00:00:06
-On December the 2nd, 2015,
Bavarian Horst Kroener
00:00:10
boarded a plane.
00:00:12
He was heading to Thailand
looking for easy sex.
00:00:16
Two days earlier,
the 52-year-old
00:00:18
German IT technician
00:00:21
had viciously murdered
his wife while she slept.
00:00:23
-I can think of few more
depraved acts
00:00:29
than dispatching someone
with a hammer
00:00:32
after you've climbed
into bed with them.
00:00:35
-After killing his wife,
Kroener chopped up her body,
00:00:38
packed the pieces
in four large boxes,
00:00:41
and then stashed them
in a storage unit.
00:00:44
-To actually dismember a body
12 hours after death,
00:00:48
without that detailed
knowledge of anatomy,
00:00:51
would be a very difficult task.
00:00:54
-Many domestic homicides
are carried out
00:00:56
in the heat of an argument,
00:00:58
but this was cold
and calculated.
00:01:01
-When we look at cases
like the Kroener case,
00:01:03
it's just the extreme end
of the wedge.
00:01:06
It's the tip of the iceberg.
00:01:08
-The brutality of the crime
and the indifference displayed
00:01:11
after he murdered his wife
makes Horst Kroener
00:01:15
one of the world's
most evil killers.
00:01:18
♪♪
00:01:26
♪♪
00:01:35
♪♪
00:01:38
It was a murder that shocked
the small town of Friedberg
00:01:42
in southern Germany.
00:01:43
♪♪
00:01:46
The brutality of the crime
committed by Horst Kroener
00:01:50
on November the 30th, 2015,
was extraordinary.
00:01:55
His motive was simply
to be able to satisfy
00:01:59
his growing sexual needs
00:02:01
without his wife
getting in his way.
00:02:03
-When we look back and we say,
"Well, what was the trigger,
00:02:07
"or what was the thing
that made him decide
00:02:09
that he was going
to kill Grace?" --
00:02:11
basically, Grace stopped
playing ball.
00:02:14
She stopped being the wife
that he wanted her to be.
00:02:18
-She was no more than a toy.
00:02:21
She was there to solve
his problems for him
00:02:23
because, after all,
he had so many problems.
00:02:26
That construct
00:02:29
of the very caring Filipino,
00:02:34
Grace, and this cold,
self-obsessed,
00:02:39
indulgent German
00:02:42
proved to be fatal.
00:02:45
-This killer's story began
a little over 50 years ago.
00:02:50
Horst Kroener was born in 1963
00:02:53
in the small town of Friedberg
in Bavaria, Germany.
00:02:57
Kroener himself described
his childhood
00:02:59
as unhappy and miserable,
00:03:01
and in later years blamed this
for all his troubles.
00:03:05
-What is clear, however,
is that Kroener,
00:03:08
from a very early age,
felt the world was against him.
00:03:11
"Oh, I was so miserable.
I was suicidal.
00:03:15
My life was a misery."
00:03:17
♪♪
00:03:19
-[ Speaking German ]
00:03:22
-He said, "Yes, obviously,
I had parents,
00:03:25
"but in a narrower sense,
I have never received love.
00:03:30
"And what bothered me most was
that in my parents' home,
00:03:33
"I basically did not receive
any recognition.
00:03:37
"I was a human being too.
00:03:39
I had the feeling
that I was not counted as such."
00:03:42
-[ Continues in German ]
00:03:44
-And that resulted in his low
self-esteem
00:03:47
and, in fact,
made him a social outsider.
00:03:50
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:03:52
-Jorg Heinzle was
a local journalist
00:03:54
who covered the case.
00:03:56
-[ Speaking German ]
-He talked about himself,
00:04:00
that he got little
from his parents.
00:04:02
They were both at work.
00:04:04
They both worked a lot,
and therefore he spent
00:04:06
the majority of his time
as a child with his grandmother
00:04:09
and was brought up
by his grandmother.
00:04:12
-Kroener worked as
an IT technician,
00:04:14
but he was not happy
with his life.
00:04:19
-[ Speaking German ]
00:04:23
-Horst Kroener says
that every so often
00:04:25
he had suicidal thoughts
00:04:28
because he believed he could not
survive in everyday social life.
00:04:32
He was always stressed, he said.
00:04:35
This is, to some extent,
understandable.
00:04:37
He had changed his place of work
a total of 10 times.
00:04:41
He sometimes felt bullied
at work,
00:04:43
but sometimes he resigned
out of his own free will.
00:04:48
Essentially, he led an unsettled
life for a very long time.
00:04:54
-Kroener had a fascination
with women from Southeast Asia
00:04:58
and was married twice before.
00:05:02
-[ Speaking German ]
00:05:07
-He had met his wives
00:05:09
through a dating agency,
newspaper adverts,
00:05:11
or in the last case,
on the Internet.
00:05:15
He clearly did not have
the confidence
00:05:17
to approach a woman at a party
00:05:19
or maybe in a supermarket
or through other opportunities.
00:05:24
I assumed that this man, indeed,
had problems with women.
00:05:29
-Kroener wanted to be
in a relationship,
00:05:32
and met his third wife,
again, on the Internet.
00:05:36
27-year-old Grace
was from the Philippines.
00:05:40
She moved to Germany
and married 42-year-old
00:05:43
Kroener in March 2005.
