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into a meadow surrounded by dense bushes

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it was completely deserted

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with no street lights to illuminate the

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area all was pitch black outside

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julia's fear grew

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then just as the man drove deeper into

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the field the car became stuck in the

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mud

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suddenly they stopped

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as the mustang's wheels turned and

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turned without gaining any traction

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julia saw her chance

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she leapt from the passenger seat and

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began sprinting across the field

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but the man followed

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he was quick catching up in no time and

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tackling her to the ground

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he shoved her face in the mud to silence

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her screams then began beating the back

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of her head

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after he roughly removed her shoes he

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tore off her stockings and used them to

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bind her hands behind her back

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dragging julia back to the car the man

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sexually assaulted her with a steel pole

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while he masturbated

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when he was finished he freed julia from

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her restraint

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headlights suddenly illuminated the

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field behind them

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another car had pulled up to the scene

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its occupants had noticed the mustang

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stuck in the mud and the driver walked

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over to assist

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julia's attacker got out and greeted him

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feigning distress over his car's state

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as they spoke

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julia saw her second chance to escape

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she clambered out of the mustang and

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raced over to the other car frantically

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asking the passenger to take her to the

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police

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he agreed and called over the driver so

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they could leave immediately

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as they pulled away carrying julia to

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safety

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their car's headlights cast a bright

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light over her attacker in the meadow

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he stared back still standing next to

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the ford mustang stuck a deep in the mud

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[Music]

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[Music]

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seven months after the attack on julia

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eighteen-year-old margaret scharfer said

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goodbye to her friends after spending

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the evening bowling with them and began

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to walk home

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margaret lived in everspark germany

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approximately 650 kilometers north of

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the austrian city of salzburg

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as she strolled along the footpath a

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mercedes pulled up alongside her

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glancing inside margaret saw her friend

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barbara sitting in the passenger seat

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barbara asked margaret if she would like

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a lift home to save walking in the cold

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night air

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margaret gratefully agreed

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[Music]

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three weeks later a group of hunters

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were navigating through a dense cops of

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trees in a wooded area outside of the

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german town of hairborne

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as they carefully made their way through

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the forest they spotted something

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lying face down beneath a tall conifer

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was the naked body of a woman

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someone had tried to cover her with

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leaves and branches but her skin and

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dark curly hair were still visible

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it was margaret shafar

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her wrists had been restrained before

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she was beaten about the head with a

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blunt object

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then her attacker had used margaret's

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own bra to strangle her

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it had been expertly tied in a unique

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series of knots to form an extremely

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taut ligature

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german detectives attended the location

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and commenced an investigation making

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sure to interview those close to

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margaret

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this led them to her friend barbara

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[Music]

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it wasn't long before she cracked under

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the pressure

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[Music]

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24 year old jack unterveiga was already

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well known to authorities in the

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neighbouring country of austria

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in 1970 jack abducted a 16 year old girl

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and tried to force her into sex work

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his extensive rap sheet also featured

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charges for robbery car theft burglary

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and fraud

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over time jack added sexual assault to

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his long list of criminal convictions

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women were easy targets for him

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he presented himself as intelligent

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gregarious wealthy and well-groomed and

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was able to charm his victims

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despite his urbane persona the truth was

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that jack was broke and could not read

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or write

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throughout 1973 and 74 jack's assaults

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landed him short stints in prison but

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every time he was released he attacked

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again

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over time his violence against women

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escalated

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like the time he attacked julia in a

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field outside salzburg

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having gotten a good look at jack she

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quickly identified him as her attacker

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and he was sent to prison for the

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assault in mid-1974

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after attempting to take his own life

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jack was transferred to a local

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psychiatric hospital

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a few months later he was released and

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decided to make a fresh start in

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frankfurt germany

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it was there that he began dating a

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young woman named barbara

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on the night of december 11 1974

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jack and barbara decided they needed

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some easy cash and hatched a plan to rob

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barbara's parents

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they drove from frankfurt to barbara's

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hometown of eva's bark and headed

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directly to her family's house

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they'd expected to find it empty but to

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their dismay barbara's parents were home

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their plan foiled the couple began

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driving around town looking for someone

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else to rob

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soon they spotted margaret schaffer

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walking all alone

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barbara knew margaret well she had

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previously lived next door to her and

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the two were friends

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barbara told jack as much and he hastily

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pulled over so they could offer margaret

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a lift

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she happily accepted

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the two women chatted in the car's back

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seat while jack drove

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after a little while he stopped by the

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side of the road

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as recounted in the book entering hades

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by john lake

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jack asked barbara

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do you have anything else you want to

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tell her

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when barbara said no

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jack remarked

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then now we'll get to the point

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he grabbed margaret by her shirt finding

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her slim frame easy to pull into the

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front seat

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using barbara's belt he restrained

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margaret's hands behind her back

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after rifling through her belongings and

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pocketing some cash

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jack drove to margaret's house

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barbara let herself inside with a key

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from margaret's purse

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she wandered through the residence

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pocketing about 40 dollars from

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margaret's room and grabbing some

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clothing as well

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meanwhile jack waited in the car with

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margaret

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he had pushed her to the rear foot well

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and she was unable to move

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when barbara returned

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jack drove 30 kilometers south to

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hairborne asking barbara if she knew of

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any woodlands nearby

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as margaret sobbed in the back of the

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car

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barbara directed jack past a restaurant

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and onto a forest road

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jack drove deep into the woods then

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parked the car

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he untied margaret and ordered her to

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take her clothes off but she refused

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jack punched her in the face before

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undressing her himself

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when he hopped out of the car

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margaret asked barbara what he was going

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to do to her

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barbara just shrugged in reply

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jack reappeared and grabbed a steel rod

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from the glove box then dragged margaret

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from the car

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he asked barbara if she'd like to

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accompany him

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she declined but watched as jack dragged

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a naked margaret across the snow-covered

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ground

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they disappeared into a thicket of

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nearby trees

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in a statement barbara later told

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detectives

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i was terribly afraid for her but also

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for myself

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about 15 minutes later he came back to

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the car and after he sat in the driver's

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seat he handed me the steel rod which

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was covered with blood and hair

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what did you do with her i asked him

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he replied

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there's no way she can betray us now

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[Music]

00:13:20

while there was no physical evidence

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from the crime scene linking jack to the

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murder his girlfriend barbara's

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confession was enough to warrant action

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on january 17 1975

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just a month after margaret's murder

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jack unterweger was arrested and charged

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due to a treaty between germany and

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austria jack an austrian citizen would

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be tried in his homeland despite killing

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margaret in germany

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it is unclear whether his girlfriend

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barbara faced any legal ramifications

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for her actions on the night of

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margaret's murder

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in july 1975 while still waiting for

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margaret scharfer's murder trial to

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begin

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jack unterweger was tried for violent

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offences against four other women in

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austria

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he was found guilty and sentenced to

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three years in prison

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one year into his sentence the murder

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trial finally commenced

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[Music]

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in court jack wore a dark suit with a

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gaudy tie while his long shaggy hair

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fell around his face

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short slim and baby-faced with delicate

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features and small white eyes jack

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unterweger didn't look like a

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stereotypical criminal

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the prosecution instructed those present

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to look beyond his appearance as they

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heard the evidence against him

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the trial drew a large crowd

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they listened attentively as jack's

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defense team spoke of his troubled

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childhood

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he was born in 1950 in the historic

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austrian town of udenborg

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his mother was a waitress and sex worker

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jack's father who he never met was an

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american soldier

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he'd been part of a group of u.s troops

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occupying the area following the end of

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world war ii

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when jack was about 18 months old his

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mother was jailed for fraud and he was

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sent to live with his grandfather in a

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desolate rundown cottage in the austrian

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countryside

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it was during this time that jack

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struggled the most

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his grandfather was a violent alcoholic

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who beat jack for misbehaving

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jack often claimed that he was forced to

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sleep in the same bed as his grandfather

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while the elderly man had sex with

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various girlfriends and sex workers

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however

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this was likely not true

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with many of jack's stories about his

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childhood being embellished and

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exaggerated for sympathy

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ever since his arrest jack unterveiga

00:16:07

had denied murdering margaret scharfer

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but on the stand he suddenly broke down

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he admitted to beating margaret and then

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strangling her with her own bra

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when he'd looked into her face

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he saw his mother's which caused him to

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explode with rage and hatred

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jack sobbed and pleaded for forgiveness

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instead of being forgiven he was found

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guilty and given a life sentence to be

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served at stone prison a maximum

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security facility in krems austria

00:16:49

police inspector august shena sat in the

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courtroom listening to jack unto vegas

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sentencing with interest

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the murder of margaret scharfer bore

00:17:00

strong similarities to a case that had

00:17:02

landed on his desk three years earlier

00:17:06

on april 1 1973 the body of a petite

00:17:10

woman with long black hair was found

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floating in a lake in salzburg

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aged in her mid-20s she wore a

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turtleneck jumper and was naked from the

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waist down

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the woman's ankles had been tied

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together tightly with her stockings and

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her wrists bound expertly behind her

