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for all listeners the small rural property of hinter kai-shek lay approximately 70 kilometers
00:02:06
north of the German city of a Munich said against Bavaria's flat sweeping farmlands meadows and pine forests the
00:02:15
acreage earned its unofficial name from a nearby hamlet called Chi FAC with hinter being German for behind built in
00:02:23
1863 the single-story stone farmhouse was shaped like the letter L the living waters occupied the longer portion of
00:02:33
the building voilà bon stables and engine room were at the other end the outside the large
00:02:39
yard featured a well crop fields livestock pastures and a tool shed that also functioned as a laundry room and a
00:02:47
bakery it was an isolated spot the closest neighbor was half a kilometre away and to the nearest the village was
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even further in 1922 hinter kai-shek was owned and operated by three generations
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of the groover gabriele family fronted by 63 year old andreas Gruber and his 72 year old wife Cecilia their 35 year old
00:03:14
daughter Victoria Gabriel also lived at the farmstead along with her two children 2 year-old Joseph and 7 year
00:03:22
old Cecilia who was named after her grandmother that went by the nickname seeley seeley attended primary school in
00:03:31
the nearby municipality of vite often with classes scheduled six days a week including Saturdays on Saturday April 1
00:03:41
1922 Seeley was absent from school it was not unusual given she was prone to illness and was noticeably exhausted the
00:03:51
day before her teacher led the class in the Lord's Prayer to help Seeley recover
00:03:56
before moving on with their studies later that afternoon - coffee merchants delivering an order to hinder Chi affect
00:04:05
noticed all of the doors on the property were locked and - nothing stirred within
00:04:11
they could hear a dog barking from inside the stables accompanied by the sounds of cattle the merchants went up
00:04:18
the road to a neighboring property and informed the shittin bough family that inter kaya appeared deserted Saturdays
00:04:27
were typically busy for the Gruber Gabriel family with members often cited working around the farm yet the pastures
00:04:35
remained empty the next morning two friends of the household waited by the front gate to
00:04:42
meet Victoria Gabriel on their weekly walk to Sunday Mass she failed to appear so the pair continued onwards without
00:04:51
her other passers-by were also beginning to notice the inactivity in Takai affair
00:04:58
when no one greeted the postman on Monday he peered through the kitchen window expecting to see people bustling
00:05:05
about but the room was empty at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday April 4 a mechanic arrived for a scheduled appointment to
00:05:16
repair a diesel engine he to herd the cattle mooing and dog barking from within the stables but he's knocked to
00:05:25
the front door went unanswered and there was no smoke coming from the chimney thinking the family must have
00:05:32
stepped out he went to inspect the engine room and to notice the lock was broken and easily removable
00:05:39
he carried the engine to the tool shed and spent the next four and a half hours fixing it afterwards as he walked across
00:05:47
the courtyard he noticed the previously locked the door to the barn was now wide
00:05:52
open and the family's pet a german spitz watchdog had been removed from the stables and was now tied up by the front
00:06:00
door snarling the mechanic assumed someone had since returned home but was confused as to why they hadn't
00:06:09
approached him he too visited the neighboring sluttin bower residents to report on hinter KFX unusual stillness
00:06:19
concerned for the family 48 year old Lorenz Linton Bower sent his two young sons to check if anyone was home
00:06:27
they found the entire farmhouse locked with no lights on inside all was silent except for the cattles loud frantic
00:06:37
sounding mooing [Music] [Music] Cecelia had inherited hinter kayfa at age 35 following the death of her first
00:07:15
husband in 1885 with whom she had two children the following year she married the property's farmhand 27 year old
00:07:25
Andreas Gruber generally viewed as helpful Andreas was willing to lend a hand on his neighbors farms but was
00:07:34
otherwise the socially with the drawn person he and Cecelia had three daughters yet only their firstborn
00:07:41
Victoria survived infancy the Gruber's were a private family who rarely interacted with others gossiper dictated
00:07:51
Andreas beat his wife and that his two deceased the children had passed away from mistreatment and starvation
00:07:59
unsavory rumors about Andreas's unsettling relationship with his daughter Victoria gained validity when
00:08:06
at age 16 she admitted to a neighbor that her father was forcing himself on her and she could not bear the sight of
00:08:13
him Cecilia's to children from her previous marriage eventually moved out of hinter Kai fact leaving Victoria
00:08:22
behind tall slim and strong Victoria did more than her fair share of labor on the
00:08:30
farm she had a serious disposition but was the most social member of her family performing as a leading member of the
00:08:38
church choir and attending Mass every Sunday by the time she turned 27 Victoria was engaged to a man named Carl
00:08:48