00:05:47
-That suggests to me that he's
targeting a particular group
00:05:51
of women
from particular cultures,
00:05:53
where they have
a more traditional idea
00:05:56
of femininity and masculinity,
00:05:59
women who take that traditional
nurturer, caregiver role,
00:06:02
that he's going to find easier
to be in control of.
00:06:06
-Grace embraced her new life.
00:06:08
She learned to speak German
and fully integrated
00:06:11
into the small town
of Friedberg.
00:06:14
-She worked as a shop
assistant in a supermarket,
00:06:17
mainly at the meat counter,
00:06:19
and she actually had
a good relationship
00:06:21
with all her colleagues.
00:06:24
She was described as nice,
friendly, helpful, very sociable
00:06:28
and was very much liked there.
00:06:32
-On the surface, they appeared
to have had a blissful marriage.
00:06:37
-[ Speaking German ]
00:06:40
-Both strangers
and acquaintances
00:06:42
had the impression
that they had a happy marriage
00:06:44
and were both very content
with their situation.
00:06:47
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:06:51
-[ Speaking German ]
00:06:53
-Over time, however, more
and more problems accumulated,
00:06:57
but neither Horst nor Grace were
able to admit to the problems,
00:07:00
to discuss them
and find solutions.
00:07:03
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:07:05
-Grace joined
the Jehovah's Witnesses
00:07:07
and persuaded her husband
00:07:09
to come along
to the church meetings.
00:07:12
However, cracks began to appear
in the picture-perfect union.
00:07:18
-I think, perhaps,
because it gave her a family,
00:07:22
a place to have
a stable relationship.
00:07:24
She knew she was married
to a cold, calculating man.
00:07:27
She'd realized that.
00:07:29
-Horst Kroener exhibited
extreme mood swings.
00:07:32
Analysts later connected this
to his overarching narcissism.
00:07:37
-Narcissists can swing
between two extremes.
00:07:40
They swing between seeing
themselves as worthless
00:07:44
and then thinking they're really
special at the same time,
00:07:47
so they have
a sense of entitlement.
00:07:49
They think that they're better
than everybody else,
00:07:51
but that underneath it all,
00:07:53
they're fundamentally
ashamed of who they are.
00:07:55
So it's this constant state
of conflict with them.
00:07:58
-For Grace, Kroener's behavior
would soon prove fatal.
00:08:02
Even though he was married,
00:08:04
Horst Kroener was determined
to have sex with other women.
00:08:10
-He feels that he should have
his cake and eat it.
00:08:12
He feels that
he should have Grace at home
00:08:15
looking after his needs,
doing his laundry,
00:08:17
putting dinner on the table,
but at the same time,
00:08:20
he wants to be engaging
in sexual encounters
00:08:22
with other women.
00:08:23
-He said that, basically,
he led a kind of double life.
00:08:28
On the one hand, he was a member
of Jehovah's Witnesses.
00:08:32
On the other hand,
this double life
00:08:34
where he was unfaithful
to his wife
00:08:36
and searched the Internet
for acquaintances
00:08:38
and new adventures.
00:08:41
-The stress of Kroener's
infidelity took a toll
00:08:44
on their marriage.
-[ Speaking German ]
00:08:47
-He had reasoned that whenever
he had problems
00:08:49
or felt stressed,
professionally, privately,
00:08:53
when things weren't going well,
00:08:55
he would withdraw and busy
himself more with the Internet,
00:08:58
with exchanging online chats.
00:09:01
And he was always
in search of women,
00:09:03
Asian women
who lived in Thailand,
00:09:05
and these acquaintances
resulted in his desire
00:09:07
to meet these women in person.
00:09:09
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:09:11
-Making matters worse,
Kroener had financial problems.
00:09:15
He was constantly struggling
to pay the child support
00:09:19
that he owed
to his two former wives.
00:09:22
-He was spending money
quite unsparingly
00:09:26
and was then so short of cash
00:09:27
that once he had
to file for bankruptcy.
00:09:31
-In 2007, Kroener decided
to satisfy his sexual urges
00:09:36
and booked a holiday
for himself.
00:09:40
It would not be the last time
00:09:42
that Kroener
would cheat on Grace.
00:09:45
-[ Speaking German ]
00:09:48
-The second time that he flew
to Thailand again was in 2013.
00:09:51
-[ Continues in German ]
00:09:54
-The deceitful thing
about this flight
00:09:56
was that Grace, at the time,
00:09:57
had flown back to her home
in the Philippines
00:10:00
because her mother had died
and was to be buried there,
00:10:05
and he used that time to fly
to Thailand for a sex holiday.
00:10:08
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:10:11
-By 2013, Grace discovered
that Kroener had formed
00:10:16
relationships online
with several women.
00:10:19
Bernd Scharinger was Kroener's
defense lawyer.
00:10:23
-He once said that his
favorite time was 2013,
00:10:26
when he had such a trip
to Thailand.
00:10:29
And that's why he wanted
to do it
00:10:31
once more before
ending his life.
00:10:35
He wanted to have
a nice time again
00:10:37
and then to kill himself
as the final act.
00:10:41
-Then, in the autumn of 2015,
came the final straw.
00:10:47
Horst Kroener had planned
00:10:48
another solo sex trip
to Thailand,
00:10:52
but this time,
Grace had had enough.
00:10:55
The strain of her husband's
infidelity was more
00:10:58
than she was willing to bear.
00:11:00
Grace now threatened
to leave Kroener,
00:11:03
and it pushed him over the edge.
