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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website in december 1924 amid the growing
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post-war recession and the aftermath of a crippling hyperinflation germany was transfixed by a monster
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described as debonair and over-polite 45-year-old fritz harmon freely confessed to the sexual assault and
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murder of numerous boys and young men while some details of his crimes were deemed too gruesome for publication
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there was still plenty of grim fodder for the media to report on they dubbed harmon the vampire of
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hanover and the woof man after he claimed to have killed his victims by biting through their necks for his own
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sexual gratification then using his skills as a professional butcher harman dismembered his victims
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and disposed of their remains in a nearby river this earned him the additional title of
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the butcher of hanover it was also rumored that he'd consumed his victim's flesh
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though evidence and experts soundly disputed this claim [Music] on december 19 1924
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fritz harmon was convicted on 24 counts of murder and sentenced to death in a dramatic display that typified the
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man he was harman declared that he would quote go to the decapitating block joyfully
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and happily following news of harman's fate the german people breathed a collective sigh
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of relief the monster had been defeated or so they thought the morning after the vampire of hanover
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was condemned a second monster emerged 600 kilometers away in the town of munsterburg
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[Music] [Music] 41 year old vincenz olivier was a stone worker by trade as a younger man in the
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pre-war years he might have been a traditional journeyman traveling throughout the region and honing his
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craft in exchange for meals and board but by december 1924 the economic hardship that had swept to
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germany had reduced the vincennes to a wandering beggar on sunday december 21 vincennes woke
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from his first night's sleep in the monsterberg evangelical homeless shelter now known as zhaobitsa in poland
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munsterburg was a town of about 9 000 people located in what was then the lower schlesian region of weimar germany
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at its heart were the town hall and a small town square enclosed by densely packed tenement housing that extended a
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few hundred metres on all sides old fortification walls from the middle ages partially framed the township
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overlooking the farmland and forests beyond vincennes olivier set off late in the
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morning with the intention to beg on the outskirts of munster burke making his way out the northern edge of
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town he soon found himself walking along tystraza the semi-rural residential strait
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consisted of two-story grey brick apartment buildings each standing a respectable distance from its neighbor
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vincennes approached building number ten winter had stripped the trees in the garden bear and a thin layer of snow
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covered the courtyard he knocked on the first door and was greeted by mrs voight a woman in her 40s
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who lived with her husband and two adult sons touched by vincenza's plight mrs voigt
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handed him twenty fennigs enough to buy six eggs or nearly a kilo of potatoes inspired by this windfall vincennes
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decided to try his luck with the other residents of number 10. vincennes headed to a flat at the rear
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of the property and was no doubt pleased when its sole male occupant answered the
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door as he was known for his generosity towards travellers and beggars the old man aged in his 60s invited
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vincenz into his tiny one-room home offering to match mrs voigt's 20 fenigs in exchange for a small favor
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short of sight and unable to write a letter to his brother he requested that vincent's sit at the table and
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transcribe what he dictated happy to oblige vincenz entered the flat and closed the
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door behind him [Music] minutes later mrs voigt heard a loud crash followed by shouting
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the commotion had arisen from the rear of number 10 where father denka lived she sent her two sons to investigate and
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upon arriving at father denka's flat they found his front door open and chaos unfolding inside
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father danke was locked in a fierce struggle with vincennes olivier as the men grappled for control of a pickaxe
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the voigt brothers dove into the fray and pulled the pair apart the brothers then called for their
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father who took possession of the pickaxe as vincent's was ushered out into the hallway he told the voids through
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gulping breaths that the old man had tried to kill him for those who knew father denka the
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possibility that he would try to kill someone was absurd but blood was flowing from vincenz's head so
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it was clear that something had happened vincent's didn't want to get police involved aware he'd be reprimanded for