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back with a necktie

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a bandage likely taken from a car's

00:17:35

first aid kit was wrapped multiple times

00:17:38

around her head and mouth acting as a

00:17:40

makeshift gag

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she had been violently beaten across the

00:17:45

face but the cause of her death was

00:17:48

drowning

00:17:50

an autopsy revealed the woman had sexual

00:17:53

intercourse just prior to her murder but

00:17:56

it could not be determined if she had

00:17:58

been raped or if it was consensual

00:18:01

when tire marks were discovered leading

00:18:03

to the lake's shoreline from the

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surrounding woodland a horrifying

00:18:07

picture began to emerge

00:18:10

the woman had been undressed restrained

00:18:13

and gagged then dragged from a car to

00:18:16

the lake and thrown in while still alive

00:18:21

the following morning a man named mato

00:18:24

horvat reported his wife missing

00:18:27

marika horvat had failed to return home

00:18:30

after catching a bus into salzburg two

00:18:33

nights prior

00:18:35

mato was taken to see the body of the

00:18:37

woman recovered from the lake and was

00:18:40

devastated to find that she was his wife

00:18:43

marika

00:18:46

at the time austria had one of the

00:18:48

lowest violent crime rates in the world

00:18:51

and murders were virtually unheard of

00:18:55

catching marika's killer was of the

00:18:57

utmost importance so the country's top

00:19:00

detectives were assigned to the case and

00:19:02

no expenses were spared

00:19:05

despite this a lack of leads and

00:19:08

physical evidence had authorities coming

00:19:10

up empty

00:19:12

over time the investigation dwindled and

00:19:15

the murder gradually faded from public

00:19:17

attention

00:19:19

but it remained firmly in the mind of

00:19:21

investigating officer august shanna

00:19:25

although he couldn't find the man

00:19:27

responsible

00:19:28

algust was certain of one thing

00:19:31

whoever killed marika was a sadistic

00:19:34

monster

00:19:37

when he later learned about the murder

00:19:38

of margaret shafa in germany algust was

00:19:42

struck by the similarities her case

00:19:44

brought to that of marika horvath

00:19:47

he sat in on jack unterweger's trial

00:19:50

taking in every detail

00:19:53

the more he heard the more certain he

00:19:56

was that jack was the man he'd been

00:19:58

looking for

00:19:59

but he didn't have enough evidence to

00:20:02

charge him

00:20:03

as jack's sentence was read aloud to the

00:20:06

court algust shena took comfort in the

00:20:09

fact that at least the jack was now

00:20:11

facing life behind bars

00:20:18

on june 19 1991

00:20:21

15 years after jack until vega went to

00:20:24

prison twenty-year-old shannon exley

00:20:26

stood on the corner of seventh and main

00:20:29

in downtown los angeles

00:20:31

behind her the sign for the cecil hotel

00:20:34

was brightly illuminated in the night

00:20:36

sky

00:20:38

shannon had been working in the sex

00:20:40

industry since she had run away from

00:20:42

home at the age of 16.

00:20:45

she used her earnings to support her

00:20:47

drug habit but earlier that night she'd

00:20:49

called her father telling him she was

00:20:52

going to get her life back on track and

00:20:54

was looking forward to a brighter future

00:20:58

just after midnight a car pulled up

00:21:00

alongside her

00:21:02

shannon hopped in

00:21:06

the next morning a group of girls were

00:21:08

picking up trash behind the parking lot

00:21:10

of the girls scout center two and a half

00:21:13

miles from where shannon had been

00:21:15

standing the night before

00:21:18

as they worked the girls noticed

00:21:20

something lying in a vacant overgrown

00:21:22

lot approximately 50 feet beyond the car

00:21:25

park

00:21:27

they drew closer to get a better look

00:21:31

it was the body of the murdered woman

00:21:35

shannon xle was lying on her stomach

00:21:38

underneath a tall eucalyptus tree

00:21:40

she was naked except for a t-shirt that

00:21:43

had ridden up around her shoulders and a

00:21:45

pair of bright blue socks

00:21:48

around her neck was her bra tied tight

00:21:52

in a series of unique and complex knots

00:21:56

whoever had attacked shannon had used

00:21:58

her bra to strangle her

00:22:00

cuts and scrapes on her feet indicated

00:22:03

she'd been dragged through the vacant

00:22:05

lot then dumped

00:22:07

semen from a number of different men was

00:22:10

extracted from shannon's body

00:22:13

none matched the dna profiles of anyone

00:22:16

on record

00:22:18

the murder had been carried out in a

00:22:20

clean meticulous fashion and there was

00:22:23

no evidence left at the scene

00:22:26

detectives concluded that the killer

00:22:28

must have planned the slaying scoping

00:22:30

out the area in daylight as it was not a

00:22:33

site clearly visible at night

00:22:36

it was a puzzling location

00:22:39

detectives knew that the city's sex

00:22:41

workers rarely traveled more than a

00:22:43

block or two from where they were picked

00:22:45

up

00:22:46

the distance from shannon's last known

00:22:49

location suggested she had not gone to

00:22:51

the lot willingly

00:22:57

ten days later a homeless man was

00:23:00

looking for firewood one and a half

00:23:02

miles from where shannon axley was found

00:23:05

as he searched around the parking lot of

00:23:08

a freight company he noticed something

00:23:10

beneath a big rigged trailer

00:23:13

it was the body of a woman lying on her

00:23:16

back and naked aside from a t-shirt and

00:23:19

one sock

00:23:21

she had been hid in the abdomen so

00:23:23

forcefully that it caused internal

00:23:25

damage

00:23:26

but the cause of her death was ligature

00:23:29

strangulation

00:23:31

the woman's own bra was knotted tightly

00:23:33

around her neck

00:23:37

her name was irene rodriguez and she was

00:23:40

33 years old

00:23:42

irene had been in los angeles for less

00:23:44

than three months performing sex work to

00:23:47

support a heroin addiction

00:23:49

she left behind a husband and four

00:23:52

children

00:23:54

irene had worked on the same corner as

00:23:56

shannon just down the road from the

00:23:58

cecil hotel

00:24:01

just as in shannon's murder her killer

00:24:03

left no evidence and a forensic

00:24:06

examination resulted in zero leads

00:24:10

detectives suspected irene's attacker

00:24:12

may have been a trucker from out of town

00:24:15

given where her body had been dumped

00:24:20

sex workers who frequented the area

00:24:22

where shannon and irene were taken were

00:24:24

worried

00:24:26

many were friends and words spread

00:24:28

quickly amongst their community that two

00:24:30

women had been killed while working

00:24:34

some shared their fears with the

00:24:35

journalist who was writing a series of

00:24:37

articles on the dangers of sex work in

00:24:40

los angeles

00:24:42

known for his compassionate

00:24:43

understanding of controversial topics he

00:24:46

wrote an article about the murdered

00:24:48

women for tiroline magazine

00:24:50

an excerpt of which read

00:24:54

real life in la is dominated by a tough

00:24:57

struggle for survival by the broken

00:24:59

dreams of thousands who come to the city

00:25:02

and an equal number who leave

00:25:04

sometimes dead

00:25:08

sex workers who knew shannon axley and

00:25:10

irene rodriguez opened up to the

00:25:13

sympathetic journalist describing how

00:25:15

the murders had impacted them and crying

00:25:18

over the loss of their friends

00:25:21

in one recorded interview an unnamed

00:25:24

woman said

00:25:26

it's ugly it's dirty it's scary

00:25:30

every time you walk out on the street

00:25:32

you take your life in your hands

00:25:35

you could die every time you get in a

00:25:37

car

00:25:38

every time you drive away you don't know

00:25:41

this person

00:25:43

you don't know if he's gonna kill you

00:25:49

two weeks after the murder of irene

00:25:51

rodriguez a deputy sheriff drove to a

00:25:54

deserted malibu hilltop in response to a

00:25:57

frantic call received by the la county

00:26:00

sheriff's department

00:26:02

as described in john leg's book entering

00:26:04

hades the deputy was met at the scene by

00:26:07

a group of men and their children

00:26:10

they'd headed there to view a solar

00:26:12

eclipse that was set to black out the

00:26:14

los angeles skyline by mid-morning

00:26:17

instead they had stumbled across the

00:26:20

body of a dead woman

00:26:21

[Music]

00:26:23

she was lying on her back with her shirt

00:26:25

up around her shoulders exposing her

00:26:28

breasts

00:26:29

otherwise she was fully clothed

00:26:33

her fingerprints identified her as peggy

00:26:36

booth a sex worker who worked on

00:26:38

hollywood's sunset boulevard

00:26:40

approximately seven miles from where

00:26:42

shannon and irene were picked up

00:26:46

detectives assumed peggy must have known

00:26:48

her murderer well as the desolate

00:26:51

location where she was found was not a

00:26:53

place she would usually frequent

00:26:56

just like shannon and irene peggy had

00:26:59

been strangled to death with her own bra

00:27:02

[Music]