00:11:07
-[ Speaking German ]
00:11:13
-If Grace had done
what she had threatened,
00:11:15
"If you go one more time
to Thailand
00:11:17
to have sex with other women,
then I will file for a divorce,"
00:11:21
that would have been the
financial ruin of Horst Kroener,
00:11:26
and he would have no longer
been able to pursue his pastime
00:11:29
of having sex
with Thai women.
00:11:32
And those were already
two solid reasons
00:11:34
to think of a radical solution.
00:11:37
♪♪
00:11:39
-Faced with his wife's
ultimatum,
00:11:41
Kroener decided to kill her.
00:11:44
His calculating plan included
murder, disposing of the body,
00:11:49
and then flying to Thailand
to have sex.
00:11:53
For his wife Grace,
her husband's cheating
00:11:56
was just too much to accept.
00:11:59
-He saw women as objects.
00:12:01
He saw them simply as trophies,
00:12:03
objects that could be
dispensed with.
00:12:06
The same was his attitude
for sex tourism.
00:12:09
He would make arrangements
to visit Thailand,
00:12:12
make appointments and say,
"Oh, this is the woman
00:12:14
who's going to
fulfill my fantasies."
00:12:16
-Many people will look
at this case and say,
00:12:18
"Well, why didn't he simply
just ask for a divorce?"
00:12:22
And the simple reason is that,
when you ask for a divorce,
00:12:26
your control over that situation
is dissolved a little bit.
00:12:31
And here we've got an individual
who likes to be fully in control
00:12:34
of everything that's
going on around him,
00:12:36
especially the woman
in his life.
00:12:39
So by taking matters
into his own hands,
00:12:42
he's fully in control.
00:12:43
He's 100 percent
in the driving seat,
00:12:46
and nobody else is going
to be interfering with that.
00:12:49
-She had said,
00:12:51
"If you go one more time
to Thailand
00:12:53
"and make contact
with other women,
00:12:55
"or if you do that in Germany,
00:12:57
"then you will lose me.
00:12:58
We will get divorced."
00:13:01
-[ Continues in German ]
00:13:07
-He had already gone
through bankruptcy.
00:13:11
He was on the brink
of financial ruin,
00:13:15
which was already,
00:13:17
for someone with a narcissistic
disposition like him,
00:13:20
a very solid reason to come up
with an extreme solution --
00:13:24
"Either her or me."
00:13:27
♪♪
00:13:31
-Kroener booked his trip
for December the 2nd,
00:13:34
and he used Grace's money
to do it.
00:13:37
♪♪
00:13:42
-[ Speaking German ]
00:13:45
-The fact that he made
these withdrawals
00:13:47
from his wife's account,
and that she could possibly see
00:13:50
the account statements
the following Monday,
00:13:52
meant on that weekend
on which the act happened
00:13:56
was the signal
for the beginning.
00:13:58
The decision was made
to commit the act.
00:14:03
-With the ticket to Thailand
booked, for Kroener,
00:14:06
there was now no going back,
00:14:09
and no one, not even his wife,
was going to stop him.
00:14:14
-The final trigger,
the final trip wire,
00:14:19
was actually booking
a hotel room in Thailand,
00:14:23
because he knew
that his wife would discover
00:14:26
that he'd done that
the following day.
00:14:29
It was that that provided
the timeline for the killing.
00:14:35
-The smart IT tech had formed
00:14:37
what he thought
was a foolproof plan
00:14:40
to kill his wife
and get away with it.
00:14:44
-I think that the fact
he has a high IQ,
00:14:46
and he's an intelligent man,
00:14:47
is significant in relation
to this crime.
00:14:49
He's going to be thinking
through the process more.
00:14:52
He's going to be trying
to cover up.
00:14:55
He's going to be thinking about
all of those things
00:14:57
that could potentially trip up
00:14:58
somebody
who wasn't as intelligent.
00:15:02
-Kroener didn't just
plan the murder.
00:15:04
He also needed to ensure the
body would not be discovered.
00:15:08
-[ Speaking German ]
00:15:15
-After Horst Kroener had decided
to kill his wife,
00:15:19
he searched the Internet
looking for possibilities
00:15:23
for an airtight way
to pack the corpse
00:15:25
so the body
wouldn't start to smell.
00:15:27
-[ Continues in German ]
00:15:30
-He wanted to know
how to kill his wife,
00:15:32
so he made related searches.
00:15:34
-[ Continues in German ]
00:15:37
-He wanted to kill her
00:15:38
as quickly and as painlessly
as possible.
00:15:42
He looked up,
"If I cut up her body,
00:15:44
"which I will have to do
if I kill her in our apartment,
00:15:47
where can I dispose
of the body?"
00:15:50
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:15:54
-By analyzing
his search records,
00:15:56
investigators later discovered
00:15:59
that Kroener had made
a grim to-do list.
00:16:02
The first thing he did
was to buy a 5-pound hammer
00:16:05
and duct tape.
00:16:07
For ease of access,
00:16:09
he hid the hammer
in the dining room cabinet.
00:16:12
-[ Speaking German ]
00:16:13
-He didn't have a weapon
readily available
00:16:15
in the basement,
00:16:16
as in cases where
spontaneous murders happen.
00:16:19
Instead, he had bought
one specifically
00:16:21
from the hardware store.
00:16:22
-[ Continues in German ]
00:16:25
-He had also searched and read
information on the Internet
00:16:27
on the subject
of storage rental.
00:16:30
He didn't buy everything
in advance.
00:16:32
Some things he only bought right
after the murder took place.
