Detectives prove Kürten wrote his murder letters on the same thick white wrapping paper used at the shop where he bought groceries.
Kürten leads police to a bush in a park where he claims to have hidden two hammers used in the attacks. When they arrive, the hammers are gone. Police circulate their description and later two small boys hand them in.
Police find handbags of Ida Reuter and Elisabeth Dörrier in the front gardens where Kürten said he'd thrown them.
To police, Kürten claims his motive was compensatory justice: innocent blood of his victims to torment his tormentors and shock the society that imprisoned him for so many years. He claims this was why he wrote letters to police. Berg later claims Kürten specifically did not want to be known as a lust murderer. Therefore, accusations of this type in initial interviews are likely to anger and upset him.
Kürten's criminal record is extensive, totalling 17 prison sentences for theft, desertion from the army, discharging firearms and molestation. His first prison sentence was in 1897: two years for theft. His last was the six years from 1915 to 1921. His longest stint in jail was seven years in Münster from 1905 to 1912 for desertion. During interrogation, Kürten claims that in prison he was treated 'worse than a dog': he uses this to back up his declared motive of murdering to avenge himself on society.
Fri 30 May 1930
Kürten officially handed over as remand prisoner to examining magistrate.
Through the week, Freiheit and other left wing papers have been pronouncing their outrage at Johann Stausberg's April 1929 arrest and continued imprisonment. Police respond on 30th May with the following: 'All other cases are cleared up, but those of Ohliger and Scheer are still uncertain and wrapped in mystery.' In reality, it seems that Kürten has already confessed to the Ohliger and Scheer murders. Indeed, Kürten has also confessed to two murders in Altenburg, Thuringia, which Düsseldorf Kripo believes he couldn't possibly have committed. He also admits murdering Emma Gross, though, as Seaton-Wagner reports: 'here he had not the correct knowledge of time, place and position which he betrayed in all the other charges laid against him.' Police disregard this confession and Kürten later retracts it. Police never discover who killed Emma Gross.
Tues 24 June 1930
Under examination by the magistrate, Kürten changes tack and denies being the Düsseldorf murderer. He claims he got the details of the crimes from the newspapers and made up many of the details. After several weeks of cross-examination, Kürten reverts to his original statement. He is the Ripper after all.
June 1930 – Apr 1931
Kürten is a remand prisoner under observation by several psychiatric and psychological experts. Karl Berg, as forensic pathologist, plays a key role in psychological cross-examination and later publishes a book of the case based on his findings. Over several months, Kürten admits to 79 cases of attacks, rape, murder and arson, stretching back to November 1899 (after he was released from his first jail term). He committed his first murder in 1913. Frau Kühn's case, which first alerted Düsseldorf police to the possibility of a serial murderer in their city, becomes case no 45 on Berg's list.
To Berg, Kürten also gradually reveals the sexual nature of his crimes, involving ejaculation without orgasm from the intense pleasure he got at the sight of his victims' flowing blood. Experts assess Kürten's mental health under paragraph 51 of the German criminal code, which states that a criminal is absolved of responsibility if found to be experiencing 'a state of consciousness or a diseased disturbance of mental activity which impedes the operation of free will...' Berg argues that Kürten's lucid memory of his crimes is the first indication of his legal sanity.
Mon 13 Apr – Thurs 23 Apr 1931
Kürten's trial at a special session of the Düsseldorf Criminal Court held in a hall in police headquarters to protect Kürten from public attack. The court charges Kürten with ten murders and convicts him of nine of them. The court sentences Kürten to death by guillotine.
Thurs 18 June 1931
Frau Kürten writes to inform her husband that she has received 4000 Reichsmark in reward money for turning him in to the authorities.
June 1931
Kürten petitions Prussian Justice Minister for a reprieve.
Weds 1 July 1931
Petition declined.
Thurs 2 July 1931
Kürten taken to Klingelputz Prison in Cologne and executed by guillotine.
About the author
For news, reviews, interviews and lots more about Damien Seaman and our other great authors, visit Blasted Heath. Sign up to the newsletter and we'll even send you a free book by way of thanks!
The Killing Of Emma Gross Page 26