00:27:04

while the murder of sex workers in los

00:27:06

angeles was tragically not a rare

00:27:08

occurrence this identical manner of

00:27:11

killing was

00:27:14

dr lynn herald from the la county

00:27:16

sheriff's department analyzed the

00:27:18

ligatures

00:27:19

in the hundreds of strangulation murders

00:27:22

dr harold had seen over the course of

00:27:24

her career

00:27:25

these three were the only ones she had

00:27:28

come across where a victim had been

00:27:30

strangled by their own undergarments

00:27:33

the fact that the victim's bras had all

00:27:35

been dismantled and tied together in the

00:27:38

exact same way left her in no doubt that

00:27:41

the same person was responsible for all

00:27:44

three murders

00:27:46

detectives began surveilling downtown

00:27:49

haunts where sex workers were known to

00:27:51

operate in case the killer struck again

00:27:55

but he never did

00:28:01

on july 16 1991 the journalist who had

00:28:05

reported on the slangs in los angeles

00:28:08

boarded a flight back to his home

00:28:10

country

00:28:11

he'd gathered ample material for his

00:28:13

work comparing the differences between

00:28:16

sex work in la and europe and intended

00:28:19

to broadcast these findings in a radio

00:28:21

series for the austrian broadcasting

00:28:23

corporation

00:28:25

he also planned to write several

00:28:27

articles on the same topic

00:28:30

it was a busy time for the journalist in

00:28:33

addition to his investigative deep dive

00:28:36

he also had a book to promote with

00:28:38

public signings

00:28:40

in his homeland the journalist was a

00:28:43

beloved public figure with thousands of

00:28:45

fans who adored his empathetic writing

00:28:48

style

00:28:49

he considered himself a ladies man and

00:28:52

picked up women effortlessly

00:28:54

even having a whirlwind romance with one

00:28:56

of the cecil hotel's receptionists

00:29:00

she hoped to visit him in austria soon

00:29:04

the journalist was jack hunter vega

00:29:10

jack unto vegas prison sentence for the

00:29:12

murder of margaret scharfer who he had

00:29:14

abducted and strangled to death in 1974

00:29:18

coincided with the period of reform in

00:29:21

austria's penal system

00:29:24

the nation's minister for justice

00:29:26

implemented a program based on the

00:29:28

theory that even the most violent

00:29:30

criminals could be successfully

00:29:32

rehabilitated whilst incarcerated

00:29:35

one prisoner who took advantage of the

00:29:37

new opportunities offered was jack

00:29:40

unterveiga

00:29:42

he became a regular at the prison

00:29:44

library teaching himself to read and

00:29:47

write

00:29:48

over time he discovered that he had a

00:29:51

natural talent for the written word

00:29:54

he began writing plays poetry and short

00:29:57

stories for children

00:30:00

while he remained behind bars his short

00:30:02

stories were broadcast over the radio to

00:30:05

the delight of many parents and children

00:30:07

who tuned in

00:30:10

in 1983 eight years into his sentence

00:30:14

jack unterweger completed his

00:30:16

autobiography entitled at figa foyer

00:30:19

which translates to purgatory in english

00:30:24

jack told of his tragic childhood and

00:30:26

the despair of prison life

00:30:28

neglecting to mention why he was

00:30:30

imprisoned

00:30:32

the book was published later that year

00:30:34

and became a bestseller

00:30:36

people felt connected to jack and his

00:30:39

compassionate descriptions of life

00:30:41

behind bars

00:30:43

he seemed relatable genuine and

00:30:46

sensitive

00:30:48

but police inspector auguste shanna

00:30:51

hadn't forgotten about marika hovard the

00:30:54

woman who drowned in salzburg lake

00:30:57

he remained convinced that jack

00:30:59

unterveiga was responsible and arranged

00:31:02

to interview him in prison

00:31:05

a girlfriend of jacks had written a

00:31:07

statement placing them in salzburg on

00:31:09

the night of marica's murder

00:31:12

she recalled that jack had left without

00:31:15

explanation for a period of the night

00:31:17

and also remembered jack keeping

00:31:19

newspaper clippings about the murder

00:31:22

when she pressed him for information

00:31:24

about the clippings he threw them away

00:31:29

when august shena confronted jack with

00:31:31

this information in prison he burst into

00:31:34

tears and told the investigator that if

00:31:36

this line of questioning continued he

00:31:39

would return to his cell and hang

00:31:40

himself

00:31:42

undeterred inspector shena appealed to

00:31:45

the district attorney to prosecute jack

00:31:47

for marika's murder

00:31:50

as per austrian law

00:31:52

jack could only serve one life sentence

00:31:55

but if he was found guilty of killing

00:31:58

marika time would be added to his

00:32:00

current term

00:32:03

the district attorney declined to

00:32:05

proceed with the case telling inspector

00:32:07

shena

00:32:09

he already has a life sentence he can

00:32:11

only be given one

00:32:14

it was suggested that his decision was

00:32:17

influenced by the strong links jack had

00:32:19

to prominent austrians who

00:32:21

wholeheartedly enjoyed his body of work

00:32:25

although inspector shenna was outraged

00:32:28

he had nowhere else to turn

00:32:31

[Music]

00:32:35

it wasn't long before figa foyer caught

00:32:38

the attention of austria's literary

00:32:40

elite they praised the autobiography

00:32:44

describing it as the ultimate example of

00:32:46

the power the arts had to transform

00:32:49

lives

00:32:50

those responsible for the country's

00:32:52

prison reform held up jack unterveiga as

00:32:55

their greatest success story

00:32:58

in 1984 jack received an award for his

00:33:02

work a stage production titled terminal

00:33:05

prison

00:33:07

he was permitted day release to attend

00:33:09

the opening night performance and

00:33:11

arrived to a throng of photographers

00:33:14

clamoring to take his picture

00:33:17

in 1985 austria's literary community

00:33:20

began to petition for jack's early

00:33:23

release

00:33:25

his editor recalled a reading jack gave

00:33:27

in stein prison stating

00:33:30

at his reading he was so tender and at

00:33:33

that moment we decided we had to get him

00:33:36

pardoned

00:33:38

but austrian president rudolf

00:33:40

kerschlager refused to sign off on

00:33:43

jack's release

00:33:44

pointing out that he was legally

00:33:46

required to serve at least 15 years of

00:33:49

his life sentence

00:33:52

in 1988 jack's autobiography was adapted

00:33:56

into a film

00:33:58

he collaborated with its director but

00:34:01

differences in artistic vision became

00:34:04

evident when jack continually requested

00:34:06

to be portrayed as a hero

00:34:09

the director disagreed unable to look

00:34:12

past the jack's conviction for murder

00:34:16

he believed jack had a massive ego and

00:34:19

only used his writing as a means to

00:34:21

escape prison

00:34:23

later telling british newspaper the

00:34:25

guardian

00:34:27

jack doesn't like literature

00:34:30

jack doesn't like writers

00:34:32

jack doesn't like anything

00:34:35

jack only likes jack

00:34:39

nevertheless the film was released to

00:34:41

positive reviews and as the movie gained

00:34:44

popularity and jack's book was toured in

00:34:47

austrian high schools support for his

00:34:50

release only increased

00:34:55

on may 23 1990 39 year old jack

00:34:59

unterweger left prison as a free man

00:35:02

having served his minimum term of 15

00:35:05

years

00:35:07

his release was due in part to the

00:35:09

campaigning of psychiatrist dr ernest

00:35:12

bornemann who never met jack but had

00:35:15

read his autobiography

00:35:18

dr bornemann wrote a letter to the

00:35:20

justice minister which read in part

00:35:23

the man committed a serious act he's

00:35:26

remorseful understands the motive of his

00:35:29

actions at the time and has the means

00:35:31

never to have a relapse

00:35:34

i am convinced that this act will never

00:35:37

be committed again

00:35:40

upon jack's release one prison warden

00:35:43

said

00:35:44

we will never find a prisoner so well

00:35:46

prepared for freedom

00:35:49

a psychologist at steinprison who was

00:35:52

straight out of university had an

00:35:54

hour-long conversation with the jack and

00:35:56

wrote that he was now fit for society

00:35:59

having worked on his problems with

00:36:01

intellectual rigour

00:36:04

jack unterweger was welcomed back into

00:36:07

the community with open arms

00:36:10

he settled into an apartment in vienna

00:36:12

and bought a german shepherd he named

00:36:15

joy

00:36:16

when jack walked down the street and ate

00:36:18

at cafes he was constantly interrupted

00:36:21

by people wanting to talk to him

00:36:24

he soaked up this newfound celebrity

00:36:27

status

00:36:30

soon jack was given a job as a reporter

00:36:32

with the austrian broadcasting

00:36:34

corporation

00:36:36

he went to photo shoots sometimes posing

00:36:39

shirtless to reveal the prison tattoos

00:36:41

that covered his torso

00:36:44

on one occasion he thought it would be

00:36:46

amusing to take a series of photos

00:36:48

posing with a noose around his neck

00:36:52

jack attended book signings and gave

00:36:55

public poetry readings

00:36:57

he became a regular on magazine covers

00:37:00

and talk shows

00:37:02

a fortnight after being released from

00:37:05

prison he appeared on the popular

00:37:07

national television program club 2 and

00:37:10

debated the topic of penal reform with

00:37:12

other esteemed authors

00:37:15

the panelists described jack as an

00:37:17

exception to the prison rehabilitation

00:37:20

program which had since been deemed

00:37:22

unsuccessful for 99 of inmates

00:37:27

in response jack said

00:37:30

they fail they end up in homeless

00:37:33

shelters because they don't have the

00:37:35

inner strength to fend for themselves

00:37:40

it was less than four months after jack

00:37:42

went to vegas release that the murders

00:37:45

of vulnerable women began

00:38:00

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[Music]