00:16:35
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:16:37
-Kroener later revealed
his twisted justification
00:16:41
behind the callous decision
to murder his wife.
00:16:45
-Actually, the reasons
he gave as
00:16:47
to why he came up with the idea
00:16:49
that he had to kill his wife
were not really comprehensible.
00:16:52
He always said that he actually
wanted to kill himself
00:16:55
because he had so many problems
00:16:57
and his life
was too hard for him.
00:16:59
♪♪
00:17:01
-On Sunday, November the 29th,
2015,
00:17:06
the day of reckoning had come.
00:17:09
Kroener waited until
the early hours of the morning
00:17:12
to be sure
that his wife was asleep.
00:17:16
Then, he took the hammer
out of the dining room cabinet,
00:17:20
walked into the bedroom,
00:17:22
and hit Grace
as hard as he could
00:17:25
on the head.
00:17:30
-What we have to hope
is that that first blow
00:17:32
would leave her unconscious.
00:17:35
But if you are intending
to murder somebody,
00:17:38
then repeated blows --
00:17:41
essentially, you're
making sure of the job.
00:17:44
-He then waited until
his wife fell asleep,
00:17:47
and in the early hours
of the morning, grabbed a hammer
00:17:50
and beat her over the head
a total of six times.
00:17:54
-I can think of few more
depraved acts
00:18:01
than dispatching someone
with a hammer
00:18:05
after you've climbed
into bed with them,
00:18:08
but, nevertheless,
Kroener did exactly that.
00:18:11
-Even after many blows,
Grace still seemed to be moving.
00:18:16
-You sometimes get these
muscular spasms,
00:18:19
even when somebody's just died,
00:18:21
because as
the electrical impulses
00:18:24
are just starting to fail,
00:18:26
they will spark off
little nerve fibers,
00:18:29
spark off muscular twitches.
00:18:31
So it can just be
the effect of the brain dying.
00:18:34
-To ensure she was dead,
00:18:37
Kroener pulled a bin liner
over his wife's head,
00:18:40
wrapped duct tape
around her neck,
00:18:42
and then suffocated her
with a pillow.
00:18:45
Examiners later determined he
did this for 15 to 20 minutes.
00:18:51
-In his case, he did
three types of murders.
00:18:55
You know, it was blunt force,
then suffocation
00:18:58
with a plastic, and then
suffocation with a pillow.
00:19:01
People will go through
different emotions,
00:19:04
especially when you plan
a crime like that,
00:19:07
and then you think
you can go ahead with it,
00:19:08
and sometimes people
get overwhelmed
00:19:10
by different emotions,
00:19:12
and then they will do things
that are, like, unnatural.
00:19:16
They'll carry on doing things.
00:19:18
That's why some people
do the overkill.
00:19:21
-After he was satisfied
his wife was dead,
00:19:24
Kroener went into the next phase
of his plan --
00:19:27
to dispose of Grace's body.
00:19:29
The killer went to a local
hardware store
00:19:33
and bought some supplies in
order to dismember the corpse.
00:19:37
-He went out and bought
materials that he needed,
00:19:41
including a saw,
including plastic storage boxes,
00:19:44
including building foam,
including salt.
00:19:47
-When Kroener returned home,
00:19:48
he wrapped Grace's lifeless body
in a blanket
00:19:52
and dragged it
onto the rug in the bedroom.
00:19:55
-To actually dismember a body
12 hours after death,
00:20:00
without that detailed
knowledge of anatomy,
00:20:03
would be a very difficult task.
00:20:05
-But Kroener was prepared
for any eventuality.
00:20:10
He bought a tub
to cut the body up in
00:20:13
and carefully covered the whole
of the bedroom floor
00:20:16
with plastic sheets.
00:20:18
♪♪
00:20:21
He had worked out
that the best time
00:20:23
to cut up a body
was 12 hours after death.
00:20:27
-I think that there is
an element in which he feels
00:20:30
this is a challenge
that he's going to rise to,
00:20:33
that he's going to do well,
though this is somebody
00:20:36
who is treating it
almost like a project,
00:20:39
and that is incredibly cold
and incredibly chilling.
00:20:43
-Kroener then proceeded to cut
his wife's body
00:20:45
into eight pieces with a saw.
00:20:49
-I would expect that
the actual process
00:20:53
would be relatively clean.
00:20:58
The blood is not flowing
around the body.
00:21:01
So as you cut through blood
vessels and other structures,
00:21:05
blood would leak,
but it wouldn't spray
00:21:08
as it would
if someone was still alive.
00:21:10
-He put each part of the corpse
into a large plastic bag
00:21:14
and then added salt to the mix.
00:21:17
He did this to slow
the decomposition of the body.
00:21:21
Next, Kroener placed the bags,
tools, rug, and bed linen
00:21:25
in four plastic boxes
00:21:27
and filled them
with construction foam.
00:21:30
He hoped this routine would mask
any smell
00:21:34
that may lead the authorities
to discover his heinous crime.
00:21:39
-The way to prevent
decomposition,
00:21:42
if you were preserving meat,
00:21:44
so salt would
slow down the process.
00:21:47
It would desiccate the tissues.
00:21:49
Keeping it cold would slow down
the rate of decomposition,
00:21:53
and these things
will slow the process
00:21:56
but by no means
prevent it completely.
00:21:59
-Kroener then drove the boxes
00:22:01
containing his wife's
dismembered body parts
00:22:04
to a self-storage unit
in Friedberg.
