Extreme Evil - Taking Crime to the Next Level (True Crime) by Phil Clarke, Kate Briggs, Tom Briggs Page B
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child, he only managed five years of primary school (psychiatrists at his trial would score his IQ at just seventy-six) and, with his father away fighting, he was soon put to work on the local farms to bring money to the table. It was during these times the boy would realize he had an abnormal sexual predilection, becoming sexually aroused by the slaughter of pigs.
Come the end of the war, as Joachim was approaching his teens, his family headed west, settling in North Rhine-Westphalia. Over the next ten years, with his father languishing in a Russian Gulag, he lived with his mother and six sisters in a cramped two-room apartment.
K ROLL’S F IRST K ILL
The start of Joachim Kroll’s killing began following the death of his mother on 21 January 1955. Whether it was an angry reaction to the loss of a loved one or simple relief at being free to act on the thoughts in his head, this short, moon-faced German began a series of some fourteen murders over a twenty-year period.
His first victim was runaway nineteen-year-old Irmgard Strehl. On 8 February 1955, less than three weeks after losing his mother, Kroll approached the blonde in the green coat, inviting her to walk with him in the woods outside the old town of Luedinghausen. When his attempts to kiss her met with disapproval, he dragged the teenager into an outhouse, raped then stabbed her to death, disembowelling her body with a long-bladed knife.
Five days later police discovered Irmgard’s body in the barn where he had left her. A thorough investigation followed but without a single witness nor piece of useful evidence, the case remained unsolved. Joachim Kroll had completed his first kill and better still had succeeded in evading detection.
T URNING S ERIAL K ILLER
Following his slaying of Miss Strehl, Kroll quickly sought another victim in the North Rhine-Westphalia area. The second to fall into his evil clutches was twelve-year-old Erika Schuleter, whom he raped then throttled to death in the town of Kirchhellen. Yet again the authorities were unable to point the finger and Joachim was free to plan his next attack.
Three years passed before he took his third life, securing the title of serial killer. In 1957 he moved to a small town near Duisburg, a heavy industrial city ravaged by nearly three hundred bombing raids during the war, taking a three-room apartment on Friesenstrasse. Over the years his neighbours saw him as a kindly man with a good sense of humour, unaware he spent the evenings practising his strangle holds on inflatable sex dolls.
Once he had grown accustomed to his surroundings, Kroll resumed his attacks. Singling out a perfect spot close to the Rheinbrucke in Rheinhausen, the killer made his move on a twenty-three-year-old young woman named Erika. His target proved too strong and he was forced to flee. Less than a month later he returned to the same place, this time with more resolve to satisfy his urges.
On 16 June 1959 Kroll turned serial killer with the murder of Klara Frieda Tesmer in a meadow near Rheinhausen. Forensics discovered the body had been raped post-mortem following strangulation. A large amount of ejaculate was also found on the victim, leading investigators to think this was the work of a gang rather than one man.
K ROLL T HE C ANNIBAL
In the summer heat, Kroll was a helpless slave to his sadistic desires, now travelling further afield to seek out a potential victim. On 26 July, he raped and strangled Manuela Knodt in the City Park of Essen nearly fifteen miles east of home. Surrendering to even deeper desires, Joachim carved sizeable portions from her buttocks and thighs to take home. His modus operandi was evolving.
Yet again Kroll slipped through the net cast by police. By February the following year detectives believed they had Manuela’s killer in custody when twenty-three-year-old Horst Otto walked into a police station to confess. The fake served eight years. Perhaps fearing he was pushing his
Come the end of the war, as Joachim was approaching his teens, his family headed west, settling in North Rhine-Westphalia. Over the next ten years, with his father languishing in a Russian Gulag, he lived with his mother and six sisters in a cramped two-room apartment.
K ROLL’S F IRST K ILL
The start of Joachim Kroll’s killing began following the death of his mother on 21 January 1955. Whether it was an angry reaction to the loss of a loved one or simple relief at being free to act on the thoughts in his head, this short, moon-faced German began a series of some fourteen murders over a twenty-year period.
His first victim was runaway nineteen-year-old Irmgard Strehl. On 8 February 1955, less than three weeks after losing his mother, Kroll approached the blonde in the green coat, inviting her to walk with him in the woods outside the old town of Luedinghausen. When his attempts to kiss her met with disapproval, he dragged the teenager into an outhouse, raped then stabbed her to death, disembowelling her body with a long-bladed knife.
Five days later police discovered Irmgard’s body in the barn where he had left her. A thorough investigation followed but without a single witness nor piece of useful evidence, the case remained unsolved. Joachim Kroll had completed his first kill and better still had succeeded in evading detection.
T URNING S ERIAL K ILLER
Following his slaying of Miss Strehl, Kroll quickly sought another victim in the North Rhine-Westphalia area. The second to fall into his evil clutches was twelve-year-old Erika Schuleter, whom he raped then throttled to death in the town of Kirchhellen. Yet again the authorities were unable to point the finger and Joachim was free to plan his next attack.
Three years passed before he took his third life, securing the title of serial killer. In 1957 he moved to a small town near Duisburg, a heavy industrial city ravaged by nearly three hundred bombing raids during the war, taking a three-room apartment on Friesenstrasse. Over the years his neighbours saw him as a kindly man with a good sense of humour, unaware he spent the evenings practising his strangle holds on inflatable sex dolls.
Once he had grown accustomed to his surroundings, Kroll resumed his attacks. Singling out a perfect spot close to the Rheinbrucke in Rheinhausen, the killer made his move on a twenty-three-year-old young woman named Erika. His target proved too strong and he was forced to flee. Less than a month later he returned to the same place, this time with more resolve to satisfy his urges.
On 16 June 1959 Kroll turned serial killer with the murder of Klara Frieda Tesmer in a meadow near Rheinhausen. Forensics discovered the body had been raped post-mortem following strangulation. A large amount of ejaculate was also found on the victim, leading investigators to think this was the work of a gang rather than one man.
K ROLL T HE C ANNIBAL
In the summer heat, Kroll was a helpless slave to his sadistic desires, now travelling further afield to seek out a potential victim. On 26 July, he raped and strangled Manuela Knodt in the City Park of Essen nearly fifteen miles east of home. Surrendering to even deeper desires, Joachim carved sizeable portions from her buttocks and thighs to take home. His modus operandi was evolving.
Yet again Kroll slipped through the net cast by police. By February the following year detectives believed they had Manuela’s killer in custody when twenty-three-year-old Horst Otto walked into a police station to confess. The fake served eight years. Perhaps fearing he was pushing his
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