00:44:30

regina prem was a sex worker in vienna

00:44:32

austria who provided for herself and her

00:44:35

husband rudolph

00:44:36

as well as their young child

00:44:38

on the night of april 28 1991 she had an

00:44:42

appointment with a regular client so

00:44:44

rudolph dropped her off at an

00:44:45

intersection in vienna's red light

00:44:47

district

00:44:49

she said goodbye to him then got out of

00:44:51

the car

00:44:53

rudolph waited at home for regina's

00:44:55

phone call saying she was ready to be

00:44:57

picked up

00:44:59

hours ticked by

00:45:01

when 2am came and went with no call

00:45:04

rudolph grew concerned

00:45:07

he began driving around the city streets

00:45:09

in search of his wife but there was no

00:45:12

sign of her

00:45:14

a food vendor came forward to say he'd

00:45:16

spotted regina at around 11 30 pm

00:45:20

leaving a hotel she often frequented

00:45:22

with wealthy clients

00:45:24

this was the last confirmed sighting of

00:45:27

regina pram

00:45:31

a month passed with no leads

00:45:34

rudolph pram issued a public plea

00:45:36

telling reporters for the viennese

00:45:38

newspaper kuria

00:45:40

quote

00:45:41

i don't want to believe she's dead

00:45:44

maybe she's been abducted and locked up

00:45:46

somewhere

00:45:47

but if the lunatic has killed regina he

00:45:50

should at least say where her body lies

00:45:53

my wife deserves a decent burial

00:45:58

about five weeks later rudolph was at

00:46:01

home when his phone rang

00:46:03

he answered it

00:46:05

a male voice on the other end said

00:46:08

at the vienna woods lake go left and

00:46:11

follow the path that steeply ascends and

00:46:14

forks

00:46:15

a few are lying there

00:46:18

when the figure 8 at the zenith stands

00:46:21

then i'll tell you where your wife lies

00:46:26

rudolph abruptly hung up the call

00:46:28

believing he was a cruel hoaxer

00:46:31

he didn't report the incident to the

00:46:33

police

00:46:35

at 11 45 pm on october 8 1991 rudolph

00:46:40

prem received another call

00:46:43

the same voice from three months earlier

00:46:46

stated

00:46:48

i am an executioner on two being a hill

00:46:51

lies guerra

00:46:53

god commanded me to do it

00:46:55

tonight i have completed my work

00:46:59

to eleven i have carried out the just

00:47:01

punishment

00:47:04

five hours later the phone rang once

00:47:07

more

00:47:08

again the anonymous man spoke

00:47:12

they lie in the place of atonement

00:47:14

facing downward toward hades because

00:47:18

otherwise it would have been an outrage

00:47:21

[Music]

00:47:22

rudolph continued to dismiss these calls

00:47:26

he had no idea that bodies had recently

00:47:29

started turning up in the very area that

00:47:32

the caller spoke of

00:47:35

[Music]

00:47:38

the vienna woods are a 45 kilometer

00:47:41

stretch of dense woodland that runs

00:47:43

through vienna and lower austria

00:47:46

the forested expanse is a popular

00:47:48

destination for those wishing to escape

00:47:51

city life

00:47:52

throughout winter the bitter cold keeps

00:47:55

all but the most determined of hikers

00:47:57

away

00:47:58

but during the warmer months when the

00:48:00

snow melts and sun shines through the

00:48:03

wooded canopy

00:48:04

the woods buzz with tourists and locals

00:48:07

alike

00:48:09

on may 20 1991 a 62 year old man was

00:48:13

walking along one of the woodlands paths

00:48:15

when he noticed a putrid smell

00:48:18

looking around for its source he saw the

00:48:21

body of a woman positioned on her

00:48:23

stomach with her face pushed into the

00:48:26

mud

00:48:27

she was naked aside from a leotard

00:48:29

pushed up around her shoulders

00:48:32

part of her right leg was missing chewed

00:48:35

off by foxes

00:48:37

the body was that of 25 year old sex

00:48:39

worker sabine moizo who had been

00:48:42

reported missing five weeks earlier and

00:48:45

was last seen on the street corner she

00:48:47

frequented for work

00:48:50

three days later on may 23 a woman

00:48:53

scouring the woods for her guinea pig's

00:48:55

favorite food found another decomposing

00:48:58

body also lying naked and face down

00:49:02

it was 25 year old karen aruglu slutky a

00:49:06

sex worker who'd worked a few blocks

00:49:09

from sabine and moizo and had been

00:49:11

reported missing two weeks earlier

00:49:15

karen had been left a deeper in the

00:49:17

forest suggesting her killer forced her

00:49:19

to walk there naked

00:49:21

she had been violently beaten in the

00:49:23

face and one of her ears was partially

00:49:26

torn

00:49:28

both women were killed in nearly exactly

00:49:31

the same manner

00:49:32

sabine and moizel was strangled with a

00:49:34

stocking tied tightly around her neck in

00:49:37

a complex series of knots

00:49:40

karen aruglu sludky was strangled to

00:49:43

death with her leotard tied in the exact

00:49:46

same way

00:49:48

in november 1991 a month after rudolf

00:49:52

prem received his third and final

00:49:54

disturbing call which included a

00:49:57

reference to the greek god of death

00:49:59

hades a couple strolling through the

00:50:01

vienna woods spotted a female body lying

00:50:04

amongst the strand of trees

00:50:07

she was naked and positioned face down

00:50:10

crudely covered with branches and clumps

00:50:13

of soil

00:50:14

dental records identified her as sylvia

00:50:17

zagler a 23 year old sex worker who was

00:50:21

reported missing four months prior

00:50:24

she had been strangled to death with her

00:50:26

own pantyhose

00:50:30

the vienna woods were concealing yet

00:50:32

another victim

00:50:34

one year after regina pram went missing

00:50:37

a retired police officer and his wife

00:50:40

went for a walk along the woods highest

00:50:42

hill located deep in the forest

00:50:45

as the officer passed a tree he noticed

00:50:48

a branch lying against its trunk and

00:50:51

kicked it absent-mindedly

00:50:54

he did so he noticed a piece of fabric

00:50:56

tied around the branch

00:50:59

then he realized something

00:51:01

he hadn't kicked a branch

00:51:04

it was a human femur bone concealed

00:51:06

inside insider stocking

00:51:09

the bone belonged to regina pram

00:51:13

more of her skeleton was found scattered

00:51:15

throughout the area having been

00:51:17

scavenged by wild animals

00:51:22

around two weeks after the first bodies

00:51:24

were found in the vienna woods a

00:51:27

reporter from the austrian broadcasting

00:51:29

corporation strolled into police

00:51:31

headquarters to speak with chief max

00:51:34

edelbacher he explained that he had been

00:51:37

assigned to cover the newly discovered

00:51:39

serial killings because of his personal

00:51:42

connection to the crimes claiming that

00:51:44

his aunt was a sex worker who had been

00:51:47

murdered by a client decades earlier

00:51:50

chief edelbacker was happy to provide a

00:51:53

statement saying

00:51:56

despite a number of leads so far we have

00:51:58

obtained no positive result

00:52:01

what we are really missing is material

00:52:03

evidence

00:52:05

the reporter sympathised with the

00:52:07

situation remarking

00:52:10

it must be very frustrating for an

00:52:12

officer to so to speak

00:52:14

run into such a dead end

00:52:18

after chief edelbach's shift ended he

00:52:20

returned home and relayed the day's

00:52:22

events to his wife

00:52:24

he told her about the journalist who had

00:52:26

interviewed him providing her with the

00:52:28

man's name

00:52:30

his wife was surprised

00:52:33

but the chief didn't know why

00:52:36

he'd never heard of jack unto vega

00:52:38

before

00:52:42

jack was working on multiple pieces

00:52:45

about the bodies found in the vienna

00:52:46

woods

00:52:48

after sabina and karen were discovered

00:52:50

he interviewed sex workers from vienna's

00:52:53

red light district for an article

00:52:56

one woman voiced her fear that the

00:52:58

killer had gotten away with it stating

00:53:01

what can they do now it's already too

00:53:04

late to catch him

00:53:05

they should have taken the missing

00:53:07

person's reports more seriously

00:53:10

a tone of dismay permeated jack unto

00:53:13

vegas finished article

00:53:15

quote

00:53:17

the dead in vienna woods are another

00:53:19

argument for why society should do more

00:53:22

to provide security for prostitutes

00:53:25

the more securely integrated a

00:53:27

prostitute is in society the more she

00:53:30

can work in safety with less chance of

00:53:33

falling victim to a crime

00:53:37

one individual following the coverage of

00:53:39

the sex workers slayings with interest

00:53:42

was former detective auguste shanna

00:53:45

although he'd long since retired from

00:53:48

the police shanna had been fascinated by

00:53:50

the news about the women found in the

00:53:52

vienna woods

00:53:54

they reminded him of a case that he'd

00:53:56

never been able to set aside

00:53:58

the murder of marika horvath in salzburg

00:54:01

in 1973.

