B1 butcher

Name-giving national road B1 in Namibia

The B1-Butcher ( English B1 Butcher , in German "B1- Fleischer " or "the butcher of B1") is an unknown serial killer in Namibia .
At least five feminicides in 2005 and 2007 are attributed to the B1 butcher . In 2007 a Namibian of German descent was accused of rape , arrested and later linked to these unsolved murders. However, after prolonged pre- trial detention , he was acquitted for lack of evidence. In addition, a Namibian who died by suicide in June 2007 is still considered a possible B1 butcher , especially since the series of murders has not continued since 2007.

Surname

The B1 butcher got its name from the Namibian media because all murder victims associated with this series of murders were found in the immediate vicinity of the Namibian national road B1 , which runs through the country in a north-south direction. In addition, the body of the B1 Butcher associated murder victim with the obvious knowledge of were Fleischer (English Butcher ) "decomposed".

Murders

In June and July 2007 in the Khomas region along the B1 in the Windhoek area between Rehoboth and Okahandja , human body parts packed in garbage bags were found, which could be assigned to two different women one after the other. As early as 2005, two very similar feminicides, which have not yet been clarified, had taken place along this street, which in retrospect were therefore also associated with the so-called B1-Butcher.

The head and a forearm of the penultimate victim were found in August 2007 further north on the B1 between Windhoek and Okahandja. A little later, in September 2007, body parts of a still unidentified woman were discovered near Grootfontein in the Otjozondjupa region . According to the police , this is an indication that the B1-Butcher could also have a connection to this region and may have shifted the center of his life from the greater Windhoek area to more northern Namibia.

In October 2007, South Africa sent three well-known detectives for a limited period , including Gerard Labuschagne, to support the Namibian authorities in their investigations into the B1-Butcher. Nevertheless, the murders have not been proven beyond any doubt to date.

Sacrifice and sacrifice scheme

All five victims awarded to the B1 Butcher were young or middle-aged women. Two of the five women killed (both from 2007) could not be identified beyond doubt until now. The other three women murdered are Juanita Mabula (21 years old, murdered 2005), Melanie Janse (22 years old, murdered 2005) and Sanna Helena ǁGaroes (36 years old, murdered 2007).

All murdered women were colored Namibians, and each of the three unequivocally identified victims either spoke fluent Afrikaans or Damara , or spoke both of these languages ​​fluently. In addition, there was evidence of all victims that the discarded body parts had previously been stored in a refrigerator or freezer . The B1 butcher apparently brought his victims to death in different ways. B. Janse was apparently strangled, it was assumed in the case of Mabula that she died from the impact of a blunt object on the head.

At least two of the three unequivocally identified victims were prostitutes , whose body parts were found in the Greater Windhoek area in 2005 and 2007, respectively. Allegedly, these two victims, Melanie Janse and Sanna Helena ǁGaroes , even knew each other relatively well. Based on testimony from witnesses, both could be clearly assigned to the prostitution scene in the capital Windhoek, which at that time was mainly in the city center on Independence Avenue , the Ausspannplatz and in the restaurant Zum Wirt .

Suspects

Karl-Heinz Knierim

In August 2007, the German national Karl-Heinz Knierim (* 1964/65) was arrested because he was suspected of raping a 29-year-old Namibian near Windhoek in July 2007. He is also said to have tried to strangle the woman afterwards. Knierim always denied all allegations. In February 2010, he was acquitted and released from custody for lack of evidence. Knierim was convicted in July 1980 in Germany for the sexual abuse of children. From 1995, he was again imprisoned for seven years for rape and was sentenced to three years in prison in October 2002 for rape of a child again. He fled to Namibia before execution, probably in 2003. Following his release, Knierim tried to file a lawsuit for damages against the Namibian state because, in his opinion, the latter wanted to bring him in connection with the B1-Butcher without any reason and therefore kept him for so long.

Hans Husselmann

A Namibian resident in Rehoboth, Hans Husselmann (1960s – 2007), committed suicide in June 2008 when the police and the public increasingly linked him to the murders of the B1 butcher. His DNA was allegedly linked to the murders of Mabula (2005) and ǁGaroes (2007). After Husselmann's suicide, the Namibian police admitted that the suspect could not undoubtedly be linked to the series of murders. However, it was expressly waived to completely rule out the possibility that Husselmann was the 1-butcher. According to the Namibian police, at least regular contact between Husselmann and ǁGaroes is considered relatively secure. However, according to the Namibian authorities, there is still the possibility that there could be several perpetrators with regard to the B1 butcher, even if Husselmann was the "leading" actor. Husselmann was only released from prison in 2004 after 15 years , where he was incarcerated for two murders.

Consequences and aftermath

In July 2007, women from Windhoek, Rehoboth and Tsumis wrote a joint letter calling on the B1 butcher to hand over the missing body parts of the murder victims for decent funerals and to face the police.

In 2010 a human head and an arm were discovered on a farm near Rehoboth, so that reporting about the B1-Butcher, which has now been "inactive" for three years, began again. A connection to the series of murders of the B1 butcher must be regarded as unlikely in this regard, especially since the body parts were not found near a highway, were buried and because the arm showed signs of burn. None of this was ever the case with regard to the B1 Butcher-awarded murders.

To this day, the Namibian police have been criticized by the country's public for not being able to identify the B1 butcher. In the face of this spectacular case, there was also increased criticism in the country regarding the general working methods and efficiency of the Namibian police, and other relevant issues, such as the continued high number of rape, were also criticized.

The last time the police had announced in November 2014 that they would continue to look for the B1 butcher.

Trivia

The fall of the B1 Butcher inspired the Namibian filmmaker Tim Huebschle for his film #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm in 2019.

annotation

1. ↑ Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} TOPIC: Various body parts apparently belong to one person. , March 22, 2011 (English)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} SA Crack Team to Tackle 'B1 Butcher New Era, October 4, 2007.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} The Namibian (Namibia, 2007): B1 Butcher victim identified , March 23, 2011 (English)
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Human head, arm and hand found in Rehoboth. Informanté, March 4, 2010 ( Memento of February 3, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} The Namibian (Namibia, 2008): B-1 Butcher: DNA evidence in spotlight , March 23, 2011 (English)
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Allgemeine Zeitung (Namibia, 2010): Heinz Knierim free - The regional court lacks the evidence ( memento of December 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), March 23, 2011
7. ↑ ^{a b c} B1 Butcher 'Changes Tactics? New Era, September 20, 2007.
8. ^ Another Grisly Murder New Era, September 18, 2007.
9. ↑ International Academy of Investigative Psychology , April 3, 2013 (English)
10. ↑ ^{a b} The Namibian (Namibia, 2007): On the trail of the 'B1 butcher' , March 23, 2011 (English)
11. ↑ The Namibian (Namibia, 2007): German rape suspect fights for bail and against charges , March 23, 2011 (English)
12. ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung (Namibia, 2009): Knierim denies deed German protests innocence - victim describes rape in detail ( memento from February 21, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), March 23, 2011
13. ↑ Sex gangsters instead of do-gooders. Allgemeine Zeitung, October 2, 2007.
14. ↑ Highbeam Business (2007): Plea to 'B1 Butcher ( Memento from December 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), March 23, 2011 (English)
15. ↑ Cops hunt B1 Butcher. Namibian Sun, November 3, 2014
16. ↑ #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm Media Kit, p. 10. (PDF)