00:22:08
-He said himself
that he was quite nervous,
00:22:10
not that it was outwardly
noticeable looking at him.
00:22:14
He then described that,
whilst unloading the boxes,
00:22:17
one box had fallen on the floor,
and it almost opened.
00:22:22
-He had murdered his wife
and was now finally free
00:22:25
to satisfy
his selfish appetites.
00:22:28
-He just wanted his holiday.
00:22:30
And for that holiday,
he didn't care
00:22:32
he had to kill her,
chop her up,
00:22:35
put her inside a box,
fill the box with foam,
00:22:37
and then try to hide
the box somewhere.
00:22:39
He did not care
what he had to do.
00:22:42
So it's a complete
lack of emotion towards somebody
00:22:45
that he actually
shared a life with,
00:22:47
and to me, that is the worst
type of psychopath you can have.
00:22:52
-There are an awful lot of men
who kill their wives
00:22:56
and then seek to take
a terrible revenge on the body.
00:23:00
Not always going to the lengths
that Kroener went to
00:23:02
of meticulously cutting it up
00:23:05
and storing it in plastic boxes
that didn't smell,
00:23:07
but the level of rage
and the level of anger
00:23:10
that killing your wife
means
00:23:13
is very, very difficult
to quantify from the outside.
00:23:17
It's beyond most people's
wildest imaginings.
00:23:20
-It is a problem
all over the world
00:23:23
that there will be women
everywhere losing their lives
00:23:25
at the hands of their partner
or their ex-partner.
00:23:28
So when we look at cases
like the Kroener case,
00:23:31
it's just the extreme end
of the wedge.
00:23:33
It's the tip of the iceberg.
00:23:36
-The next day, he set about
covering his tracks.
00:23:40
First, Kroener stashed the body
parts in a storage unit
00:23:44
in his hometown of Friedberg.
00:23:46
Determined to get away
with murder,
00:23:49
Kroener then put his escape plan
into motion.
00:23:52
He had carefully
prepared reasons
00:23:55
why he and Grace were absent.
00:23:57
-[ Speaking German ]
00:24:00
-There was, of course, the fact
that they had requested
00:24:02
leave from their
respective employers
00:24:05
because they wanted
to go on holiday
00:24:06
together to the Philippines...
00:24:08
-[ Continues in German ]
00:24:10
-...and he had also
laid false tracks
00:24:13
when he dropped a note
to the neighbors.
00:24:15
He wrote that Grace
had left him,
00:24:16
and he was now flying after her
00:24:19
to see what was left
of their marriage to save...
00:24:21
-[ Continues in German ]
00:24:23
-...and he would
get in touch again.
00:24:27
-On the 2nd of December, 2015,
00:24:30
three days
after he murdered his wife,
00:24:33
Kroener boarded a plane
to Thailand.
00:24:35
-He spent most of the time
in Pattaya,
00:24:38
which is a known place
for sex tourism.
00:24:42
And there, he met
with several women,
00:24:45
including one he had already
contacted over the Internet,
00:24:48
and he admitted himself
00:24:49
that he also had had sex
with these women.
00:24:52
-Back home in the small town
of Friedberg, at first,
00:24:55
no one suspected a thing.
-[ Speaking German ]
00:24:58
-There were already different
false tracks laid
00:25:01
so that only after
Mrs. Kroener's holiday ended
00:25:04
did her colleagues from work
start to get worried,
00:25:07
as well as members
of their church congregation,
00:25:09
who questioned
why they had not turned up.
00:25:12
People then tried to make
contact but were unsuccessful.
00:25:17
-When the usually reliable
Grace did not show up for work
00:25:21
or for her regular church
services, suspicions grew.
00:25:26
Finally, just before Christmas
in December 2015,
00:25:31
a concerned friend
reported Grace missing
00:25:34
to the local police.
00:25:37
-[ Speaking German ]
00:25:40
-Actually, at the beginning
of the inquiries,
00:25:43
there was no evidence
that Grace had indeed traveled.
00:25:46
People had also
contacted her family.
00:25:49
She wasn't there, and nobody
knew of a holiday trip
00:25:51
or a visit home,
00:25:53
and so it became
ever more apparent
00:25:55
that she had practically
disappeared without a trace.
00:25:58
-A search of the flat
that Horst Kroener
00:26:00
and his wife Grace shared
drew a blank.
00:26:04
There were no clues
to indicate foul play
00:26:06
or to the couple's whereabouts.
00:26:09
-After the act, he tidied up
00:26:11
and cleaned up
everything very thoroughly.
00:26:13
He put the rug,
on which he cut up the body,
00:26:15
on the balcony, rolled up,
00:26:17
but nobody noticed
that at first.
00:26:20
However, a small blood splatter
was found in the bedroom,
00:26:23
but no one knew
that a murder had taken place.
00:26:27
♪♪
00:26:29
-Police soon discovered
that Horst Kroener
00:26:32
had booked a ticket
for himself alone to Thailand.
00:26:36
But with no body found,
00:26:38
the case against Kroener
was circumstantial.
00:26:42
Nonetheless,
for investigators,
00:26:44
Kroener was the prime suspect.
00:26:48
-Well, it is almost
the classic question --
00:26:51
whether it's murder fact
or murder fiction, isn't it?
00:26:54
Who's the first person you're
likely to die at the hands of?
00:26:57
It's almost certainly to be
your husband.
00:26:59
That's why most murderers
know their victims
00:27:02
and most victims
know their murderers.
00:27:06
Probably the most likely victim
of all is a wife,
00:27:08
and the most likely
killer of all is a husband.
00:27:12
-On the 8th of January, 2016,
00:27:14
Horst Kroener returned
to Germany
00:27:17
and was arrested the next day.
00:27:20
Then, in a curious twist,
Kroener confessed to his crimes
00:27:24
and led police
to the storage unit
00:27:27
where they recovered
Grace's body.
00:27:30
-Most people are quite
surprised to hear that,
00:27:32
as soon as he's apprehended,
he completely spills the beans.
00:27:35
He tells the police everything.
00:27:37
But that doesn't surprise me
at all because he's aware,
00:27:40
"Okay. I've been caught,
so I'm in a situation now
00:27:44
"which is largely out
of my control.
00:27:46
"So to get some
of that control back,
00:27:49
"I'm going to be the one
who sets the narrative.
00:27:51
I'm going to be the one
that decides what happens."
00:27:53
So in confessing everything,
00:27:56
he has that feeling
of being in control again.
00:27:59
-Horst Kroener's trial began
nine months later
00:28:02
on the 25th of October, 2016,
00:28:05
at the courthouse
in Augsburg.
00:28:09
Journalist Jorg Heinzle
closely followed the trial.
00:28:13
-The interest in this case
was naturally huge.
00:28:17
There were various media
involved,
00:28:19
lots of reporters who wanted
to follow the process.
00:28:22
Because of the crime scene,
00:28:23
the dismemberment and the
storing of the body alone
00:28:27
meant that this case
was indeed out of the ordinary.
00:28:31
-Representing
Kroener at the trial
00:28:34
was Bernd Scharinger.
00:28:36
-[ Speaking German ]
-I had made the request
00:28:38
that the court make sure
that, initially,
00:28:41
in the context of the trial,
00:28:43
he would be pixelated,
which most of the media did.
00:28:48
-Kroener had decided on
a bizarre defense strategy,
00:28:52
one that would see
the wife-killer paint himself
00:28:55
as the victim.
00:28:56
-[ Speaking German ]
00:29:01
-The story that he told
in court, in my view,
00:29:03
is actually
more of a late defense claim.
00:29:06
I do think that the murder
of his wife was planned
00:29:08
and also executed in cold blood,
00:29:11
and that his suicidal thoughts
at that point
00:29:13
were certainly not acute
00:29:14
because, what would
have actually kept him
00:29:16
from putting those thoughts
into action?
00:29:18
-[ Continues in German ]
00:29:25
-[ Speaking German ]
00:29:27
-Even if it sounds very,
very strange,
00:29:30
I think he actually
had it in him.
00:29:33
He also said that the decision
to murder his wife
00:29:36
was made on that night
when he grabbed the hammer.
00:29:39
In other words, only after
the first blow of the hammer
00:29:42
did the intent
to kill manifest itself...
00:29:44
-[ Continues in German ]
00:29:47
-...according to him.
00:29:49
-[ Speaking German ]
00:29:54
-Here is someone trying
to conceal his serious guilt
00:29:57
so as not to be seen
as a monster.
00:30:00
♪♪
00:30:05
-In a letter written
by the killer
00:30:08
after his conviction
to the makers of this program,
00:30:11
Kroener lays out the plea
that he made to the jury.
00:30:15
-I allowed family, work,
and financial problems
00:30:19
as well as several
miscalculations, to influence me
00:30:22
to such an extent
that I completely blocked out
00:30:25
everything
that was good in my life.
00:30:28
I increasingly got myself into
a kind of state of desperation.
00:30:33
This situation became so extreme
that I was convinced
00:30:36
my life has no meaning anymore.
00:30:39
I wanted to die.
00:30:40
In the end, it was the only
thing I could think of.
00:30:43
♪♪
00:30:47
I believed,
to the very last moment,
00:30:49
that I would not be able
to do such a dreadful thing.
00:30:53
The idea she could feel
something was awful.
00:30:56
I didn't want her to feel
anything,
00:30:58
and for this reason,
I did it while she was asleep.
00:31:02
I never hated her.
00:31:03
We hadn't argued on that day.
00:31:05
It was only sheer desperation
00:31:07
that made me commit
this offense.
00:31:09
♪♪
00:31:13
-The self-serving defense
stunned observers of the case.
00:31:18
-He's almost presenting
Grace's murder
00:31:20
as something that he started
for her own good,
00:31:23
which is incredulous.
00:31:25
But when you look at the logic
00:31:27
and the decision-making
of somebody like Kroener,
00:31:31
he's always going to want
to present himself
00:31:33
as the victim and present
himself in a favorable light.
00:31:36
You can see how he gets
to the point.
00:31:38
It's all to protect himself.
00:31:40
-The case rocked Friedberg
and the whole of Germany.
00:31:44
-He didn't give an impression
of coldness.
00:31:47
He was rather reserved
and subdued,
00:31:50
but he had answered
the questions
00:31:52
and also tried to clarify
how things came to that point.
00:31:55
He was quite open about it.
00:31:58
He was also emotional
the whole time,
00:32:00
to the extent
that it was said,
00:32:02
"One cannot imagine that
there is a case being handled
00:32:05
where he is
the brutal murderer."
00:32:08
-[ Speaking German ]
00:32:11
-He had been labeled
with three characteristics --
00:32:14
a lack of motivation
because he had such low morals.