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begging in the first place he just wanted to retrieve his hat from dankers and be on his way
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the voice escorted him back in finding father danke standing in the middle of the room flushed red and visibly
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trembling his eyes fixated on vincent's as the younger man retrieved his hat off the
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sideboard through clenched teeth denka told the voids that the beggar had tried to rob him
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despite vincenz's objections the voice believed this was a matter for the police and escorted him to the local
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station vincenz maintained that he didn't do anything to provoke the man they called
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father danke but officers were unconvinced father danke was a well-known and respected member of the community who'd
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lived in munsterburg for over 30 years without incident they arrested vincenz olivier on
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suspicion of begging and vagrancy and placed him in a cell they were not completely unsympathetic
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to vincennes's condition however a doctor was summoned to treat his head wound which turned out to be a long wide
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gash to the right side of his temple the seriousness of this wound coupled with the vinsense's insistence that he
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was the victim prompted police to bring father denka in for questioning denka told officers that he had paid
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vincennes 20 fenigs to pen a letter on his behalf vincennes then tried to rob him of the
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remainder of his coins inciting the altercation the police were willing to believe
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father denka's version of advance however just to be sure they decided to keep him in a holding
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cell at the station while they investigated further townsfolk were appalled to learn that
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the admired father danka was in police custody based on the accusations of an itinerant beggar
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as a younger man before the war father denka had been a dedicated lutheran who performed the esteemed role of
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processional cross-bearer during funerals at the local evangelical church he was not an ordained minister or a
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pastor rather the term father was affectionately given to him by the people of munsterburg in response to his
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gentle nature and unconditional generosity despite only scraping by himself father
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denka welcomed the vulnerable and destitute into his home offering them a few coins in exchange for odder jobs
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before they departed he'd gifted them with a handmade craft father denker's first name was carl
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karl denker moved to munsterburg in his late 20s where he bought a small farm using the inheritance he'd received
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following his father's death denka's lack of financial know-how resulted in him paying about three times
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what the farm was worth though denka wasn't particularly close to his family his siblings worried that
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his inadequate farming skills and limited intelligence would cause him to run the property into the ground
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claiming they were looking out for his best interests they applied to have him deemed legally incapable in an effort to
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rescind the farm purchase or establish some form of guardianship the application was ultimately dropped
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and denka betrayed by his siblings actions withdrew even further away from his family and public life in general
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the concerns held by his family proved true when denka was eventually forced to sell his farm
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he bought the tenement property at number 10 tystraza with the proceeds residing in the rear flat while renting
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out the remaining rooms when the post-war hyperinflation set in denka desperately needed more cash
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he sold number 10 but was able to remain in his room as a tenant he made a living making armchairs and
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woven bread baskets and selling salted pork and bones at the local meat market when meat became scarce during the war
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and the years that followed denka resorted to the illegal slaughter of dogs to maintain his stock
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given his good reputation and the desperate times the authorities were prepared to look the other way
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true to his kind-hearted nature father denka initially offered his garden as a playground for local sick children but
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eventually reclaimed the space to make additional income drawing on the skills he'd learned as an
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apprentice gardener in his teens he began cultivating and selling rhubarb as a result
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denka was regarded as the rhubarb king although well regarded as a generous man a father and a king
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denka was not without flaws despite the country's economic woes karl denker was strong and well fed
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exposing his gluttonous love for food he was known to consume two pounds of meat in a single meal
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he also harboured chauvinistic attitudes towards women an eccentric loner father denka had
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nevertheless indeed himself to the people of munsterburg his fight with vincennes olivier was an
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uncharacteristic blight on his otherwise impeccable reputation father denka was set to spend the night
