Marianne Bachmeier (3 June 1950 – 17 September 1996) became famous in

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 ...

after she shot and killed the murderer of her daughter in an act of

vigilantism Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

in the hall of the District Court of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

in 1981.

Youth and family

Bachmeier grew up in Sarstedt, after her parents fled from

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. Her father had been a member of the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

. Her parents divorced, and her mother later remarried. In 1966, at the age of 16, Bachmeier had her first child, who she gave up for adoption as an infant. She became pregnant again at the age of 18 by her then-boyfriend. Shortly before the birth of her daughter, Bachmeier was raped. Her second child was also given up for adoption as an infant. In 1973, Bachmeier's third daughter, Anna, was born. After that birth, Bachmeier had a

tubal ligation Tubal ligation (commonly known as having one's "tubes tied") is a surgical procedure for female sterilization in which the fallopian tubes are permanently blocked, clipped or removed. This prevents the fertilization of eggs by sperm and thus th ...

operation, and she raised her child as a single parent.

Murder of her daughter

On 5 May 1980, when Anna Bachmeier was seven years old, she had an argument with her mother and decided to skip school. Anna was abducted by Klaus Grabowski, a 35-year-old butcher, whose home she had visited to play with his cats. He held Anna for several hours at his home, sexually assaulted her, and ultimately strangled her with a pair of his fiancée's tights. According to the prosecutor, he tied the girl up and packed her into a box, which he then left on the bank of a canal. His fiancée turned him in to the police. Klaus Grabowski was a convicted sex offender and had previously been sentenced for the sexual abuse of two girls. In 1976, he voluntarily submitted to

chemical castration Chemical castration is castration via anaphrodisiac drugs, whether to reduce libido and sexual activity, to treat cancer, or otherwise. Unlike surgical castration, where the gonads are removed through an incision in the body, ...

, though it was later revealed that he underwent

hormone treatment Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are oncologic hor ...

to try to reverse the castration. Once arrested, Grabowski stated that he did not intend to abuse Anna sexually. He said that Anna tried to seduce and extort him, and his fear of going back to prison prompted him to kill her. He said the girl had wanted to tell her mother that he had touched her inappropriately, with the aim of extorting money from him.

Vigilante justice in the courtroom

On 6 March 1981, the third day of the trial, Marianne Bachmeier smuggled a

Beretta 70 The Beretta 70 is a magazine-fed, single-action semi-automatic pistol series designed and produced by Beretta of Italy, which replaced the earlier 7.65mm Beretta M1935 pistol. Some pistols in this series were also marketed as the Falcon, New Pu ...

into the courtroom of Lübeck District Court and shot the confessed killer of her daughter, Klaus Grabowski, in the back. She aimed the gun at Grabowski's back and pulled the trigger eight times. Seven of the shots hit him, and the 35-year-old defendant was killed almost instantly. This is likely the most well-known case of vigilante justice in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. It sparked extensive media coverage, and television crews from all over the world traveled to Lübeck to report on this case. A large part of the population showed understanding for her actions. She sold her life story for about 250,000

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

in an exclusive to the news magazine ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

''.

Sentence for manslaughter

On 2 November 1982, Bachmeier was initially charged in court with

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. Later the prosecution dropped the murder charge. After 28 days of negotiations, the Board agreed on the verdict. Four months after the opening of proceedings she was convicted on 2 March 1983 by the Circuit Court Chamber of the District Court Lübeck for

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

and sentenced for unlawful possession of a firearm to six years in prison but was released after serving three years.

Moving abroad

Marianne Bachmeier married in 1985 and in 1988 moved to

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, with her husband, a teacher. They lived in a German camp where her husband taught at a German school. They divorced in 1990 and she moved to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. She was diagnosed with cancer in Sicily, and then returned to Germany.

Interview

On 21 September 1995, she appeared on the talk show ''Fliege'' on the

Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the nine regional public broadcasting corporations that are member ...

TV channel. She admitted that she had shot the alleged killer of her daughter after careful consideration, to enforce the law on him, and to prevent him from further spreading lies about her daughter Anna.

Death

On 17 September 1996, Bachmeier died at the age of 46 from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

in a hospital in

. It had actually been her desire to die in her adopted home of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. Before her death, she asked the

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...

(NDR) reporter, Lukas Maria Böhmer, to accompany her and film the last stages of her life. She is buried in the same grave as her daughter Anna in a graveyard in Lübeck.

Legacy

In the early 1980s, the Anna Collective, a group made up of

Aida Jordão Aida Jordão is a Portuguese-Canadian playwright, theatre director, and academic. She is a co-founder of the feminist theatre group, Company of Sirens, and she co-created '' This is For You, Anna'', a germinal Canadian feminist theatre play. Ea ...

, Suzanne Odette Khuri,

Ann-Marie MacDonald Ann-Marie MacDonald (born October 29, 1958) is a Canadian playwright, author, actress, and broadcast host who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. MacDonald is the daughter of a member of Canada's military; she was born at an air force base near ...

, Patricia Nichols,

Baņuta Rubess Baņuta Rubess (born 1956) is a Canadian theatre director, playwright, and professor. She co-wrote '' This is For You, Anna'' as a member of the Anna Project. Rubess was a co-recipient of the 1988 Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award for childr ...

, Tori Smith, Barb Taylor, and

Maureen White Patricia Maureen White, more commonly known as Maureen White, is a specialist in international humanitarian affairs and a fundraiser for the American Democratic Party. She is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins School ...

, began work on a theatre piece about Bachmeier and her vigilante act. A short version of the play premiered in 1983. The completed play, '' This is for You, Anna'', premiered in 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachmeier, Marianne 1996 deaths 1950 births Vigilantes Deaths from pancreatic cancer Vigilantism against sex offenders