00:32:18
He himself admitted
that he wanted once more to go
00:32:20
to Thailand to have a good time,
00:32:22
and I suggested that this was
his motivation to murder --
00:32:26
in order to be able
to have a good time in Thailand.
00:32:29
Then, he was accused of greed
00:32:31
because he had stolen money
from his wife's account.
00:32:34
And, of course, insidiousness
00:32:36
because he had killed her
in her sleep.
00:32:39
♪♪
00:32:40
-Having confessed to the crime,
00:32:42
at stake now
was how long Kroener
00:32:45
would serve for
the callous murder of his wife.
00:32:49
At the trial, Kroener had
devised a cunning defense,
00:32:52
a strategy calculated
to keep himself out of prison.
00:32:56
The fight to save his own skin
had just begun.
00:33:02
If found guilty, Kroener would
serve life imprisonment
00:33:06
with a 15-year minimum
00:33:07
before he could be
considered for parole.
00:33:11
Supported by a wealth
of evidence and a confession,
00:33:15
prosecutors presented
a strong case for murder
00:33:18
against the 53-year-old
Bavarian wife-killer.
00:33:22
-When Kroener eventually
comes to trial,
00:33:26
he has confessed
to the killings.
00:33:27
So there is no question
of proving his guilt.
00:33:31
There is simply a question
of how he will be treated.
00:33:35
Is he sane?
00:33:37
Yes.
00:33:39
Did he plan it?
Yes.
00:33:41
Did he kill his wife when she
was asleep and defenseless?
00:33:45
Yes.
00:33:46
Did he then dismember her body?
Yes.
00:33:48
Did he then conceal the body
parts in storage boxes? Yes.
00:33:53
Quite often in German law,
00:33:56
you can be considered
for release
00:33:57
for a life sentence
after 15 years.
00:34:00
♪♪
00:34:02
-There is a big
contradiction here.
00:34:05
He himself tried to present it
00:34:07
as if everything had
taken place impulsively,
00:34:10
as if he had thought about it
relatively spontaneously.
00:34:12
What goes against this, however,
is that he thought
00:34:15
a lot about it
00:34:17
and had planned a lot
beforehand,
00:34:19
which could be gleaned from
the information on his computer.
00:34:22
-Determined to lessen
his sentence,
00:34:24
Kroener's lawyers try
to convince the jury
00:34:27
that the killing
was not premeditated.
00:34:30
Rather, the attack
was an impulsive act.
00:34:33
He even had to muster
the courage to do it.
00:34:37
♪♪
00:34:39
-So there is a story
that he had a few drinks,
00:34:42
that he summoned up
a bit of Dutch courage
00:34:44
by having
some alcohol beforehand.
00:34:47
I don't think that he would have
needed to do that
00:34:49
because he hasn't got
those emotions
00:34:51
or those feelings there
that he needs to numb.
00:34:53
So I'm skeptical of the fact
that he felt he had to have
00:34:57
a drink to summon up
the courage to do it.
00:34:59
He didn't need to do
that at all.
00:35:00
-Listening to it in retrospect,
00:35:03
he lists all the trivial things
that led him to take that step.
00:35:06
He explained in court,
for example,
00:35:08
that his wife once burned food
in the kitchen,
00:35:11
and that had really annoyed him
00:35:13
because he had to air
the house for two days,
00:35:16
and that was a sign
that she wasn't concentrating,
00:35:20
that maybe she was also
searching for someone new
00:35:24
and that she no longer took
their relationship seriously.
00:35:28
He also described
another example,
00:35:30
where shortly before the murder,
his car also broke down.
00:35:35
The alternator had broken,
00:35:36
and that had been so awful
for him
00:35:38
that he fell into
a deep hole again,
00:35:40
and he more or less
made the decision then
00:35:43
that it must end now,
and he has to kill Grace.
00:35:47
-In the letter written
to the makers
00:35:49
of this program from jail,
00:35:52
Kroener reiterated the story
that he told in court.
00:35:55
-All the horrible things
I did afterwards,
00:35:58
I could only do under the
continuing influence of alcohol.
00:36:01
Today, when I look back,
I feel nauseated,
00:36:04
and I can't understand myself.
00:36:06
Every action after the offense
had only one purpose --
00:36:10
to provide myself with
enough time to commit suicide.
00:36:13
-Kroener does, however, express
some remorse for his actions.
00:36:18
-What I did to her
and to our families
00:36:20
is the worst someone can do
to another human being,
00:36:23
especially in the case
of a loved one.
00:36:26
To this day, I can't comprehend
how I could have suppressed
00:36:29
my love for her
before and during the act.
00:36:32
-For some, Kroener's apology
00:36:35
and his diminished
responsibility defense
00:36:37
is still hard to believe.
00:36:40
-Is it true what the defendant
tells us here?
00:36:43
Yes. He is legally
allowed to lie.
00:36:46
He is allowed to,
in a purely legal way,
00:36:48
tell us the greatest
fairy tales.
00:36:50
And one always asks oneself,
00:36:53
"Is this really the defendant,
or is he telling us a story?"
00:36:57
I did have the impression
that he tried, in his way,
00:37:00
to answer the questions
openly and honestly.
00:37:02
Although, for me,
there was a feeling
00:37:04
that he was trying to make
everything sound nicer.
00:37:06
♪♪
00:37:08
In hindsight, he describes it
as being so bad
00:37:12
that it was
almost unbearable for him.
00:37:15
So you hear in the plot again
his self-pity,
00:37:18
which is probably shaping him.