00:54:04

when jack unterweger was charged with

00:54:06

killing margaret shafa sometime later

00:54:09

august shenna became convinced he had

00:54:12

murdered marika as well

00:54:15

he'd never had enough evidence to charge

00:54:17

him but took some comfort in his suspect

00:54:20

receiving a life sentence

00:54:23

now almost two decades later jack was a

00:54:26

free man and women were being killed

00:54:29

again

00:54:31

august shenna was certain he was

00:54:33

responsible

00:54:35

he passed on a message to the police

00:54:37

which eventually reached chief max

00:54:40

edelbacher

00:54:42

chief edelbacher thought the tip sounded

00:54:44

highly unlikely but as he had no other

00:54:47

credible suspect he decided to put jack

00:54:50

underweiga under surveillance just in

00:54:52

case

00:54:54

jack led a somewhat lavish lifestyle

00:54:58

he often dined at cafes and restaurants

00:55:00

with high-profile people

00:55:02

the rest of the time he holed up in his

00:55:05

high-end apartment and worked on his

00:55:07

writing

00:55:09

the more chief edelbacher observed the

00:55:12

less he believed such a man could be his

00:55:15

murderer

00:55:17

on june 10 1991 jack unterweger paid

00:55:21

another visit to chief edelbach's office

00:55:24

to tell him he was going to los angeles

00:55:26

for five weeks to write about crime the

00:55:29

sex work industry and law enforcement

00:55:33

he asked if the chief had any

00:55:35

connections in the lapd who could help

00:55:37

him

00:55:39

chief edelbacher did not tell jack that

00:55:41

he was being looked at as a person of

00:55:43

interest in the vienna woods crimes

00:55:47

because he didn't consider jack a likely

00:55:49

suspect

00:55:50

he had no problem with him traveling to

00:55:53

the usa

00:55:59

jack unterveiga thoroughly enjoyed his

00:56:02

time in los angeles

00:56:04

the morning after shannon exley was

00:56:06

killed he went sightseeing and

00:56:08

unsuccessfully tried to track down

00:56:10

various celebrities to interview

00:56:12

including cher and azhar gabor

00:56:16

he got a monster at the gay and lesbian

00:56:18

pride parade and a few days after irene

00:56:21

rodriguez was killed he saw the sights

00:56:24

of santa monica

00:56:26

early one morning jack left his room at

00:56:29

the cecil hotel and strolled the

00:56:31

five-minute walk to the lapd central

00:56:34

community police station

00:56:36

flashing his id he explained what he was

00:56:39

doing in the city

00:56:41

when he was offered the chance to go on

00:56:43

a ride-along with a local patrol officer

00:56:46

jack left at the opportunity

00:56:50

the patrol officer found the small

00:56:53

austrian man quirky but friendly enough

00:56:57

he was extremely interested in los

00:56:59

angeles law enforcement and constantly

00:57:01

asked questions as he snapped photos out

00:57:04

of the car window

00:57:06

a few days later jack returned to the

00:57:08

police station and flirted with the

00:57:10

female patrol officers taking pictures

00:57:13

of them

00:57:15

soon after the third american sex worker

00:57:18

peggy booth was murdered

00:57:22

upon his return to austria jack

00:57:25

unterweger met with the chief edelbacher

00:57:27

to discuss what he'd learned about sex

00:57:29

work and crime in los angeles

00:57:33

as they chatted chief edelbacker

00:57:35

admitted to jack that he was a person of

00:57:37

interest in the vienna woods murders

00:57:41

jack wasn't surprised commenting that

00:57:44

his background made him an obvious

00:57:46

target while reassuring the chief that

00:57:48

he was in no way responsible

00:57:51

nevertheless chief edelbacher asked jack

00:57:54

to provide alibis for the nights that

00:57:57

the murdered women had disappeared

00:57:59

he agreed and promised to do so within

00:58:02

two weeks

00:58:05

but soon enough chief edelbacher

00:58:07

received a statement from jack unto vega

00:58:10

saying he couldn't give any alibis for

00:58:12

the knights in question

00:58:14

as he couldn't remember what he was

00:58:16

doing

00:58:18

[Music]

00:58:20

meanwhile almost 200 kilometers south in

00:58:23

the austrian city of graz

00:58:26

detectives began to suspect that two

00:58:28

unsolved murders they were investigating

00:58:31

were linked to the vienna woods crimes

00:58:34

on the night of october 26 1990 brun

00:58:38

hilda massa was standing on her regular

00:58:40

corner in graz's red light district

00:58:44

as the nearby clock tower illuminated

00:58:47

the time of 12 15 am a taxi driver who

00:58:50

knew brunhilda pulled over to ask why

00:58:53

she was out so late

00:58:56

brunhilda explained that she was hoping

00:58:58

for one last customer before heading

00:59:00

home

00:59:02

she planned to take her children on an

00:59:04

outing in the morning and wanted a bit

00:59:06

more spending money for them

00:59:08

the taxi driver bid brunhilda farewell

00:59:11

then continued on his way

00:59:14

brunhilda never made it home that night

00:59:20

two months later in january 1991 some

00:59:24

children playing in a wooded area on the

00:59:26

outskirts of the city came across

00:59:28

brunhilda's body

00:59:30

she was lying in a shallow brook naked

00:59:33

face down and poorly concealed by a few

00:59:36

tree branches

00:59:38

her clothing and purse had been taken

00:59:41

but she was still wearing her jewelry

00:59:44

she had been stabbed once in the buttock

00:59:46

and a piece of fabric was knotted

00:59:48

tightly around her neck

00:59:50

due to the advanced state of

00:59:52

decomposition the forensic pathologist

00:59:55

could not determine what the fabric was

01:00:00

then on march 7 1991 35 year old sex

01:00:05

worker alfredo schrempf also vanished

01:00:07

from graz without a trace

01:00:10

it would be another seven months before

01:00:13

her skeletal remains were found not far

01:00:15

from where brunhilda had been dumped

01:00:18

she was face down and naked aside from a

01:00:21

pair of red socks

01:00:24

alfreda's cause of death couldn't be

01:00:26

determined but strangulation seemed most

01:00:28

likely given there were no other signs

01:00:31

of fatal injury such as bullet knife or

01:00:34

blunt force trauma

01:00:37

despite their best efforts investigators

01:00:40

in graz hadn't been able to find the

01:00:42

person responsible for these crimes

01:00:46

but they noticed they bore striking

01:00:48

similarities to another unsolved murder

01:00:51

that had been committed late the

01:00:52

previous year on the other side of the

01:00:55

country

01:01:00

31 year old sex worker heidi hammera had

01:01:04

vanished from the austrian city of

01:01:05

bregenz on the night of december 5 1990.

