Johann Mayer (serial killer)

The murderer Johann Mayer (1886–1923) known as the “stump arm” is shown on the right immediately after his arrest in 1922.

Johann Mayer (born April 2, 1886 in Uersfeld , † December 29, 1923 in Cologne ), called "stump arm" , was a German serial killer who was sentenced to death for fourfold murder and one manslaughter .

Life

He was born in Uersfeld as the son of the non-sedentary day laborer Johann Wilhelm Mayer from Gunderath and his wife Anna Maria, née Knorr. The place of birth, in which Mayer was first emergency baptized on his birthday and regularly baptized the next day, was more of a coincidence, as his parents who moved around did not have a permanent home. As a child, Mayer attended school in Boos before starting work in a quarry at a young age. Due to an accident during blasting work - possibly also through careless handling - Johann Mayer lost his left forearm, which earned him the nickname “stump arm” even before his criminal career . Since then he was only partially able to work as a farmhand and harvest helper.

At the time of the First World War, Mayer, who was not fit for military service, increasingly fell into an erratic way of life. This was not only characterized by wandering in the woods between Elzbach and Endert , but also earned him the first punishments for crimes against bodily harm, theft and poaching.

Crime series

From March 1918 to May 1919, Johann Mayer killed three women with whom he had previously had relationships, as well as two men with whom he was previously friends or who knew about other acts.

• Maria Dahm from Mayen , 23 years old, murdered between March 18 and 24, 1918 in the Mayen city forest.
• Maria Falk from Bonn , 28 years old, murdered in February 1919 in the forest between Masburg and Hauroth .
• Nikolaus Schüller from Kalenborn , 30 years old, murdered on March 30, 1919 in the forest near Mannebach .
• Lorenz Reuter from Masburg, 22 years old, murdered on April 26, 1919 in the Etscheid forest district between Boos and Mannebach.
• Katharina Forst from Mannebach-Sickerath, 34 years old and widowed with three children, who disappeared in May 1919 and whose body was found in the forest near Illerich over a year later .

As the murder weapon Johann Mayer used a carbine , in subsequent interviews, he described the crimes with "A shot, a scream, all over." . To cover up his actions, he severed the heads and limbs of his male victims and switched them.

The "stump arm" known in the area had been wanted since July 9, 1919. Nevertheless, Mayer was apparently able to work for a farmer in Eulgem for a long time without being recognized . On August 10, 1922, however, he was recognized and detained by a clan of rural drivers in the "Singer" district northwest of the village. The arrested person was first imprisoned in the Kaisersescher prison before he was transferred to Koblenz for trial .

Condemnation

Since Johann Mayer did not admit his deeds before the jury court in Koblenz, he was sentenced to death on February 7, 1923 for four-fold murder and 15 years in prison for one manslaughter. The "stump arm" confessed shortly before his execution, after appeals for clemency had been rejected. The death sentence against Johann Mayer was carried out on December 29, 1923 in the courtyard of the Klingelpütz prison in Cologne by beheading with the guillotine .

literature

• "Stumparm" left a bloody trail , Trierischer Volksfreund No. 221 from 21./22. September 1996.
• Helmut Müller: The stump arm - a poacher, stray and murderer. From the life of the Eifel Schinderhannes . Plaidt 2008, ISBN 978-3-938649-36-7 .
• Ludwig Michels: once horror in the Eifel , stump arm , Heimatjahrbuch 1987, pp. 150–152.
• Stefan Gorges: "The notorious murderer" Stumparm " , he was finally overpowered and arrested at Eulgem, Heimatjahrbuch 2009, pp. 177-181.
• Rheinzeitung: Edition Cochem November 6, 2006, When the stump arm was up to mischief.

Web links

• Heimatjahrbuch Vulkaneifel 1979 : Franz Josef Ferber: The stump arm - a stray, poacher and murderer, From the life of the "Eifeler Schinderhannes"
• www.doppelmaar.de Franz Josef Ferber: From the life of “Eifeler Schinderhannes”, a former student from Boos.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Entry on Kurtrierisches Amtshaus and Burgmannenhaus (old prison "Prison", "Bulles", "Büllesje", today Heimatmuseum Kaisersesch) in the database " KuLaDig " of the Rhineland Regional Association , accessed on August 9, 2017.