00:37:20
-I think, when we look
at Kroener's claims
00:37:23
that he's felt suicidal
throughout his life,
00:37:26
we've got to take a step back
and say,
00:37:27
"Well, what effect does
that have on us
00:37:29
when we hear somebody say to us
that they feel suicidal?"
00:37:32
It helps us kind of empathize
with them.
00:37:35
It makes us feel sympathy
for them,
00:37:38
and we see them as the victim.
00:37:40
So I think he's aware
of the effect
00:37:42
that this narrative will have
00:37:44
when he presents it
to other people.
00:37:46
-The conclusions of
the prosecution's psychiatrist
00:37:50
did not support
Kroener's assessment of himself.
00:37:53
-[ Speaking German ]
00:37:55
-He was very self-centered.
00:37:57
He was scared of losing Grace,
00:37:59
and this anxiety,
this fear of losing Grace,
00:38:02
probably then led him
to become so aggressive
00:38:04
and to turn to
these murderous thoughts.
00:38:06
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:38:09
-[ Speaking German ]
00:38:13
-The report also came
to the conclusion
00:38:16
that he is the type of person
that avoided dealing
00:38:18
with problems
when they arose,
00:38:20
and he is also probably
very introverted.
00:38:23
As a result, the report came
to the conclusion
00:38:26
that he is actually,
so to speak, a normal person...
00:38:30
-[ Continues in German ]
00:38:32
-...that he also doesn't have
any illness --
00:38:34
in particular,
00:38:36
that he does not have
any mental illness.
00:38:39
-The jury was convinced
that Kroener,
00:38:42
driven by his
narcissistic urges,
00:38:44
killed his wife and carefully
disposed of her body.
00:38:48
On the 17th of November, 2016,
he was found guilty
00:38:53
of the murder of his wife,
37-year-old Grace.
00:38:57
But rather than the mandatory
15 years
00:39:01
before he could be
considered for parole,
00:39:03
Kroener was sentenced
to serve 20 years minimum.
00:39:07
-The severity of the guilt
prompted the judge
00:39:11
in Kroener's case to say,
00:39:14
"There has to be a minimum
sentence of at least 20 years
00:39:18
before he can be
considered for release."
00:39:20
-[ Speaking German ]
00:39:21
-He showed relatively
little emotion
00:39:23
during the whole process.
00:39:25
He faltered once
and burst into tears a bit,
00:39:28
but he took
the verdict quite well.
00:39:30
-[ Concludes in German ]
00:39:32
-Kroener reportedly apologized
to Grace's sisters,
00:39:35
who traveled from the
Philippines to attend the trial.
00:39:39
-I'm delighted
if Kroener's apparent remorse
00:39:43
helped Grace's family
deal with her killing.
00:39:46
And I'm delighted that they were
able to take her ashes
00:39:51
with them back
to the Philippines from Germany.
00:39:54
I have just never believed
00:39:56
that Kroener had
the slightest remorse,
00:40:00
and I believed he was simply
putting on appearances,
00:40:04
or rather
keeping up appearances
00:40:07
as a respectable
German citizen.
00:40:10
I think it was an absolute
charade from beginning to end.
00:40:13
-Horst Kroener murdered
his wife,
00:40:15
and he did it in one of the most
cruel and callous ways possible.
00:40:20
-Here's somebody who is
very cold,
00:40:22
who is very calculating,
00:40:24
who doesn't have genuine
feelings of love or warmth
00:40:27
or respect for his wife.
00:40:29
She's useful to him
at one point in time,
00:40:32
and then she ceases
being useful to him.
00:40:34
So he's going to absolutely
obliterate her.
00:40:38
-[ Speaking German ]
00:40:40
-Let me put it this way --
00:40:42
The man had indeed gone
through life unpunished,
00:40:45
had committed an act
that is so incomprehensible,
00:40:48
even for him.
00:40:49
-[ Continues in German ]
00:40:53
-Is 15 years appropriate?
Is 20 years appropriate?
00:40:58
I think what will transpire
in the end
00:41:01
is whether he processes
his actions to the extent
00:41:04
that one can say,
00:41:06
"This man
will never do it again."
00:41:10
-For me, it was a type of crime
00:41:11
that I'd never
experienced before.
00:41:14
And for me, what is still
until today incomprehensible
00:41:17
is this really terrible cruelty,
this brutality on the one hand,
00:41:22
and this cold, methodical
procedure on the other hand.
00:41:25
One simply imagines
a perpetrator
00:41:27
that gets some pleasure
out of the crime,
00:41:30
that wants to torment
the victim.
00:41:32
And that doesn't fit together,
not even now.
00:41:35
-[ Continues in German ]
00:41:37
-The crime doesn't fit with his
personality, and that is,
00:41:41
for me, what has made this crime
so very extraordinary.
00:41:45
-We've got somebody
who carried out a cold
00:41:47
and a calculated
and a planned murder
00:41:50
and somebody who tried
to get away with it,
00:41:53
so there are absolutely
no redeeming qualities
00:41:56
of this individual whatsoever.
00:41:57
♪♪
00:42:02
-Grace was just 37 years old
00:42:05
when she died
at the hands of her husband.
00:42:08
She was an innocent victim
of an extraordinary killer,
00:42:13
one who maliciously
murdered his wife
00:42:16
so he could satisfy
his selfish primal urges,
00:42:20
making Horst Kroener
00:42:21
one of the world's
most evil killers.
00:42:24
♪♪
00:42:34
♪♪
00:42:41
♪♪
