Arthur Gatter
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Arthur Gatter (1940 – December 12, 1990), nicknamed The Hammer-Killer of
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
serial killer who killed six homeless people and two homosexuals in the city parks in 1990.


Murders

The murders occurred from February 1 to May 22, 1990, in the outskirts of Frankfurt. Frankfurt at the time had around 2,400 homeless staying in the city and especially in the greener areas.Elisabeth Lücke: ''Frankfurt's Dark Side: Spectacular Criminal Cases'', Sutton Verlag, 2014, p. 77, . * February 2, 1990: a crime scene was found in Weißfrauenstraße. A security guard found the homeless 43-year-old Hans-Peter "Peterchen" S. at 5:00 AM. * February 7, 1990: Another victim, 22-year-old Kurt Helmut H. was found with fatal head injuries. He was not a homeless person, therefore initially no connection to the first victim was established. * April 2, 1990: At the bus stop at Rechneigrabenstraße. At 5:40, the tramp Helmut R. was found with severe head injuries which lead to his violent death. * April 3, 1990: Two victims were killed near the Eschenheimer plant. The police reached to this and founded the special operation "Berber" under Commissioner Karlheinz Wagner, and measures were taken. For example, dolls were draped as potential victims on park benches and plainclothed officers were to lure the offender as "decoys". * April 9, 1990: Helmut R. was murdered in Ostzeil. * April 11, 1990: A homeless man said he saw a man approach a sleeping person with a blunt object. After a
facial composite A facial composite is a graphical representation of one or more eyewitnesses' memories of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of (usually serious) crimes. These images a ...
was made, a suspect was arrested in Gallus, but had to be released due to lack of evidence. * May 4, 1990: 46-year-old Hans-Peter M.'s bloody corpse was found around 7:30. * May 5, 1990: 60-year-old Engelbert G. and 42-year-old Nicola Z. died about 50 meters apart. A crime scene photo with a bloodstained park bench visualised the brutality of the act. This meant that three homeless people had been murdered within 24 hours. The police tried with surveillance technology (including stealth cameras in bird houses) to catch the culprit red-handed. However, the diffused parking lights and the inadequate camera technology were not enough to attract investigation-relevant images. Even a survey of dry-cleaning companies on whether blood-stained clothing has been delivered, provided no results. In the homeless scene, the fear was reversed and the city put up additional shelters and left the subway stops open overnight, so that as few people as possible had to sleep on park benches. *May 20, 1990:
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian native Anderson S. followed a man into a bush, supposedly to have sex with him. However, he was instead stabbed but managed to survive. The badly-injured man fled and collapsed on a park bench, where he was subsequently killed by the murderer. *May 22, 1990: Heinrich O. became the Hammer-Killer's last victim. A local resident had witnessed the incident and alerted the police. Only 12 minutes after the murder, a suspect was arrested.


Modus operandi

On May 22, 1990, Arthur Gatter was arrested in connection to the hammer murders. As the supposed murder weapon a metalwork hammer was secured, which he carried hidden in a plastic bag in the armpit. Through this instrument, the typical impression fractures or perforated structures in the skull came about, as determined in forensic medicine. He systematically searched for victims on park benches and surprised them in their sleep. He watched them for a while, until he was sure he could do his job safely. For sneaking purposes he wore low-noise rubber gloves. He hit with so much force that the blood splashed meter-wide.


Life

Arthur Gatter was a professional electrician by profession who lived in
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for a while. After returning to Germany, he worked on assembly and traveled to countries in the
Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
. Since the 1980s, he was no longer able to work and trashed his apartment in Wilhelm-Leuschner-Straße. It is believed that his
schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
was already greatly advanced at this time. Even in his next residence in Bornheim, he behaved suspiciously. Partly he had to be examined in a clinic for psychiatry and psychotherapy in
Haina Haina (Kloster) is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northwest Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Haina lies in Waldeck-Frankenberg south of Frankenberg and east of Burgwald at the southwest slope of the Kellerwald range. It lies on the ...
. A psychiatric report which was made at the time attested him an
insanity defense The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the cr ...
.Elisabeth Lücke: ''Frankfurt's Dark Side: Spectacular Criminal Cases'', Sutton Verlag, 2014, p. 80, . Before he could be taken to court, on December 12, 1990, Gatter hanged himself with a gauze bandage.


Psychogram of the offender

Arthur Gatter grew up as a loner and already suffered in the early stages of anxiety and mental health problems, which expanded into a paranoid schizophrenia. By the late 1980s, a bizarre world of madness took over his thinking and acting. He told the police that a dark force had taken his victims to the park to be killed by him. Since 1987, he is said to have heard voices that dominated his life from then on. During the crime scene, Gatter made gurgling noises and mannerisms that are typical of certain mental illnesses. He said to have felt no remorse for his crimes or his victims.


See also

*
List of German serial killers A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial killin ...


External links


Trail of the culprit, The Hammer Killer, MDR, March 23, 2016


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatter, Arthur 1940 births 1990 murders in Germany 1990 suicides Criminals from Hesse German serial killers Male serial killers People from Ravensburg People with schizophrenia Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody Suicides by hanging in Germany Violence against gay men Violence against men in Europe