01:01:10

she'd been spotted at 9 30 pm standing

01:01:13

on her regular corner near bregen's

01:01:15

train station

01:01:17

a few hours later a neighbor saw heidi

01:01:20

back at home in her apartment garage

01:01:23

she was with a short man who wore a red

01:01:25

scarf and a beige leather jacket

01:01:29

that was the last confirmed sighting of

01:01:31

her

01:01:34

just over three weeks later on new

01:01:36

year's eve two hikers traversing the

01:01:39

nearby lustinaua marsh found heidi's

01:01:42

body

01:01:43

she was lying face down and almost fully

01:01:46

clothed with her petticoat shoved down

01:01:49

her throat

01:01:51

her wrists showed restraint marks but

01:01:53

there was no evidence that a sexual

01:01:55

assault had taken place

01:01:57

her pantyhose were tied around her neck

01:02:00

in a series of tightened intricate knots

01:02:04

and this time the killer had left

01:02:06

evidence behind

01:02:08

red and black fibres on heidi's clothing

01:02:11

had likely come from something her

01:02:13

assailant was wearing

01:02:18

when bodies started turning up

01:02:20

throughout the vienna woods

01:02:22

investigators in graz noted how similar

01:02:24

the crimes were to their own unsolved

01:02:27

cases

01:02:28

the way the victims had been found and

01:02:31

the method of killing was almost

01:02:33

identical

01:02:35

when they found out that their

01:02:36

colleagues in vienna had looked into

01:02:38

jack unterweger as a person of interest

01:02:41

they began digging into his whereabouts

01:02:44

at the time of each murder

01:02:47

hours before alfreda shrimp disappeared

01:02:50

from grass jack until vega was in the

01:02:52

nearby town of kufla for a reading in a

01:02:55

local cafe

01:02:57

members of the public who had come to

01:02:59

hear him enjoyed watching jack's soulful

01:03:02

performance

01:03:04

as the event drew to a close at 10 30

01:03:07

p.m jack left coufla and headed into

01:03:10

graz's red light district

01:03:13

the night that heidi hammerer vanished a

01:03:16

white vehicle with the vienna number

01:03:18

plate w jack one was spotted driving

01:03:21

past the train station she stood near

01:03:25

another sex worker said she had actually

01:03:27

seen jack unterweger approach heidi

01:03:30

before she went missing

01:03:32

the next day he recorded a performance

01:03:35

of his played dungeon at the austrian

01:03:37

broadcasting corporation studios just

01:03:41

eight miles south of heidi's apartment

01:03:45

gradually the grass detectives pieced

01:03:48

together a timeline proving that each

01:03:50

time a sex worker went missing jack had

01:03:53

been attending a book signing or was

01:03:55

working nearby

01:03:58

although he insisted that he had no

01:04:00

contact with sex workers outside of his

01:04:03

research a woman came forward with a

01:04:05

different story

01:04:08

she had been picked up by jack

01:04:09

unterveiga on october 17 1990

01:04:13

not long after she entered his car he

01:04:16

drove her to some nearby woods

01:04:18

handcuffed her then began violently

01:04:21

raping her

01:04:23

frightened the woman began to cry

01:04:26

this seemed to spur jack on

01:04:29

when he was unable to ejaculate he

01:04:32

angrily released the woman before

01:04:34

driving off

01:04:36

the incident had traumatized the sex

01:04:39

worker leaving her terrified ever since

01:04:43

when jack learnt of this woman's

01:04:45

statement he changed his story

01:04:49

now he admitted that he had picked up a

01:04:51

sex worker once but it was entirely

01:04:54

consensual

01:04:56

the handcuffs were nothing more than a

01:04:58

birthday gift from a friend that he had

01:05:00

stashed in his car's glove box

01:05:03

and suddenly jack claimed that he

01:05:06

remembered what he had done on the night

01:05:08

that one victim went missing

01:05:11

he'd been with a girlfriend in vienna

01:05:15

investigators knew this wasn't true

01:05:19

jack had been seen by a large number of

01:05:21

people at a poetry reading on the night

01:05:23

in question

01:05:25

this outright lie convinced austrian

01:05:28

authorities that jack unterveiga could

01:05:31

indeed be the murderer they were looking

01:05:33

for

01:05:34

he was placed under surveillance once

01:05:37

again

01:05:41

as part of the investigation authorities

01:05:43

began looking into unsolved murders of

01:05:45

sex workers in other european countries

01:05:49

they discovered that when jack

01:05:50

unterweger had been in prague for work

01:05:53

in september of 1990 four months after

01:05:56

his release from prison a young woman

01:05:59

named blanca bukuva disappeared from the

01:06:01

city after leaving a cafe

01:06:04

blanca's body was discovered the next

01:06:06

day in a nearby forest

01:06:09

she was naked and lying face down with a

01:06:12

few sticks and twigs scattered across

01:06:14

her body

01:06:16

blanca had been stabbed once on one of

01:06:18

her buttocks and then strangled to death

01:06:20

with an unknown ligature which wasn't at

01:06:23

the crime scene

01:06:25

investigators suspicions that jack

01:06:27

unterweger was responsible only

01:06:29

increased when the landlady of the hotel

01:06:32

he'd been staying at reported seeing him

01:06:35

in the same city square where blanca was

01:06:37

last seen

01:06:38

at around the same time that she

01:06:40

vanished

01:06:43

despite the increasing circumstantial

01:06:45

evidence against the jack onto vega

01:06:47

vienna's district attorney concluded

01:06:50

there wasn't enough to warrant an arrest

01:06:53

the district attorney in graz disagreed

01:06:56

and on february 13 1992

01:06:59

he successfully petitioned the gratz

01:07:01

criminal court to water jack's arrest

01:07:05

two days later investigators rushed to

01:07:08

jack's apartment to apprehend him armed

01:07:11

with an arrest warrant

01:07:13

but he wasn't at home

01:07:17

detectives began rummaging through the

01:07:19

residence

01:07:21

it was spotlessly clean with nothing out

01:07:23

of place

01:07:25

however a search soon uncovered three

01:07:28

pairs of handcuffs a can of pepper spray

01:07:31

a switchblade knife and a shotgun

01:07:34

as a convicted felon jack was not

01:07:37

permitted to own any of these items

01:07:41

detectives also found a beige leather

01:07:43

jacket similar to the one described by a

01:07:46

witness who had seen heidi hammer with a

01:07:49

short man on the night of her murder

01:07:52

a red scarf seemed similar to the fibres

01:07:55

found on heidi's clothing

01:08:00

discovered in jack's library was a

01:08:02

collection of books and manuscripts that

01:08:04

featured the same unusual words used in

01:08:07

prank calls to rudolph pram

01:08:10

hades the atonement zenith and

01:08:14

references to the figure eight

01:08:17

when investigators eventually learned

01:08:19

about the prank calls they struggled to

01:08:22

determine the meaning behind these

01:08:24

strange phrases

01:08:26

one possible explanation behind the

01:08:28

reference to the figure eight was that

01:08:30

this was the shape a restraint made when

01:08:33

tying someone's hands behind their back

01:08:37

another remark from the calls that

01:08:39

puzzled detectives was the killer's

01:08:41

claim quote

01:08:43

2 11 i have carried out the just

01:08:46

punishment

01:08:48

jack unterweger was suspected of

01:08:50

murdering seven women in austria and one

01:08:52

in prague throughout the year following

01:08:54

his release

01:08:56

investigators wondered if there were

01:08:58

three more murders they were unaware of

01:09:03

[Music]

01:09:05

also found tucked amongst the jack's

01:09:07

belongings was a menu for a seafood

01:09:09

restaurant in malibu california

01:09:14

lapd detective fred miller was surprised

01:09:17

to receive a long-distance call from

01:09:19

somewhere as far away as austria

01:09:22

on the other line was investigator ernst

01:09:25

geiger who wanted to know whether any

01:09:28

women most likely sex workers had been

01:09:31

strangled to death in los angeles

01:09:33

between june and july of 1991.

