Olga Hepnarová

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Olga Hepnarová (born June 30, 1951 in Prague ; † March 12, 1975 there ) was a Czechoslovak mass murderer who murdered eight people in a truck at a tram stop in 1973 . She was sentenced to death for the act and executed in 1975. She was the last woman to be executed in Czechoslovakia and at the same time one of the last to endure the brief fall while hanging .

Life

Hepnarová was the daughter of a bank clerk and a dentist. She was an inconspicuous child, but later developed psychological problems. In 1964 she attempted suicide with a drug overdose and subsequently spent a year in a psychiatric ward in Opařany . She later worked in various locations but was released shortly after being hired. Eventually she became a truck driver.

Mass murder

On July 10, 1973, in Prague, she drove a truck into a group of about 25 people who were waiting for a tram on Strossmayerplatz . Three people died immediately, three more later that day and two within a few days (all between the ages of 60 and 79). Six were seriously injured, six slightly.

Before the murder, she sent a letter to two newspapers ( Svobodné Slovo and Mladý Svět ) declaring her act as revenge for all the hatred against her family and the world. Because of the slowness of the postal service, the letters did not reach their destinations until two days after the mass murder . She had planned the revenge against society for a long time and, among other things, toyed with the idea of ​​derailing a train or causing an explosion. However, she was unable to do this. The following paragraph can be found in the letters she has sent:

“I'm a loner. A destroyed person. A human being destroyed by humans […] I have the choice - to kill myself or to kill others. I choose - revenge on those who hate me. It would be too easy to leave this world as an unknown suicide. Society is too indifferent, rightly so. My verdict is: I, Olga Hepnarová, the victim of your bestiality, condemn her to death. "

During the investigation, Hepnarová confirmed that her intention was to kill as many people as possible. She showed no remorse. Psychologists found her fully responsible for her bloody act. She planned her actions, because she consciously chose a stop that was on a slope. This allowed her to take care of the maximum death toll at high speed. The collision with the eight dead was their second attempt. When she first drove to the bus stop, she thought there weren't enough people waiting to kill the number of people she wanted.

On April 6, 1974, she was sentenced to death by the city court for murder. The punishment was upheld by a higher authority; the Supreme Court requalified the judgment on endangering public safety, but with the same penalty - death - as a consequence. After several psychiatric examinations, she was found criminally responsible for her actions. The President, Ludvík Svoboda , represented by Prime Minister Lubomír Štrougal due to illness , refused the request for a pardon. The execution took place on March 12, 1975 in Pankrác prison in Prague. She was the last woman to be executed in Czechoslovakia. According to the executioners , Hepnarová collapsed shortly before the execution of the sentence and had to be dragged to the gallows .

Literature and film

The biographical film "Ich, Olga Hepnarova" was premiered at the Berlinale 2016 and will be released in cinemas at the end of the year.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Žena za volantem se pomstila lidem na refýži on iDNES.cz, January 17, 2006 (accessed on December 22, 2015)
personal data
SURNAME Hepnarová, Olga
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech mass murderer
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH March 12, 1975
Place of death Prague