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in a cell as police determined what exactly took place between him and vincennes olivier
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at 9 30 that evening a sergeant went to check on the old man and was confronted by a shocking side
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father denka was suspended about half a meter off the floor by a handkerchief tied around his neck
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the abrupt suicide of father danka was equal parts confounding and unexpected whether out of staunch adherence to the
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letter of the law or in retaliation for the death of father danka vincenz olivier was charged with begging
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and vagrancy and remanded for trial in three weeks time father denka's estranged family were
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notified of his death but they refused to collect his body or pay for his funeral
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so it was left to the local authorities to arrange his burial two days later on christmas eve the
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police attended father denka's apartment to take inventory of any cash or valuable items that could be sold to
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cover the cost of his burial upon entering they were struck by how filthy the cramped space was
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a foul stench hung in the air and every surface including the floor was covered in jars pots bowls half woven baskets
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and bundles of rags among the clutter were piles of papers that detailed denka's rhubarb sales
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as officers flipped through the pages they uncovered something strange tucked between them were personal
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documents pertaining to other men there was a prison release card in the name of hermann muller and a hospital
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discharge form for a man named johann tommela failing to find anything of significant
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monetary value from their cursory search of the flat officers headed out to the backyard and
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into a small wooden shed inside father danke had built a mezzanine level with some scaffolding to
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increase storage capacity from below the officers could see at least one wooden barrel sitting up there
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clothes and other bundles of laundry took up the majority of the remaining space
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there was also a large wooden bucket about 40 centimeters in diameter on the ground
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it contained various cuts of cured meat settled in a salt solution this wasn't an unusual finding given
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father denka's livelihood yet there was something about the meat that didn't look right
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aware that father denka had previously slaughtered dogs for food attending officers took a closer look into the
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bucket one of the pieces of meat caught their attention the realization dawned it wasn't fur sprouting from the pale
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meaty substance it was human chest hair case file will be back shortly thank you
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[Music] the wooden bucket contained a total of 15 pieces of human flesh including two
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portions from a man's torso and a large piece from a buttocks a medical examiner determined that the
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salted meat mass had come from three different men and had been pickled less than a month prior
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as police catalogued the array of clothing found in the wooden shed it became clear that the items were
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unlikely to have belonged to danka there were coats trousers shirts vests and hats of various sizes most of which
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had been washed clean those that hadn't were stained with blood [Laughter] within the large wooden barrel that sat
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atop the mezzanine level were hundreds of cleaned and cooked human bones more were found in a small pond behind
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the shed and in the surrounding woodlands in total 480 individual bones were discovered
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indicating that at least eight people had been butchered at the hands of carl danker
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the gruesome discoveries continued in denka's flat two tin boxes one labelled pepper and
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the other salt didn't contain condiments they actually held dozens of pulled human teeth
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more were found in a wallet and several paper bags bringing the total amount of individual teeth found to 351
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the director of the local dental institute conservatively predicted that they belonged to at least 25 individuals
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traces of human blood were found on a wood saw and a tree saw blood was also identified on the pickaxe
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that denka had wielded when he fought vincent's olivier a gelatinous yellow mass in a bowl on a
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table was confirmed to be human fat three enamel pots on the iron stove top contained portions of cooked human flesh
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covered in a creamy sauce some with hair still protruding from the skin one of the pots was half empty
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the horrific discovery of carl denker's crimes offered an explanation as to why the old man had abruptly and
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inexplicably taken his own life after coming to the attention of police karl denker's neighbors recalled his
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midnight strolls into the nearby woods and observed him carrying in large parcels but returning empty-handed
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they considered it odd but didn't think he was up to anything sinister on many occasions they had witnessed him
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hauling pots of meat from his flat to the wooden shed and pouring the bloody contents of his buckets into the
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courtyard drainage at the time their only real curiosity was where he got his dog meat in such
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high volumes they occasionally noticed a foul smell coming from denka's apartment
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but it always disappeared once they raised the issue with him they assumed that the chopping and
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soaring sounds emanating from his place at all hours of the night was just a danker constructing his
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armchairs as news of denka's disturbing appetite spread more people looked back at their own
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experiences with the introverted builder butcher with heightened suspicion a woman insisted she had once seen a
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human navel on danke's dining table one winter children had found a thumb frozen in the pond
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it also emerged that two other beggars had managed to escape denka's attacks a year or so earlier
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one had broken free from a chain wrapped around his neck the other ran out of danker's apartment
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covered in blood knowing they would likely be charged with begging and vagrancy neither reported the assault to the
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police denka's family offered insight into what cultivated his disturbed mindset
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they described him as a lazy and petulant child who long suffered with a bedwetting problem
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he uttered his first words when he was about six years old with many viewing his silence as a lack of intelligence
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as he grew so did his indifference toward his family and people in general he was said to have had no fear harbored
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no disgust and appeared emotionally numb [Music] denka's family described his fascination
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with the daniel defoe's 18th century novel robinson crusoe particularly the passages describing and
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illustrations depicting cannibals eating their victims carl denker's crimes made headlines
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across germany and the world many likened his actions to the vampire of hanover fritz harmon
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however where harman did not eat the flesh of his victims denka most assuredly did
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[Music] a meticulous record keeper ndenka had documented his victim's details on pages
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found within the piles of paperwork in his flat his first victim was listed simply as
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eder with february 21 1903 as her date of death investigators would later determine that
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this woman was ida launa who disappeared that day while on route to visit a friend
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in total ndenka had filled four pages with victims details the final entry on the list did not
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include a name only a date of death november 17 1924 a month prior to his suicide
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according to denka's list this person was victim number 31. karl denker had been killing for 21
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years [Music] the majority of denka's victims were traveling craftsmen carpenters
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locksmiths blacksmiths mechanics and gardeners no doubt intentionally selected as they
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wouldn't be noticed as missing they were mostly males in their late 50s to early 60s however four women did
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appear on the list denka's youngest victim was a 15 year old boy named avold koenig who was
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murdered during the war on august 15 1915. his eldest victim was a 75 year old baker named julius bush whose life was
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taken on march 13 1921. there was also a separate list of shorthand names that corresponded with
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the victim list next to each name was a number that represented their slaughter weight
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that was the net weight of their body after their blood organs head and genitals had been removed
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investigators concluded that denka had prepared just over two and a half thousand pounds of human flesh for
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consumption the sheer amount raised the genuine fears that he had sold some of the meat
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as skinless corned pork to marketplaces in the region's capital this prospect horrified one newlywed
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couple as all the meat served at their wedding feast months prior had been purchased from karl denker
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yet there was no evidence to indicate that denka sold human flesh to others he did serve meat to visitors at his
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flat though its origin could no longer be ascertained nevertheless meat consumption in
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munsterburg dropped significantly in the weeks following karl denker's death the revelation that denka was a prolific
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cannibal serial killer was horrifying enough however the discovery of other seemingly
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innocuous items would only heighten his depravity in addition to those in denka's wooden
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shed more bundles of clothing and material had been found in his flat all had been neatly tied with narrow
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straps of human skin closer inspection of the bread baskets revealed that they too were woven from
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the skin of danke's victims the police also discovered three pairs of yellowish brown suspenders each about
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six centimeters wide and 70 centimeters long all had been made from strips of dried
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human skin at least one pair had been cut vertically from a man's torso as two nipples were clearly visible
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another had been repaired with patches of skin from a man's pubic region no one noticed at the time
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but denka had been wearing this pair when he died in his cell it was now abundantly clear that
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vincennes olivier had been telling the truth all along he had not attempted to rob father denka
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as the old man had alleged after entering denka's apartment vincenz had placed his hat on the small console
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and sat down at the table while denka hovered behind him a little to the right denka wanted vincenz to address the
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letter to his brother followed by the words you fat paunch amused by the phrase vincent's laughed
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and turned his head to share the joke with denka just in time to see a pickaxe swinging
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down towards him unable to dodge the blow completely vincenz was struck on the right side of
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his skull he regained his awareness just as danker raised the pickaxe for a second time
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vincennes quickly wrapped his hands around the pickaxe's handle and the two men wrestled for control
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despite denka's age and short stature it was a fairly even physical match the pair pushed each other around the
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tiny space crashing into the table and sending glass jars and crockery pots smashing to the ground
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vincennes was able to wrench the pickaxe out of denka's hands open the door and scream for help
00:32:42
the old man threw himself upon vincennes in crazed determination finally the two voigt brothers appeared
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and the fight was over carl denker had no doubt intended for vincennes olivier to be victim number 32
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in the early hours of december 31 1924 karl denker's body was buried in an unmarked grave
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twelve days later many of his personal effects were reduced to ashes in a bonfire
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despite barely escaping with his life on january 15 1925 vincennes olivier stood trial and was
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sentenced to a further 10 days in prison for begging and vagrancy danke's victim list suggested he had
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murdered and consumed a total of 31 people but investigators were certain the true
00:33:48
number was much higher other pages among denker's paperwork belonged to wandering craftsmen whose
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names were not on his list but whose clothing were in his possession despite his initial notoriety karl
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denker eventually faded from public consciousness although he was far more prolific and
00:34:14
arguably more disturbed than the vampire of hanover fritz harmon the ladder's vocal theatrics ensured denka was
00:34:23
forgotten in his shadows thus karl denka became known as the forgotten cannibal twenty-five-year-old emma sander lived
00:34:39
in the small town of neuerf less than six kilometers north of munsterburg on december 21 1909
00:34:48
emma vanished while on her way to work in the coming days her naked torso arms and head were found separately in the
00:34:58
woods outside of town her lower legs were recovered near a railway line emma had been choked unconscious then
00:35:08
killed by a method of slaughter popular with butchers for its efficiency and lack of blood splatter known as the
00:35:15
mutton sting given this procedure and the expertly performed dismemberment of emma's body
00:35:23
authorities concluded that her killer was a trained butcher suspicion quickly fell onto a local
00:35:32
butcher named eduard troutman it was well known that emma sander had been terrified of troutman ever since
00:35:41
she rejected his marriage proposal a witness at troutman's trial testified that troutman had declared that he would
00:35:50
beat emma to death if he were ever alone with her he was also seen wearing a leather coat
00:35:57
with sheep wool lining that looked remarkably like one that had belonged to emma
00:36:04
the day after emma had disappeared the distinct smell of burning leather and wool had emanated from troutman's house
00:36:14
harboring a reputation for violence troutman often spouted threats such as i'll turn you into sausage and i'll cut
00:36:23
your head off he had even once attempted to murder one of his instructors [Music]
00:36:31
one master butcher under whom troutman spent time as an apprentice testified that he'd seen troutman carry out at
00:36:39
least four mutton stings despite edouard troutman's claims of innocence he was convicted of emma
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sanders murder in february 1911 and sentenced to 12 years in prison troutman was released in january 1923
00:36:59
[Music] 15 years after emma sanders murder carl denker's crimes were exposed the name emma was listed in his notes as
00:37:12
his second victim there wasn't a surname but denka had included her date of death
00:37:19
which coincided with the date emma sander had disappeared authorities soon realised that they had
00:37:27
made a terrible mistake edward troutman was telling the truth he did not kill emma sander
00:37:37
[Music] troutman's conviction for the murder of emma sander was overturned in march 1926
00:37:47
the jury's guilty verdict had been questionable given the time frame in which troutman had apparently committed
00:37:54
the crime he visited the neuhu finn at the time emma was set upon this permitted him a strict five-minute
00:38:03
window in which he confronted strangled bled out and dismembered the young woman
00:38:10
even a skilled butcher such as troutman could not have completed such lengthy procedures in so little time
00:38:19
emma was the only victim whose slaughter weight was not recorded on karl denker's
00:38:24
list as detective polka noted this was because denka hadn't used any of the meat for himself
00:38:35
a strange injury found on one of emma sanders lower legs now made grim sense a long wide strip of skin
00:38:46
had been removed from her shin [Music] [Music] [Music] you