Gabriel and the pair were married in April of 1914 following day Union Victoria and Carl were granted the deed
00:08:58
to hinter kai-shek Andreas and Cecilia remained a living at the property and working on the land
00:09:06
married life was fraught for the newlyweds primarily due to Andreas's dislike of his son-in-law carl
00:09:15
complained to friends that andreas bullied and tormented him sometimes by depriving him of meals he returned to
00:09:23
his parents home a few weeks after the wedding but they insisted he make the relationship work as Victoria was the
00:09:31
Gruber's only child ownership of hinter kai-shek would eventually pass to the Gabriele family should the couple have
00:09:38
children less than four months into their marriage Karl enlisted to fight in World War one when he left for the
00:09:48
frontlines in France Victoria was pregnant with their first child Karl was killed in action before the
00:09:56
year's end and his daughter Seeley was born one month later three-quarters of Karl's land title passed to his newborn
00:10:05
and the remainder went to his widow making Victoria the sole at old owner of hinter koifish six months after Carl's
00:10:16
death Victoria and her father andreas were convicted of having an incestuous relationship the charges related to
00:10:24
crimes occurring between 1907 and to 1910 when andreas was aged in his early 50s in Victoria in her early 20s
00:10:34
Victoria received a one month prison sentence and andreas one-year both returned to hinter cofac upon their
00:10:43
release and the family resumed their reclusive existence in September 1919 Victoria gave birth to her second child
00:10:53
Joseph the birth certificate listed the initials LS as Joseph's father which correlated with a brief relationship
00:11:02
Victoria had a year prior with her widowed a neighbor Lorenz shootin Bower regardless townsfolk's suspected the
00:11:12
child was a product of Victoria's incestuous relationship with her father the 1920s were a time of political and
00:11:25
social upheaval for Bavarians impacted by World War one but the residents of hinter KY fact found themselves in a
00:11:32
stable financial position the family of five were well-off tending crops and raising cows oxen piglets and chickens
00:11:41
although they had a reputation for being stingy with money in November 1920 the family hired 23 year-old Krantz Riga as
00:11:53
their live-in maid while at the farm crash and server heard andreas order his daughter not to remarry as he would be
00:12:01
hers as long as he lived Andreas once kept a Victoria locked in a closet when a suitor arrived to ask for
00:12:09
her hand in marriage then in late 1921 chrétien scented the bond and witnessed andreas into Victoria
00:12:18
engaged in sexual activity Victoria later explained that if she had known prescients was about to enter she quote
00:12:27
would not have surrendered to her father Krantz resigned 10 months into her employment and the family began
00:12:37
searching for replacement the following year in March of 1922 hinter kai-shek was disturbed by a
00:12:47
series of strange events first a set of housekeys went missing then a munich-based in newspaper was found on
00:12:56
the property no one in the area subscribed to the publication or had recently traveled that far
00:13:04
Andreas queried the postman but he had no idea how it got there on the morning of Thursday March 30 Andreas noticed the
00:13:16
padlock on the engine room door was broken nothing appeared to be missing but snow had been tracked inside
00:13:23
indicating someone had entered he noticed two sets of footprints in the snow heading from the rear fields to his
00:13:31
farmstead but there were no tracks leading away andreas encountered his neighbor Lorenz Linton Bauer out in the
00:13:42
fields and mentioned that break-in footprints and missing keys Lorenz hadn't noticed anything suspicious but
00:13:50
offered to contact police and to land Andreas his revolver for protection Andreas refused he didn't
00:13:57
want police in his home and felt capable of defending himself later Andreas ran into a different neighbor expressing his
00:14:07
belief that rogues were inside his house Andreas rejected his neighbors invitation to search the property
00:14:15
claiming he was not afraid when he returned home later he noticed the cow was loose from the stables and running
00:14:23
around in the yard that same day Victoria Gabriel was out looking for a new maid she visited a
00:14:34
woman named Francisca to inquire whether her sister 45 year old maria Bumgardner
00:14:40
would be interested in the role maria was a deeply religious and introverted woman who had worked as a maid since her
00:14:48
mother's death in 1904 she often encountered discrimination due to her slight intellectual disability
00:14:56
and a birth defect that left one leg significantly shorter than the other as such
00:15:03
Francisca graciously accepted the hint akai effect job on behalf of her older sister with Maria scheduled to arrive to
00:15:11
the farm the following day that evening as members of the Gruber Gabriel family lay in their respective beds they heard
00:15:21
muffled footsteps pacing the attic above armed with a torch andreas made his way
00:15:28
upstairs to investigate but only found a large amounts of straw scattered across
00:15:34
the floor at school the following morning of Friday March 31 seven-year-old Seeley gabriel was
00:15:46
noticeably exhausted and fell asleep in class the teacher woke her and asked if something was wrong
00:15:54
