The murder of Jakob von Metzler was a German murder case. In 2002 11-year old Jakob von Metzler was kidnapped and murdered by the law student Magnus Gäfgen in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. The following year, Gäfgen was convicted and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

. The case drew controversy over the fact that Gäfgen was threatened with

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

during his interrogation by the police in order to save his victim's life. The

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

case of ''Gäfgen v. Germany'' has been widely discussed in debates on torture. In January 2015, it became known that Gäfgen had changed his name to Thomas David Lukas Olsen, reportedly inspired by the fictional Danish criminal

Egon Olsen Egon Olsen (born 12 March 1925 (DK), 13 March 1923 (NO)) is a fictional character in the Danish '' Olsenbanden'' film series as well as in the Norwegian remake. He is portrayed by Ove Sprogøe in the Danish version and by Arve Opsahl in the Norw ...

Kidnapping and murder of Jakob von Metzler

Gäfgen has a modest family background, but went on to study law at the

Goethe University Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

in 1996. On 27 September 2002 he kidnapped Jakob von Metzler in order to blackmail his parents, but killed him in his apartment. Gäfgen then demanded one million euro in ransom from the Metzlers, who were banking dynasts. He was observed by the police when he picked up the ransom. After a few hours, during which he had booked a holiday and not released his victim, who was already dead, he was arrested. After being threatened with

, as ordered by Frankfurt Police Vice President Wolfgang Daschner, he confessed and told where the body was hidden.

Legal proceedings

In the conviction of Gäfgen for murder to life imprisonment in July 2003, the court established his grave level of guilt (''besondere Schwere der Schuld''). As a consequence, he was not eligible for early release after 15 years, as is otherwise usual for life prisoners. Gäfgen's appeal to the

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice ( , ) is the highest court of Private law, civil and Criminal law, criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, le ...

was rejected in May 2004. His complaint to the

Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-W ...

was rejected in December 2004. In December 2004 Frankfurt deputy police chief Wolfgang Daschner received a suspended sentence of a €10,800 fine for ordering a subordinate, Ortwin E., to threaten Gäfgen with torture. Ortwin E. was sentenced to a €3,600 fine. In 2005, Gäfgen filed a complaint against Germany at the

(case no. 22978/05, ''Gäfgen v. Germany'') which he partially won in 2010: Germany was found to have violated article 3 ECHR (Prohibition of torture and

inhuman and degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Hu ...

), but was found not to have violated article 6 (Right to a fair trial). Additionally, he sued the state of Hessen and demanded compensation for allegedly suffering trauma after being threatened with torture, but lost the case. In August 2011 Magnus Gäfgen was awarded €3,000 damages for the threats he endured from the police. Gäfgen originally wanted €10,000. His liquidator tried to seize the money.

Life in prison

Magnus Gäfgen is serving his life sentence in Schwalmstadt Prison in the state of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. He passed the first state examination in law while in prison, and published the autobiography ''Allein mit Gott – Der Weg zurück'' (''Alone with God – The way back'') in 2005. His plans to establish a "Gäfgen Foundation" that should help children who had been victims of crime sparked controversy, and after authorities stated they would never allow such a foundation to be registered, he dropped the plans. In 2017 he applied to be released on probation. In 2018 the authorities determined that he is still dangerous and rejected the application. After parole was rejected, the minimum prison sentence was set at 23 years, i.e. until September 2025.

Film adaptations and documentaries

The murder case has been the subject of several film adaptations and documentaries. An episode of ''

Tatort ("Crime Scene") is a German-language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with 30 feature-length episodes per year, making it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public-se ...

'' from 2005 was loosely based on the case. ARD produced the movie ''Eine Frage des Gewissens'' in 2006, while an episode in the ZDF series ''

Kommissarin Lucas ''Kommissarin Lucas'' is a German series of telefilms set in Regensburg and Nuremberg, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany. It streams in some English-language countries as "Detective Ellen Lucas." The series had starred Ulrike Kriener in the title ...

'' from that year was also based on the case. The documentary ''Der Mordfall Jakob von Metzler: Ein Verbrechen und seine Folgen'' was broadcast by

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

in 2007 and an episode in the series ''

Die großen Kriminalfälle ''Die großen Kriminalfälle'' ("The Great Criminal Cases") is a German documentary television Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documenta ...

'' was broadcast by ARD in 2008. In 2012 the feature film ' was released. Gäfgen was portrayed by

Johannes Allmayer Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

.Spielfilm über den Fall Metzler
(Der Spiegel)

Literature

* Adrienne Lochte: ''Sie werden dich nicht finden. Der Fall Jakob von Metzler.'' Droemer/Knaur 2004, * Magnus Gäfgen: ''Allein mit Gott – Der Weg zurück.'' Bendorf: Atlantic-Millenium-Press 2005,

References

External links

ECtHR Chamber JudgmentECtHR Grand Chamber judgment (2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metzler, Jakob von 2000s missing person cases 2002 murders in Germany Child murder in Germany Deaths by person in Germany Incidents of violence against boys Child abduction in Germany Kidnappings in Germany Missing person cases in Germany Ransom September 2002 in Germany