Hermann Duft and Hans Wilhelm Bassenauer were a pair of

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 **Ger ...

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

s who murdered six people in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, within a short period in 1969. They were captured, tried, sentenced to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

and executed by the Greek authorities.

Background

Duft was born in

Harheim Harheim () is a borough (''Ortsbezirk'') of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is a possible birthplace of the Minnesinger Bernger von Horheim Bernger von Horheim was a Rhenish Minnesänger of the late twelfth century. He wrote in the tradition of ...

near

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 ...

and Bassenauer in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, both in 1938.''Historia'', 2007 They were both plumbers. Duft was

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, while Bassenauer was married, with three children. Duft had briefly served in the Foreign Legion during the war in Algeria.''Historia'', 2007

Crimes

Duft and Bassenauer arrived in Greece by car on 17 February 1969.''Palmographos'', 2013 Within the next few weeks, posing as

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

s, they murdered six people, using a Winchester rifle and a knife. The reason for most of their murders was

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

. On the 5 March, they killed the night watchmen of a gas station near Thebes, a soldier who was present and heavily injured another one. On 13 March, they murdered a Greek-American stockbroker in Voula, on 7 April a taxi driver and on 9 April a gas station attendant near Athens. Finally, on 12 April, they murdered, on the road from Athens to

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a Greek who was living in Germany and vacationing in his homeland. They abandoned their car and took the victim's to return to Athens. The dictatorial regime in Greece at the time forbade newspapers from publishing news about this series of murders, until the two perpetrators were captured.

Capture

The

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

were alerted, on the 16 April, by a man who saw "small specks of blood" on a car with German license plates parked outside his house, which was, in fact, the car of the pair's last victim. Duft and Bassenauer were apprehended when they showed up to pick up the car, questioned and then arrested by the police. They confessed to their crimes and put to trial, accused of murder, robbery, and related charges.

Trial and punishment

The trial of Duft and Bassenauer was held shortly thereafter at the Appeals Court. They were found guilty and sentenced to

for each one of the murders. Their appeal was rejected by the Areopagus

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, as was their request to the Council of Pardons to reduce their sentence to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. They were executed by

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

on 15 December 1969, Bassenauer in

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

and Duft in

Aegina Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born ...

, in whose prisons they were respectively being held. Bassenauer's widow subsequently stated, "my husband got a just punishment," but objected to the execution taking place near Christmas time.''Spiegel'', 1969 An article in a German magazine observed that "once again, Germans are being executed in Greece for murder."

Notes

References

"Zür Stärkung Unserer Basis Erforderlich"
("To Strengthen Our Basics") by

Gerhard Mauz Gerhard Mauz (November 29, 1925 in Tübingen – August 15, 2003 in Reinbek) was a German journalist and correspondent for judicial processes. Mauz was the son of T4-Gutachter Friedrich Mauz (1900-1979).Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', 22 December 1969 (in

) *''Historia'' ("History") magazine, issue 464, February 2007 (in Greek)
"The execution of Duft & Bassenauer"
''Palmographos'', 15 December 2013 (in Greek)

External links

*
Smells Like Blood
',

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

based on the Duft/Bassenauer murders {{DEFAULTSORT:Duft, Hermann and Bassenauer, Hans Wilhelm 1938 births 1969 deaths 1969 murders in Greece 20th-century executions by Greece 20th-century German criminals Criminal duos Criminals from Hesse Executed German serial killers Executed people from Hesse German people executed abroad German robbers Male serial killers People convicted of murder by Greece People executed by Greece by firing squad