Sealy made a no mention of the Attic noises the night prior instead she said her family had spent the night searching
00:16:02
for her mother who had run into the woods after a violent altercation with andreas fears that Victoria had drowned
00:16:10
in a nearby river subsided at daybreak when she was discovered sitting on a tree stump
00:16:18
meanwhile at gente Kai FAC Andreas conducted another thorough search of the farmhouse but was unable to determine
00:16:26
the source of the noises the night before he and Victoria left the farm in the afternoon to complete several
00:16:34
errands in the nearby town of Schrauben Heusen while there andreas told a hardware store clerk about the troubles
00:16:42
on his farm adding quote I am Not Afraid I have already prepared my rifle Victoria mentioned the unsettling events
00:16:54
to another shopkeeper expressing fear that somebody was determined to break into their property
00:17:02
at five o'clock that afternoon maria bamboo nur arrived to hinter kai-shek escorted by her sister Francisca Cecilia
00:17:13
and young Joseph were the only family members home at the time Maria was led to the maid's quarters
00:17:20
tucked away off the kitchen where she'd reside throughout her employment Francisca stayed to help Maria get
00:17:28
settled but was eager to return home before dark though it was spring the snowy weather had been remarkably cold
00:17:37
and storms were anticipated for later that night Francisca farewelled her sister and exited the house Francisca
00:17:48
sensed hinter kai-shek was an eerily lonely place as she approached the dirt road she turned to see Maria running
00:17:57
towards her Maria hugged her sister firmly wanting to say goodbye again Francisca wasn't particularly close to
00:18:07
her siblings but she returned to the odium brace and promised to visit again soon it was over the weekend that hint
00:18:19
akai fact fell unusually quiet Seeley failed to show up for her Saturday school class and the remainder of the
00:18:26
family were absent from the fields the house was locked up and two lifeless with the only sounds coming from the
00:18:34
animals secured inside the stable on Tuesday April 4 Lorenz linton Bella and his two young sons collected two other
00:18:44
neighbours Jacob's Eagle and Michael Pell and headed to hinter kai-shek concerned that Andreas Gruber may have
00:18:52
taken his own life they arrived at around 5 p.m. to discover all the animals were secured away and the doors
00:19:01
to the building were all locked except for the one to the engine room inside the group attempted to open a second
00:19:10
interior door that led into the barn a wooden beam had been propped up on the other side preventing entry after some
00:19:19
heavy pushing the beam gateway and to the men entered the dim barn with flashlights in hand one of the stables
00:19:28
was open and a cow had broken loose from its pen Lorenz climbed over a board slipping on some hay as he went behind
00:19:38
him Michael shuffled his way through the dark suddenly he yelled out there's a foot Lorenz looked down and saw a foot
00:19:52
sticking out from a bale of hay he pulled it towards him uncovering the body of Andreas Gruber dressed in
00:20:00
trousers and an undershirt his face was covered in blood and he had suffered significant head injuries the Rennes
00:20:09
could say three more bodies partially concealed under the straw Jacob and Michael staggered out of the barn in
00:20:18
shock but Lorenz remained behind and inspected the three other corpses finding Cecilia Victoria and Seeley with
00:20:27
severe head wounds both Cecilia and Victoria were fully dressed and Seeley wore her nightgown Lorenz dragged the
00:20:37
seven-year-old towards a wall where the lighting was better Jacob returned and asked him to stop and wait for the
00:20:44
police but Lorenz replied on looking for my son two-year-old Joseph was nowhere to be
00:20:54
seen Lorenz proceeded towards the adjoining stables noticing a pickaxe leaning against the wall the family dog was tied
00:21:04
up inside despite the mechanic having seen it restrained by the front door only hours
00:21:10
earlier the dog had a wound above its right eye and recoiled and shook when the men
00:21:16
approached the cattle were making a lot of noise prompting lorenz toward a Jacob to throw
00:21:24
them some hay the wrens continued to the door which connected the stables to the
00:21:31
living quarters finding it unlocked he entered the kitchen and searched the house finding Joseph's stroller in a
00:21:39
bedroom with a woman's skirt draped over the top Lorenz pulled the skirt aside and saw the toddler quote with his head
00:21:49
shattered he then unlocked a rear door to let Jacob and de michael win jacob questioned where he had gotten the key
00:21:58
from to which Lorenz responded it had been in the lock in the maid's quarters a mattress had been pulled from the bed
00:22:08
frame onto the floor two feet poked yeah from under a check to duvet on top one wearing a shoe and the other bare Lorenz
00:22:19
removed the blanket and revealed the body of hint a Carfax recently hai had made Maria Baumgartner who had also
00:22:27
enjoyed a horrific attack Jacob and Michael rushed to the nearby village of Groban to raise the alarm Lorenz asked
00:22:42
one of his sons to inform the local mayor while he stayed behind to look after the livestock the men notified in
00:22:50
nearby authorities and placed their call to the police chief in mean eek news of the gruesome massacre spread
00:22:57
quickly and by 6:00 p.m. a crowd had gathered an inter Chi FAC as authorities had yet to arrive and notably calm
00:23:06
Lawrence took it upon himself to escort visitors through the property pointing out the bodies as they went
00:23:14
one neighbor cautioned him against allowing anyone else in in case they disturbed the crime scene the Lorenz
00:23:21
replied that they were already there and there was nothing he could do about it more people traipsed through the
00:23:28
building with one guest reportedly pausing in the kitchen to fix themselves a snack five investigators were
00:23:38
dispatched from unique along with to tracker dogs but a slow journey meant they didn't arrive until 1:30 a.m. as it
00:23:47
was too dark for them to inspect the crime scene they rested at the mayor's home until first to light they arrived
00:23:55
to hinter chi FAC at 5:30 the following morning when they found Lorenz shootin Bauer still watching over the farm
00:24:05
lead investigator detective George Ron Gruber entered the barn the bodies of Cecilia and Victoria were
00:24:14
beyond the threshold Andreas and Seeley was still positioned by the wall where the rents had left them all four had
00:24:22
sustained fatal blows to the skull but there was no blood spatter anywhere except on the door that led to the
00:24:29
stables upon inspecting the pickaxe propped against the wall detective Ron Gruber noted it was clean but took red
00:24:38
brown spots on the handle for bloodstains Lorenz informed the detective he believed this was the
00:24:45
murder weapon and the cattle must have licked it clean investigators made their way into the kitchen where they noticed
00:24:54
a few blood spots on the threshold leading to the maid's room inside Maria was fully dressed and lying
00:25:02
in the fetal position on the floor appearing as though she had been attacked before she prepared for bed
00:25:09
there were also some small bloodstains in the hallway leading to the family's bedrooms but there were no bloody
00:25:15
footprints the room Victoria shared with her two children had been ransacked with
00:25:22
cupboard doors flung open and an empty purse papers a notebook and a watch strewn across her bed but no other areas
00:25:31
in the house showed any signs of burglary the roof of Joseph's stroller had been torn apart by a forceful blow
00:25:39
and the killer had used one of Victoria's skirts to conceal the boys body in the Attic above the barn
00:25:48
investigators noticed hay had been spread across the floor and featured several impressions as though one or
00:25:55
more people had lain there bacon rinds as well as human excrement were found in the corner there were also some loose
00:26:04
tiles on the roof that could be raised slightly to view the living quarters and yard outside as all external doors to
00:26:14
the property had been locked from the inside investigators wondered how the perpetrator exited the building
00:26:20
following the murders two police dogs were sent out into the woods to track down evidence but nothing was found it
00:26:30
had rained in recent days and much of the snow that had previously covered the ground had since melted away detective
00:26:38
Ron Gruber noted in his report there are no tangible clues about the persons who
00:26:45
are offenders statements were taken from local residents including the three men
00:26:54
who discovered the crime scene the ranch linton bower jacobs eagle and michael Pell Lorenz insisted he hadn't let
00:27:03
anyone else enter the property after finding the bodies despite several statements to the contrary
00:27:09
he claimed the family had 100,000 marks in cash stashed on the premises yet investigators only found a five mark
00:27:18
bill tucked away in a prayer book as such robbery was the suspected a motive for the massacre
00:27:26
however the perpetrator ignored a many valuables in the home including jewelry watches into more than twenty-two
00:27:34
hundred marks worth of gold and silver coins witness statements were used to piece together a probable timeline of
00:27:43
events given Seeley's absence from school on Saturday April 1 the murders were estimated to have occurred between
00:27:51
8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on Friday March 31 experiments concluded that screaming
00:27:58
inside the barn could not be heard in the house furthermore the internal door leading from the house into the barn was
00:28:08
narrow enabling only one individual to enter at a time thus it seemed unlikely the entire family were killed at once
00:28:16
inside the barn as some would have had the opportunity to flee it appeared as though that were lured in one at a time
00:28:27
andreas Gruber's previous remarks to neighbors that a cow had inexplicably escaped into the yard led investigators
00:28:34
to presume this was the technique used to draw the family out of the house given that lawrence linton bower moved
00:28:44
two of the bodies the order of the killings couldn't be confirmed police suspected Victoria and Cecelia were the
00:28:52
first victims as they were both fully dressed next was andreas who was in the process
00:28:58
of changing into his nightclothes followed by Seeley who was ready for bed after that the killer entered the living
00:29:08
quarters and struck Maria from behind before murdering Joseph the family's entire bread supplier and several pieces
00:29:18
of smoked meat were missing this coupled with witness reports that the hint akafuku livestock were quiet
00:29:25
immediately following the massacre led to the belief that the killer remained at the property after the slaughter
00:29:32
possibly for several days feeding themselves and the animals the delay in discovering the bodies and disruptions
00:29:43
to the crime scene hampered forensic evidence but the investigation was minimal regardless no fingerprints were
00:29:51
collected even though this method had been established more than a decade earlier and only five photographs were
00:29:58
taken of the crime scene autopsies were conducted on the grounds of hinter Chi FAC overseen by a crowd of onlookers a
00:30:07
door was placed across two wooden trestles to function as a makeshift table the district court doctor
00:30:15
confirmed all six victims had died from head injuries by the blunt edge of a farmyard tool such as a pickaxe the
00:30:24
perpetrator appeared a left-handed as the majority of the wounds were inflicted on the right side of the
00:30:30
victims heads Victoria had sustained the most injuries including markings consistent with strangulation and a nine
00:30:40
star-shaped wounds to her skull seven year old Seeley was the only victim who did not die instantly injuring two to
00:30:50
three hours of agony before finally succumbing to her injuries it was believed had she received immediate
00:30:57
medical attention she would have survived the heads of all six victims were sent
00:31:04
to the pathology Institute at the University of Munich for further examination and to their bodies remained
00:31:11
a hint a kayak to await burial as two officers carried Seeley's body inside the barn they noticed the rope hanging
00:31:20
down from the loft above which had not been there moments earlier they climbed up and sighted handprints on the dusty
00:31:28
beam the rope was tied to police dogs were dispatched in an attempt to capture whoever had been hiding above but no
00:31:38
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code case file shipstation comm mate ship happen the funerals for the hinter kai-shek
00:36:08
household were scheduled for Saturday April 8th word incorrectly spread that the service was taking place on April 7
00:36:17
resulting in an influx of visitors to the area a day early they planned to use the extra time to examine the site of
00:36:26
the murders only to find that police had cordoned off the crime scene the following morning avoid hyphens Catholic
00:36:34
Church struggled to accommodate the approximately 3,000 mourners who had gathered the six matching coffins were
00:36:42
carried to the church on a wagon father Michael Haas told the congregation that God viewed
00:36:49
murder as a terrible abomination and only a man with no spark of faith in his heart could commit such a horrific act
00:36:57
the five members of the gruber Gabriel family and Maria Baumgartner were buried together in a mass grave with the adults
00:37:05
coffins flanking the children's tiny caskets police announced a reward of 100 thousand marks for information about the
00:37:14
killer's identity the amount was soon increased to 500,000 marks and posters were distributed throughout the region
00:37:22
to publicize the investigation the murders had shocked and terrified the local community and made newspaper
00:37:29
headlines across the country fearful citizens began reporting their friends neighbors and other individuals who they
00:37:37
deemed suspicious rural residents were advised to be vigilant especially at night and to thoroughly search their
00:37:46
properties each evening they were also encouraged to keep a large guard dogs for protection look out for their
00:37:52
neighbors and avoid storing valuables or large sums of money in their homes tales
00:37:59
of the strange events at hint akai effect preceding the massacre spread and several more bizarre incidents were
00:38:06
reported two weeks before the murders father hath supposedly found an anonymous donation
00:38:13
of 700 gold marks in his church which he suspected had been left by Victoria Gabriel when he queried her about it she
00:38:22
reluctantly admitted to making the sizable donation a local carpenter reported that on Saturday April 1 he
00:38:32
walked past hinter kayfa at around 11:30 p.m. more than 24 hours after the murders were believed to have taken
00:38:40
place he saw a light shining from the oven inside the farmstead and a curl of smoke coming from the chimney he then
00:38:49
noticed the figure holding a flashlight moving about in the yard the figure began to approach shining the light in
00:38:58
his eyes somewhat spooked the carpenter hurried home without stopping in addition to robbery other motives were
00:39:09
also considered the strangulation marks on Victoria hinted at it being a personal attack and some speculated the
00:39:17
murderer could be a scorned lover others believed the killings were a form of retribution for andreas and Victoria's
00:39:25
incestuous relationship following the murders victims relatives embarked on a legal battle over ownership of hinter
00:39:35
cofac as Seeley was the last to die she had been the farms sole owner for a brief period therefore the Gabriel side
00:39:44
of the family believed possession of the property should pass to her paternal grandparents the matter was resolved out
00:39:52
of court with the Gabriel's purchasing in Turkey fact from the Gruber's for three million marks in late February
00:40:01
1923 they decided to demolish the entire property they commissioned an artist to
00:40:07
paint a watercolor picture of the property beforehand capturing the white vom house in a field of green framed by
00:40:14
budding trees the next day carpenters dismantling the roof trusses noticed several loose
00:40:22
floorboards in the Attic next to the staircase they pried them up revealing a small nest of hay underneath along with
00:40:30
a blood-stained mattock a hand tool commonly used for clearing small trees and shrubs it had a blunt horizontal
00:40:39
accent and a long wooden handle alongside it was a small metal hoop coated in dried blood the tool had
00:40:50
previously belonged to andreas Gruber as neighbors recognized the distinctive screw protruding from the handle that he
00:40:57
had fitted during repairs the screw perfectly matched the star-shaped injuries to victoria's skull and police
00:41:05
declared the mattock as the murder weapon several days later while clearing out the barn excavators found a bloody
00:41:14
penknife close to where the bodies had been found maintaining they had conducted a thorough search of the crime
00:41:21
scene investigators believed the killer returned to the farm to hide the mattock
00:41:26
and pen knife once the heat of the investigation had died down no fingerprints were recovered from either
00:41:34
item given the social and cultural climate of Bavaria at the time political motivations for the murders were also
00:41:47
considered the region was a hotbed for paramilitary organizations and extremist groups
00:41:53
and it was theorized that andreas Gruber had belonged to one and either embezzled
00:41:59
funds or committed treason investigators sought to question an individual associated with one such extremist group
00:42:08
33 year old former soldier Adolph Gump after World War one Gump joined a Bavarian paramilitary faction and
00:42:18
eventually formed a commando unit within the group in 1921 he participated in the
00:42:25
massacre of nine farmers which he often boasted a unsubstantiated rumors accused gump of
00:42:33
having been romantically involved with Victoria Gabriel however he could not be found three weeks into the investigation
00:42:44
police in Munich received a letter requesting they look into carl gabriel victoria's former husband Karl had been
00:42:54
reportedly killed in action during the war eight years earlier yet his body was never returned to Germany and stories
00:43:02
circulated of soldiers who faked their death to live under assumed identities the theory was the Karl had done exactly
00:43:10
that but upon learning of the incestuous relationship between Victoria and andreas returned to him Takei fact to
00:43:18
murder the entire family police spoke with several of Karl's fellow officers who confirmed they had seen his body
00:43:26
after his death and revealed he was buried in a war cemetary in France other theories centered on Carl's family that
00:43:35
they carried out the murders for financial gain or revenge for their son's unhappy marriage several locals
00:43:44
expressed suspicion towards brothers Karl and Anton Bikila well-known thieves who had worked at gente KY effect during
00:43:51
the harvest seasons one witness claimed karla Bikila had proposed the idea of robbing hinter kai-shek while another
00:43:59
noticed the brothers had recently been spending a significant amount of money despite being unemployed hinter KFX
00:44:09
former maid crush ands Riga explained that the brothers were familiar with the layout of the property and Danton was
00:44:16
one of the few people whom the family dog never barked at according to crescents Anton once remarked that the
00:44:24
family needed to be killed when she informed her employers of his comment they dismissed the threat this incident
00:44:33
prompted crush ants to quit a sheep feed the Bickler brothers were planning an attack
00:44:39
caryl Bikila was taken in for questioning during which he professed his innocence and was able to provide an
00:44:46
alibi for himself and Anton the brothers had been drinking in a bar 51 kilometers
00:44:52
south of hinter kai-shek at the time of the murders months later on August 2 the
00:44:59
mother of another set of brothers Karl and andreas shreya confessed to a neighbor that her sons were responsible
00:45:07
for the crime destroyer brothers were arrested and a hearing took place the following month
00:45:12
but both men were released due to a lack of evidence other suspects included a former soldier who had escaped from a
00:45:22
Bavarian mental health hospital a year before the murders he was believed to have burgled properties in the vicinity
00:45:29
of hinter KY fair though there was no evidence linking him to the farm and his whereabouts remained unknown suspicions
00:45:40
were also cast on Lorenz schlitt and Bauer the neighbor who discovered the bodies at hinter Chi FAC Lorenz had
00:45:48
resided in the same farmhouse on the fringe of Groban his entire life he also served as the village guide
00:45:55
collaborating with the local council and acting as a spokesperson for the community two weeks after his wife
00:46:03
passed away in 1918 Lorenz commenced the brief romantic relationship with Victoria Gabriel who was 13 years his
00:46:11
junior in late 1918 he asked Andreas for permission to marry Victoria on the condition that andreas ceased having
00:46:21
sexual relations with her Andreas reportedly replied we will see when Lauren's next saw Victoria she said she
00:46:32
was pregnant with his child he refused to accept this convinced that Andreas was really the father
00:46:41
three days after Joseph was born Lorenz reported Victoria and her father to the authorities for incest and once again
00:46:49
Andreas was taken into custody [Music] Victoria begged him to withdraw his statement offering to reimburse the
00:46:58
child support he would be required to pay if he claimed paternity Lorenz agreed and the charges were dropped he
00:47:07
was named as Joseph's father a relationship he occasionally acknowledged but more often denied he
00:47:15
maintained a polite though tense relationship with Andreas and Victoria while gossiping and criticizing them
00:47:21
around town upon discovering the brutalized the bodies of his neighbors including his alleged son Lorenz was
00:47:32
remarkably calm witnesses commented on his apparent eagerness to disrupt the crime scene with detective Georgia Ryan
00:47:41
Gruber noting in his initial report quote it should not be left unmentioned - that the head of the district Lorenz
00:47:49
shootin Bauer showed a somewhat excited behavior he talks a lot and also makes himself otherwise important took care of
00:47:58
everything and was also well acquainted with the domestic circumstances of the murdered although detective Ron Gruber
00:48:07
also noted in his report that there was no known motive for Lorenz to commit the
00:48:12
killings Jacob's Eagle was also present when the bodies were found he had been suspicious of Lorenz since he opened to
00:48:22
the farmsteads front door with the key he claimed was already in the lock jacob openly referred to lawrence as the
00:48:29
kayaker murderer prompting Lorenz to sue him for defamation and publish an article in the local paper that read I
00:48:38
warned anyone who spreads rumors that I was involved in the murder in hinter KY faq from now on I will go against
00:48:47
anybody spreading such rumors whether wealthy or not with a lawsuit four years after the murders the shootin
00:48:57
bowers home burned down villagers gathered to help extinguish the flames but the damage was severe and many of
00:49:05
lorenza's important documents including some relating to Joseph Gruber's paternity were destroyed that same year
00:49:14
detective George Ryan Gruber stepped down from the hinter cofac case and criminal inspector Martin Reid Meyer
00:49:21
took over on the nine-year anniversary of the crime in 1931 read Meyer reopened the case and re-interviewed key
00:49:31
witnesses including a tearful Lorentz Witten Bela who continued to profess his innocence he attributed reports of his
00:49:39
suspicious behavior to his quote helpful actions at the crime scene read Meyer concluded clues for further action are
00:49:50
no longer available a decade after the murders took place an article in a German newspaper reflected on their
00:49:59
lasting impact on the quiet rural community quote the gruesome atrocity still holds the residence of the
00:50:08
Schrauben has an area far and wide in terror the case is still much talked of today the relatives of the Gruber and
00:50:22
Gabriel families were also investigated as possible suspects with financial benefit considered a motive as Cecilia's
00:50:29
daughter from her first marriage I'd lent Victoria a substantial amount of money for farm repairs yet this line of
00:50:38
inquiry didn't progress far in 1937 the two brothers of Victoria's deceased husband Carl Gabriel allegedly confessed
00:50:48
to their maid of committing the hint akai effect murders for monetary gain both men were arrested but subsequently
00:50:56
released without charge three weeks later after proving they had purchased the hint akafuku state with their own
00:51:03
savings by the end of the 1930s the investigation was set aside completely as the Second World War commenced during
00:51:14
the 1940s bombings by Allied forces on German cities such as Nuremberg and des Munich destroyed much of the evidence
00:51:22
relating to the case including the vital documents and the skulls of the victims
00:51:30
six years after the war interest in the cold case was revived when a series of long-form articles about the murders
00:51:37
were penned by journalists the Joseph or Ludovic hacker and published in a Bavarian newspaper as a result several
00:51:46
German prisoners of war came forward alleging to have been released by a Bavarian speaking Soviet officer who
00:51:52
claimed responsibility for the hinter cofac murders these assertions reignited rumors that Karl Gabriel was indeed
00:52:01
alive and carried out the crime but were later dismissed when the men revised their statements reducing their
00:52:08
credibility in May 1952 longtime suspect tent extremist group member Adolph Gump was once again implicated
00:52:20
the Dolf had passed away eight years earlier but according to statements his sister later made to a priest he
00:52:27
confessed on his deathbed to carrying out the killings with his brother Anton following this revelation anton was
00:52:35
arrested only to be released two weeks later and the gump brothers were eventually ruled out of the
00:52:41
investigation entirely in 1955 the hinter chi phat case was shelved indefinitely despite going cold
00:52:54
Germany's fascination with the mystery ensured theories and conjecture in Jewett throughout the years in 1971 Karl
00:53:04
and andreas Schreyer the brothers who were briefly arrested in 1922 after their mother reportedly confided in a
00:53:12
neighbor about their involvement in the murders were cast back into the spotlight a woman claiming to be the
00:53:20
daughter of the neighbor penned a letter to the Attorney General and explained that during the visit mrs.
00:53:27
shreya reportedly remarked quote andreas regretted that he lost his penknife curiously the discovery of the bloody
00:53:37
penknife at hinter kai-shek had been kept under wraps by investigators police interrogated the woman who wrote the
00:53:45
letter but with no evidence to support her claims the investigation faltered once again in 1978 journalist Peter Luce
00:53:56
now published the first book on the murders titled hinter kai-shek Germany's most mysterious murder case the book was
00:54:05
such a success that has sold out for extended periods in 1981 film director Hans figer adapted the book into a
00:54:14
documentary called hinter kai-shek symbol of the uncanny other documentaries on the case followed over
00:54:22
the years as well as a play a radio program and a fictionalized film 20 years after the release of Aleutian
00:54:31
House book he published a second edition after gaining access to further documents from Munich in the mid-1980s
00:54:39
final interviews were conducted with several of Seeley Gabriel's former classmates detective Conrad Muller of
00:54:47
the Ingolstadt police assisted and to found himself fascinated by the unsolved case he continued looking into the
00:54:55
murders well after his retirement in the tech nineties collecting a total of 12 binders worth of evidence
00:55:02
teaming up with criminal profiler Klaus beast the pair theorized the slayings were personally motivated with
00:55:10
the strangulation marks on Victoria indicating she had been the prime target in 2007 15 students from a Bavarian
00:55:22
police academy looked into the case to see if it could be solved - using 21st century techniques they compiled 200
00:55:31
pages of documents and critiqued the shortcomings of the original investigation including how police
00:55:37
neglected to interview the mechanic who had visited the property the day the bodies were found until three years
00:55:43
later like Conrad Muller and Klaus beast the students suspected the killer was personally motivated due to the manner
00:55:52
in which they had concealed to the victims bodies they concluded it wasn't possible to solve the crime due to the
00:56:00
lack of forensic evidence the significant loss of documents and the death of key witnesses they did
00:56:07
establish a prime suspect but declined to name the individual out of respect for surviving family members and
00:56:14
descendants the hint akafuku murders captivated armchair sleuths and independent investigators in Germany and
00:56:24
around the world in 2017 American crime writer Bill James and his daughter Rachel McCarthy James co-authored a book
00:56:33
titled the man from the Train which chronicles their attempt to solve Iowa's Villisca ax murders in which six members
00:56:42
of the Moore family and two guests were murdered during a brutal home invasion in 1912 after studying the case and
00:56:51
similar contemporary murders all over the United States the father-daughter team concluded that the unsolved crimes
00:56:58
were the work of a single perpetrator a german-born farmhand named Paul Muller who fled Massachusetts after he was
00:57:06
suspected of murdering the family that employed him they theorized he returned to his homeland
00:57:13
where he later murdered the Gruber Gabriel family in the same manner though no concrete evidence supports these
00:57:19
allegations in 2018 former detective conrad moola finally parted with the evidence he had collected on the hinted
00:57:29
high fat case and gave it to the Bavarian Police Museum in the city of Ingolstadt Mueller's documents now sit
00:57:37
alongside a range of other displays at the museum's hinter cofac exhibit which aims to highlight the evolution of
00:57:44
police methods over the past century the exhibition has attracted thousands of visitors over the past several years and
00:57:52
will close on October 6 2009 teen hint akafuku remains one of Germany's most talked-about unsolved crimes over the
00:58:04
years police have considered a total of 105 potential suspects but despite several
00:58:10
arrests no one has ever been charged myths have sprung up around to the case including that former maid Krantz Riga
00:58:19
left Hin Takei FAC after repeatedly hearing someone in the attic at night although nothing in her police statement
00:58:27
indicates this is true in recent years a local guide began offering ghost tours of the site with participants meeting in
00:58:36
the town of vide - and proceeding on foot through fields and forests to the empty property for the relatives of
00:58:45
those connected to the crime hinter Chi FAC continued to cause suffering long after the murders Lorenz Linton Bower
00:58:52
considered by many to be the prime suspect died in 1941 his descendants of spoken of the negative impact the
00:59:01
Association had on their own lives in 2010 his daughter Regina told the media she and her siblings were ostracized
00:59:09
throughout their lives commenting at some point there must be peace after the hint akai fact farmstead was
00:59:21
demolished in 1923 her wastoid shrine was erected on the land and still stands today marked with the crucifix the small
00:59:31
white memorial is framed by a tiny fence and neatly manicured plants an inscription reads godless murderers hand
00:59:41
felled the groover Gabriel family here on March 31 1922 this inscription is followed by the name of each victim
00:59:52
enter their year of birth the former land of in Toccoa is now used for agriculture over at the fight - cemetery
01:00:04
a tall dark grey obelisk marks the resting place of andreas Cecilia Victoria Seeley Josef and Maria there
01:00:14
bears a similar message to the shrine it has also been engraved with a brief verse from the Bible's Book of Psalms
01:00:22
God remembers those who suffer he does not forget their cry and he punishes those who wronged them
01:00:42
[Music] you