01:09:37

detective miller checked

01:09:40

there were three

01:09:41

shannon xle irene rodriguez and peggy

01:09:45

booth

01:09:47

inspector ernst geiger was certain that

01:09:50

jack unterweger was responsible

01:09:53

this explained why the los angeles

01:09:55

serial killer had abruptly stopped after

01:09:57

a two-week killing spree

01:10:01

ernst geiger traveled to la to

01:10:03

investigate further

01:10:05

if jack could be tied to those murders

01:10:08

that would make him responsible for the

01:10:10

strangulation deaths of 11 women within

01:10:13

one year of his release from prison

01:10:17

meanwhile austrian authorities waited

01:10:20

for jack to return home so they could

01:10:22

arrest him

01:10:23

unfortunately for them

01:10:26

jack had other plans

01:10:31

by this stage jacqueline de vega had

01:10:33

struck up a relationship with a 17 year

01:10:36

old named bianca mark who was more than

01:10:38

half his age

01:10:40

within two weeks of meeting they were

01:10:42

living together and a month later they

01:10:45

got engaged

01:10:47

jack was a controlling partner

01:10:50

he expected bianca to cook and clean for

01:10:52

him forbade her from visiting her

01:10:55

friends and didn't like her leaving the

01:10:57

apartment

01:10:59

bianca had taken a job at a bar in

01:11:02

switzerland which jack had been

01:11:04

supportive of saying the pay was better

01:11:06

than in austria

01:11:08

on february 15

01:11:10

1992 the same day that detectives went

01:11:14

to jack's apartment to arrest him he

01:11:16

surprised bianca by joining her in

01:11:19

switzerland unannounced

01:11:22

he claimed he was growing tired of all

01:11:24

the publicity he received at home

01:11:27

in reality

01:11:29

jack had learnt of his impending arrest

01:11:31

after someone leaked the news to the

01:11:33

press

01:11:35

soon he told bianca that he was being

01:11:38

framed and they had to flee

01:11:42

the couple drove 650 kilometers from

01:11:45

switzerland to paris where they booked a

01:11:48

flight to florida

01:11:50

bianca had always wanted to visit miami

01:11:54

her favorite television show was miami

01:11:56

vice

01:11:57

so it seemed the ideal location to hide

01:12:00

out

01:12:02

the couple rented an apartment in south

01:12:04

beach but struggled to make ends meet

01:12:08

on february 21 1992

01:12:12

jack called an austrian radio station to

01:12:14

publicly protest his innocence

01:12:17

he promised to return if his arrest

01:12:20

warrant was withdrawn

01:12:22

jack still had strong support in his

01:12:24

homeland with many members of the public

01:12:27

convinced he was being framed because

01:12:29

the police were too inept to catch the

01:12:32

real killer

01:12:34

after failing to convince a former

01:12:36

girlfriend to provide him with an alibi

01:12:39

jack started contacting another woman he

01:12:42

had secretly been seeing behind bianca's

01:12:44

back in vienna

01:12:47

he begged her to help him by sending

01:12:49

money

01:12:50

she didn't have the funds so she passed

01:12:53

along the request to her boss who was

01:12:55

the editor of a magazine called success

01:13:00

he agreed to pay jack ten thousand

01:13:02

dollars in return for an interview from

01:13:04

wherever he was hiding

01:13:07

jack excitedly agreed and provided

01:13:10

instructions for a wire transfer in

01:13:12

miami beach

01:13:16

on february 27 1992

01:13:20

jack drove to miami beach and bianca

01:13:23

hopped out of the car to collect the

01:13:25

money from the wire transfer

01:13:28

as she did so the couple and their

01:13:30

vehicle were suddenly surrounded by us

01:13:33

marshals

01:13:35

unbeknownst to jack and his girlfriend

01:13:37

in vienna the editor of success

01:13:40

intensely disliked jack

01:13:43

after agreeing to pay for an interview

01:13:45

he went straight to the austrian

01:13:47

authorities and told them about the plan

01:13:50

austrian officials contacted interpol

01:13:53

who in turn contacted the us marshals

01:13:57

they organized the stakeout waiting in

01:14:00

an apartment building across the street

01:14:02

for jack to arrive

01:14:04

when they saw him they leapt into action

01:14:09

upon realizing the marshals were there

01:14:11

for him

01:14:12

jack fled on foot running through

01:14:14

outdoor restaurants and weaving through

01:14:16

back alleys

01:14:18

but soon the marshals had him cornered

01:14:21

and jack finally surrendered

01:14:24

he was taken to the miami metropolitan

01:14:26

correctional center sobbing the entire

01:14:29

way

01:14:32

detective fred miller and an associate

01:14:34

flew to miami from los angeles to

01:14:36

interview him about the three murdered

01:14:38

women in their jurisdiction shannon

01:14:41

axley irene rodriguez and peggy booth

01:14:45

whilst there they took his blood saliva

01:14:48

and hair samples for dna analysis

01:14:52

testing revealed that jack unterweger's

01:14:55

dna matched one of the semen samples

01:14:58

taken from shannon axley

01:15:01

with the evidence mounting against him

01:15:03

jack grew fearful that he would be

01:15:05

extradited to california which had the

01:15:08

death penalty

01:15:10

in a lucky break for him it was against

01:15:13

austrian law to extradite citizens to

01:15:15

jurisdictions with capital punishment

01:15:19

a deal was struck between the usa and

01:15:22

austria that jack would be tried for the

01:15:24

american murders in his home country

01:15:28

he was extradited to grass and arrived

01:15:31

on may 28 1992

01:15:34

greeting the reporters who were waiting

01:15:36

at the airport with a wide smile

01:15:41

while jack underweight was held in a

01:15:43

small jail at the gratz criminal

01:15:45

courthouse inspector ernst geiger and

01:15:48

criminal psychologist fred muller

01:15:50

travelled to fbi headquarters in

01:15:53

quantico virginia

01:15:55

they enlisted the help of special agent

01:15:58

greg mccrary to create a signature crime

01:16:00

analysis of their killer

01:16:04

it was clear to agent mccrary that all

01:16:06

the murders shared the same pattern

01:16:10

the killer drove his victims far out of

01:16:12

town strangled them with their own

01:16:14

clothing left their jewellery on their

01:16:16

bodies

01:16:18

took their identification dumped them

01:16:20

near trees or water and partly covered

01:16:23

them with dirt and leaves

01:16:26

the lack of semen samples at most crime

01:16:29

scenes indicated the killer was impotent

01:16:32

and struck out against the women in rage

01:16:36

this was consistent with the statement

01:16:38

from a sex worker who said jack had

01:16:40

attacked her after failing to climax

01:16:45

the reason why the murderer chose to use

01:16:47

painty hoes in europe compared with bras

01:16:50

in the usa was easily explained

01:16:54

in europe sex workers did not commonly

01:16:57

wear bras

01:16:58

instead they donned leotards and

01:17:01

pantyhose as undergarments

01:17:05

this murderer was different to other

01:17:07

serial killers though

01:17:09

instead of attacking in one familiar

01:17:11

area he wasn't afraid to kill in

01:17:14

different countries

01:17:17

this suggested that he was intelligent

01:17:19

sophisticated and organized

01:17:21

[Music]

01:17:24

after two weeks of analyzing the data

01:17:27

mccrary was convinced that one killer

01:17:29

was responsible for all the murders

01:17:32

and that killer was jack unterveiga

01:17:39

jack unterweger had owned six different

01:17:41

cars during the year he spent out of

01:17:43

prison and although a search of his most

01:17:46

recent vehicle revealed no evidence

01:17:48

tying him to any murders austrian

01:17:51

officials successfully tracked down the

01:17:53

first car he'd bought a bmw

01:17:57

it had long since been sold and it was

01:18:00

sitting in a junkyard untouched

01:18:03

investigators searched the vehicle and

01:18:05

found hairs in the passenger seat

01:18:08

a few belonged to jack untervega

01:18:12

three longer hairs were also found

01:18:16

only one still had its root attached

01:18:20

a mitochondrial dna sample was obtained

01:18:24

it matched murdered czechoslovakian sex

01:18:27

worker blanket book over with 99.99

01:18:31

accuracy

01:18:33

additionally the results of 142 red

01:18:37

fibers and 153 black fibers found on the

01:18:40

body and clothing of heidi hammerer were

01:18:43

found to be consistent with the jack's

01:18:45

red scarf and a pair of black woolen

01:18:48

trousers taken from his wardrobe

01:18:52

jack unterweger was charged with 11

01:18:55

counts of murder in three countries

01:19:00

his trial began in graz on april 20

01:19:03

1994.

01:19:06

it was the first time in austrian

01:19:08

history that a person had stood trial

01:19:10

for so many counts of murder and the

01:19:13

media dubbed it the trial of the century

01:19:17

members of the public began queuing up

01:19:19

at 4 30 am to get one of the 32 seats in

01:19:23

the public gallery and catch a glimpse

01:19:25

of jack unterweger as he walked into

01:19:28

court

01:19:30

the defendant smiled at reporters as

01:19:32

though he was attending a red carpet

01:19:34

event

01:19:37

one hour into proceedings a bomb threat

01:19:40

was called in forcing everyone to

01:19:42

evacuate

01:19:44

after the threat was dismissed as a hoax

01:19:47

the trial finally got underway

01:19:51

jack's defense blamed the media for

01:19:54

painting him as a monster and not

01:19:56

abiding by the principle of innocent

01:19:58

until proven guilty

01:20:00

they pointed to a claim jack made that

01:20:03

he'd slept with more than 150 women

01:20:06

since being released from prison

01:20:09

arguing that he didn't need to murder

01:20:11

sex workers when there were so many

01:20:13

women available to him

01:20:16

jack's girlfriend bianca gave evidence

01:20:19

it was obvious that she no longer wanted

01:20:22

to be associated with him in any way

01:20:25

she told the court how he had kept

01:20:27

women's clothes in his basement and she

01:20:30

found pantyhose in his glove box

01:20:33

evidence she'd previously kept from

01:20:35

police

01:20:37

ex-girlfriends and sex workers described

01:20:40

brutal sex acts jack subjected them to

01:20:43

against their will and while they were

01:20:45

handcuffed

01:20:48

an actor who was touring in one of

01:20:50

jack's plays gave evidence about the

01:20:52

time jack had told a performer

01:20:55

your nipples should be cut off and

01:20:57

preserved in vinegar

01:21:00

jack's defense lawyer minimised the

01:21:02

comment telling the jury it was just a

01:21:05

guy talk

01:21:07

this angered the judge who retorted

01:21:10

don't count me among the guys who talk

01:21:12

that way

01:21:15

a psychiatrist told the courtroom that

01:21:17

jack was a malignant narcissist adding

01:21:22

jack unterweger is legally sane but

01:21:25

mentally abnormal

01:21:27

he is suffering from a deep reaching

01:21:29

narcissistic personality disorder with

01:21:32

sadistic tendencies

01:21:35

when judge haase asked if jack had

01:21:38

anything to say in response to these

01:21:40

findings he replied

01:21:43

what should i say

01:21:45

he's the expert

01:21:48

[Music]

