Joachim Georg Kroll (17 April 1933 – 1 July 1991) was a German
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 ...
,
child molester
Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whethe ...
,
necrophile
Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its ' ...
and
cannibal
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
who murdered a minimum of 8 women and young girls in the
Ruhr metropolitan region
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
from 1955 until his arrest on 3 July 1976. He was convicted of eight murders and one attempted murder, but confessed to a total of 14. He was sentenced to
life imprisonment on 8 April 1982.
Early life
Born the son of a miner in
Hindenburg (Zabrze),
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...
, Kroll was the sixth of nine children. After the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, during which his father was a
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
, Kroll's family moved to
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
.
Crimes
He began killing in 1955, after his mother died. Around 1960, Kroll went to
Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
and found work as a
toilet attendant
A bathroom attendant, restroom attendant, toilet attendant, or washroom attendant, is a cleaner for a public toilet. They maintain and clean the facilities, ensuring that toilet paper, soap, paper towels, and other necessary items are kept stock ...
for
Mannesmann
Mannesmann was a German industrial conglomerate. It was originally established as a manufacturer of steel pipes in 1890 under the name "Deutsch-Österreichische Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG". (Loosely translated: "German-Austrian Mannesmann pip ...
. Afterwards he worked for
Thyssen Industries and moved to Friesenstrasse 24, Laar, a district of Duisburg. At that time he resumed killing people.
List of victims
* 8 February 1955 – Irmgard Strehl, 19,
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
d and stabbed to death. Her
disemboweled
Disembowelment or evisceration is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract (the bowels, or viscera), usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an acciden ...
body was found in a barn in
Lüdinghausen
Lüdinghausen ( Westphalian: ''Lünkhusen'' or ''Lünksel'') is a town in district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, approx. 25 km south-west of Münster.
Town parts
The t ...
.
* 1956 – Erika Schuletter, 12, raped and strangled in Kirchhellen which is now part of
Bottrop
Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and rail cent ...
.
* 16 June 1959 – Klara Frieda Tesmer, 24, murdered in the meadows of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
, near
Rheinhausen
Rheinhausen () is a district of the city of Duisburg in Germany, with a population of 78,203 (December 31, 2020) and an area of 38.68 km². It lies on the left bank of the river Rhine.
Rheinhausen consists of the neighbourhoods: Rumeln-Kald ...
. A mechanic, Heinrich Ott, was arrested for the crime. He hanged himself in jail.
* 26 July 1959 – Manuela Knodt, 16, raped and strangled in the City Park of
Essen. Slices of flesh were carved from her buttocks and thighs.
* 23 April 1962 – Petra Giese, 13, raped and strangled in
Dinslaken
Dinslaken is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness racing track, its now closed coal mine in Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods ''Hiesfeld'' and ''Eppinghoven''.
Geography
Dinslaken ...
-Bruckhausen. Vinzenz Kuehn was arrested and convicted.
* 4 June 1962 – Monika Tafel, 12, killed in
Walsum, slices of flesh carved from her buttocks. Walter Quicker was arrested for the crime. He was later released, but was driven by neighbors to suicide in October.
* 3 September 1962 – Barbara Bruder, 12, abducted in
Burscheid
Burscheid is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town is known for its sub-communities (somewhat equivalent to the American concept of neighborhoods) and the town centre with its marketplace and c ...
. Her body was never found.
* 22 August 1965 – Hermann Schmitz, 25, and his girlfriend Marion Veen were attacked as they sat in a car in a lover's lane in
Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
-Großenbaum. Hermann—Kroll's only male victim—was killed, but Veen escaped.
* 13 September 1966 – Ursula Rohling, 20, strangled in
Foersterbusch Park near
Marl. Her boyfriend Adolf Schickel committed
suicide after being falsely accused of the crime.
* 22 December 1966 – Ilona Harke, aged 5, raped and drowned in a ditch in
Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...
.
* 12 July 1969 – Maria Hettgen, 61, raped and strangled at
Hückeswagen
Hückeswagen ) is a town in the north of Oberbergischer Kreis, Oberbergischen Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the governmental district Cologne, governmental district of Cologne.
Geography
Hückeswagen is situated on the ...
.
* 21 May 1970 – Jutta Rahn, 13, strangled walking home from a train station. Peter Schay was arrested and eventually released. He confessed to the crime in 1976 after being hounded by his neighbors.
* 8 May 1976 – Karin Toepfer, 10, raped and strangled in
Voerde
Voerde ([]) is a town in the Wesel (district), district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approximately south-east of Wesel, and 20 km north of Duisburg.
City structure
According t ...
.
* 3 July 1976 – Marion Ketter, 4. Parts of her body were in the process of being simmered when Kroll was arrested.
Method
Kroll was very particular about where he killed, only killing in the same place on a few occasions years apart. This, and the fact that there were a number of other killers operating in the area at the time, helped him to evade capture. Kroll would surprise his victims and strangle them quickly. Afterward he would strip the body and have intercourse with it, often masturbating over it again. He would then mutilate and cut off pieces to be eaten later. Upon returning home, he would have intercourse again with a rubber
sex doll
A sex doll (also love doll, fuck doll or blowup doll) is a type of anthropomorphic sex toy in the size and shape of a sexual partner. The sex doll may consist of an entire body, or just a head, pelvis, or other body part (vagina, anus, mouth ...
he had for this purpose.
Arrest
On 3 July 1976, Kroll was arrested for
kidnap
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
ping and killing a four-year-old girl named Marion Ketter. As police went from home to home, a neighbor approached a policeman and told him that the waste-pipe in his apartment building had blocked up, and when he had asked his neighbor, Kroll, whether he knew what had been blocking the pipe, Kroll had simply replied, "guts". Upon this report, the police went up to Kroll's apartment and found the body of Marion Ketter cut up: some parts were in the refrigerator, a small hand was cooking in a pan of boiling water and the
entrail
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...
s were found stuck in the waste-pipe. Kroll was immediately arrested.
Trial and death
He admitted killing Marion Ketter and gave details of 13 other murders and one attempted murder over the previous two decades.
Kroll said that he often sliced portions of flesh from his victims to cook and eat them, claiming that he did this to save on his grocery bills. In custody, he believed that he was going to get a simple operation to cure him of his homicidal urges and would then be released from prison. Instead he was charged with eight murders and one attempted murder. In April 1982, after a 151-day trial, he was convicted on all counts and was given a
life sentence
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 fo ...
.
He died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
in 1991 in the prison of Rheinbach.
See also
*
List of serial killers by number of victims
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons.A serial killer is most commonly defined as a person who kills three or more peop ...
Books
* Stephan Harbort, ''"Ich musste sie kaputtmachen". Anatomie eines Jahrhundertmörders''; Düsseldorf (Droste) 2004 ()
*
References
External links
The Jockel Project by DDVSerial Killer Spotlight
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroll, Joachim
1933 births
1991 deaths
20th-century German criminals
Fugitives
Fugitives wanted by Germany
German cannibals
German murderers of children
German people convicted of child sexual abuse
German people convicted of murder
German people who died in prison custody
German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
German rapists
German serial killers
Male serial killers
Necrophiles
People convicted of murder by Germany
People from the Province of Upper Silesia
People from Zabrze
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Germany
Prisoners who died in German detention
Serial killers who died in prison custody