01:21:50

the trial finally wrapped up on june 28

01:21:54

1994 just before midnight the night

01:21:57

prior

01:21:59

a thunderous roar was heard throughout

01:22:01

the streets of graz as a section of the

01:22:03

courtroom exploded

01:22:06

shattered glass from the windows rained

01:22:08

down onto the street and a burst water

01:22:11

pipe caused flooding inside

01:22:14

a bomb had been planted in the building

01:22:19

although rumors spread that the bomb was

01:22:22

set off by unto vegas supporters this

01:22:24

was never confirmed and the culprits

01:22:27

were never identified

01:22:30

fortunately the main courtroom was

01:22:32

spared and proceedings continued as

01:22:35

usual the next morning

01:22:38

as per austrian law jack unterweger was

01:22:41

the final person to address the jury

01:22:44

before they began deliberating

01:22:47

he stated

01:22:49

i was a rat

01:22:51

i consumed women rather than loved them

01:22:54

i was a greedy ravenous individual

01:22:57

hungry for life and determined to rise

01:23:00

in life from the bottom

01:23:02

it wasn't me

01:23:04

i'm innocent

01:23:08

for jack to be found guilty five of the

01:23:11

eight jurors had the vote in favor of

01:23:13

his guilt

01:23:15

by 8 50 that night they'd reached a

01:23:18

verdict

01:23:19

as they reconvened in the courtroom a

01:23:22

furious thunderstorm raged outside

01:23:27

jack was found guilty of nine murders

01:23:30

six votes to two

01:23:33

he was acquitted of killing alfreda

01:23:35

schrampf and regina pram as their causes

01:23:38

of death could not be definitively

01:23:40

established due to the deterioration of

01:23:43

their remains

01:23:46

jack cried upon hearing the verdict

01:23:49

he promised to appeal before being led

01:23:52

out of the courtroom

01:23:56

at 3 am the following morning a warden

01:23:59

completing a routine check noted jack

01:24:02

unterweger was lying quietly on his

01:24:04

mattress

01:24:06

forty minutes later the same warden

01:24:09

found jack's lifeless body hanging from

01:24:11

a curtain rod

01:24:14

he had taken his own life

01:24:17

his ex-fiance bianca awoke to the news

01:24:20

on her clock radio

01:24:22

she got out of bed and went about her

01:24:24

day as normal

01:24:28

when jack's lawyer found out about his

01:24:30

client's death he announced that because

01:24:33

jack intended to appeal his conviction

01:24:36

which had not been reviewed by the court

01:24:39

he could not legally be referred to as

01:24:41

guilty under austrian law

01:24:45

austria's justice minister had a little

01:24:47

to say about jack unto vega's choice to

01:24:50

end his life other than to say that out

01:24:53

of all the lives he took this quote

01:24:56

was his best murder

01:25:00

the conviction and death of jack

01:25:02

unterveiga caused a period of deep

01:25:05

reflection for those who had campaigned

01:25:07

for his release

01:25:09

special agent greg mccrary said in an a

01:25:12

e documentary about the case

01:25:15

you educate a psychopath

01:25:17

what do you have

01:25:19

you have an educated psychopath

01:25:22

we've not made him better

01:25:24

we've probably made him more dangerous

01:25:29

in 2009 academy award nominated actor

01:25:32

john malkovich produced and starred in

01:25:35

an operatic portrayal of jack kunta

01:25:37

vega's life which he toured in theaters

01:25:40

around vienna spain france london and

01:25:43

los angeles

01:25:44

[Music]

01:25:46

titled the infernal comedy confessions

01:25:49

of a serial killer the show had taken

01:25:52

more than 10 years to write and produce

01:25:56

its musical director had attended one of

01:25:58

jack unto vegas poetry readings many

01:26:01

years earlier

01:26:03

of the period surrounding jack unto

01:26:06

vega's short-lived release from prison

01:26:08

he told the guardian quote

01:26:12

it epitomized the thinking at the time

01:26:14

that art is stronger than crime and the

01:26:17

far too liberal idea that everybody can

01:26:20

be changed

01:26:24

john malkovich recalled first seeing

01:26:26

jaconta vega on a television talk show

01:26:30

he became enthralled with the murderer

01:26:32

who fooled so many people

01:26:36

in an interview malkovich also told the

01:26:39

guardian quote

01:26:42

at the time i didn't get it i wondered

01:26:44

why people believed in someone who was

01:26:47

so obviously fake

01:26:49

so obviously lying

01:26:52

only years later did the real story come

01:26:55

out

01:27:06

[Music]

01:27:17

i've been writing about real police

01:27:19

cases for nearly three decades now and

01:27:22

there are few more tragic than the case

01:27:25

of sarah mcdermott with sarah's

01:27:27

disappearance there's an element of

01:27:29

patience of being collected she was

01:27:33

always a very good daughter

01:27:35

if she was out someone going to be late

01:27:37

she would ring and let us know she was

01:27:40

seen by several witnesses walking toward

01:27:43

the car park

01:27:44

and then sarah mcdermott was gone when

01:27:47

she's come down the bottom of the stairs

01:27:49

and walked towards the car park she's

01:27:50

virtually walked into the darkness when

01:27:52

sarah's family reported her missing

01:27:55

police mounted an extensive search

01:27:57

i could see blood

01:27:59

on the bitumen underneath the car that

01:28:01

was parked at the driver's side of her

01:28:03

car the blood on the ground it sort of

01:28:05

indicated to everybody that there'd been

01:28:07

foul play a couple of suspects emerged

01:28:10

ahead of the rest and he said well when

01:28:13

i do get out you'll be one of the first

01:28:15

people i look for and i said why is that

01:28:17

and he said because i just like to kill

01:28:20

you she said you know that murder that

01:28:23

was up at the cannon nook station i was

01:28:25

there with two other blokes and i'm

01:28:27

worried because i don't know how staunch

01:28:28

they are who knows what he did if he

01:28:30

killed sarah and disposed of her body

01:28:33

maybe he thinks i can get away with this

01:28:34

they don't know where she is they don't

01:28:35

know who did it just how many other

01:28:38

women were followed from the kennenuck

01:28:40

railway station

01:28:41

we'll never know

01:28:42

so i was walking along there and i could

01:28:44

hear footsteps behind me and they were

01:28:47

getting closer and they yelled out to me

01:28:51

don't take the shortcut take the bridge

01:28:53

i just think those men have the dotto

01:28:55

saved my life the evidence is out there

01:28:58

so

01:28:59

pulled out a couple of the cards

01:29:01

and looked at the name

01:29:04

and it said

01:29:05

sarah

01:29:06

mcdermott

01:29:08

searching for sarah mcdermott

01:29:10

out now for free only on spotify

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Episode Highlights

Julia's Escape
Julia realizes she's in danger and makes a daring escape from her attacker.
“She leapt from the passenger seat and began sprinting across the field.”
@ 03m 56s
November 20, 2021
Murder of Margaret Scharfer
Margaret Scharfer is found murdered, leading to an investigation that uncovers dark truths.
“Her wrists had been restrained before she was beaten about the head.”
@ 07m 15s
November 20, 2021
The Tragic Fate of Shannon Axley
Shannon Axley is found murdered, highlighting the dangers faced by sex workers.
“Shannon had been working in the sex industry since she had run away from home.”
@ 20m 40s
November 20, 2021
Discovery of Regina Pram's Remains
A retired police officer finds a human femur bone in the woods, leading to the discovery of Regina Pram's remains.
“He realized he hadn't kicked a branch; it was a human femur bone concealed inside.”
@ 51m 04s
November 20, 2021
Jack Unterweger's Connection to the Murders
A reporter reveals his personal connection to the serial killings, linking his aunt's murder to the case.
“It must be very frustrating for an officer to run into such a dead end.”
@ 52m 10s
November 20, 2021
Jack's Alibi Fails
Jack Unterweger claims he can't remember his whereabouts on the nights of the murders, raising suspicion.
“I can't give any alibis for the nights in question.”
@ 58m 10s
November 20, 2021
Jack Unterweger's Trial
The trial of Jack Unterweger began on April 20, 1994, marking a historic moment in Austria.
“It was the first time in Austrian history that a person had stood trial for so many counts of murder.”
@ 01h 19m 08s
November 20, 2021
A Bomb Threat Disrupts Proceedings
One hour into the trial, a bomb threat forced an evacuation, but the trial resumed later.
“After the threat was dismissed as a hoax, the trial finally got underway.”
@ 01h 19m 47s
November 20, 2021
Jack's Chilling Admission
In court, Jack admitted to consuming women rather than loving them, revealing his dark psyche.
“I was a greedy ravenous individual hungry for life and determined to rise.”
@ 01h 22m 51s
November 20, 2021
Jack's Suicide
Jack Unterweger took his own life shortly after being found guilty of nine murders.
“Forty minutes later, the same warden found Jack's lifeless body hanging from a curtain rod.”
@ 01h 24m 09s
November 20, 2021
Reflections on a Psychopath
Greg McCrary's insights on the consequences of releasing a psychopath into society.
“You educate a psychopath; what do you have? You have an educated psychopath.”
@ 01h 25m 12s
November 20, 2021

Episode Quotes

It's ugly, it's dirty, it's scary.
Eleven victims, three countries, one mystery
Every time you walk out on the street, you take your life in your hands.
Eleven victims, three countries, one mystery
What can they do now? It's already too late to catch him.
Eleven victims, three countries, one mystery
The dead in Vienna woods are another argument for why society should do more.
Eleven victims, three countries, one mystery
I have carried out the just punishment.
Eleven victims, three countries, one mystery
I consumed women rather than loved them.
Eleven victims, three countries, one mystery

Key Moments

Missing Person50:37
Bone Discovery51:04
Jack's Arrest1:07:01
Fleeing to Miami1:11:31
Capture1:14:21
Trial of the Century1:19:13
Bomb Threat1:19:40
Chilling Admission1:22:51

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown