Werner Ferrari

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Werner Ferrari (born December 29, 1946 ) is a Swiss serial killer . As a five-time child murderer, he is one of the most famous prison inmates in Switzerland. He kidnapped or lured the children away from public festivals, for example, abused some of the victims and strangled them.

Youth and first judgment

Ferrari grew up in various children's and youth homes and was considered an introvert. He performed various jobs as an unskilled worker.

In 1971 Ferrari committed its first infanticide: In Reinach BL , he murdered the 10-year-old Daniel Schwan. Ferrari was sentenced to ten years in prison and released early after eight years in prison from the Zurich prison in Regensdorf .

Unsolved killings in the 1980s

Between 1980 and 1989, 21 children disappeared in Switzerland, 14 of whom were found abused and murdered. 7 children, including Peter Roth (8) from Mogelsberg SG, Sarah Oberson (5) from Saxon VS and Edith Trittenbass (9) from Gass-Wetzikon TG, are still missing today (as of 2020) despite intensive searches .

On August 30, 1989, four days after Fabienne Imhof's murder, Werner Ferrari phoned the police - and said he had nothing to do with her death. Shortly afterwards he was arrested in his apartment in Olten and confessed in four cases. Ferrari vehemently denied the murder of 12-year-old Ruth Steinmann, who was found on May 16, 1980 in a wooded area near Würenlos .

Condemnation and review process

In 1995 Ferrari was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Baden AG District Court for fivefold murder, including for the crime committed against Ruth Steinmann. Seven years later, research by the journalist and book author Peter Holenstein discovered clues that showed that Ferrari could not be responsible for the murder of Ruth Steinmann. Among other things, a DNA analysis initiated by the journalist revealed that a pubic hair that could be secured on Ruth Steinmann's corpse did not come from Ferrari.

On the basis of Holenstein's research, the higher court of the canton of Aargau overturned the verdict against Ferrari in the Ruth Steinmann case in 2004 and referred it back to the Baden District Court for reassessment. As a result, a suspect of Ruth Steinmann, who committed suicide in Wolfhalden AR in March 1983 , was exhumed. A dental report by the Scientific Service of the Zurich City Police showed that the bite marks on the girl's body were definitely not from Ferrari, but from the man who died in 1983 and who looked very similar to Ferrari. In a national appeal process, Werner Ferrari was then found innocent on April 10, 2007 by the Baden District Court for the murder of Ruth Steinmann and acquitted; however, he remains detained for the other four cases.

The victims

  • Daniel († 1971 in Reinach BL , 10 years old)
  • Benjamin († 1983, 10 years old) from Kloten
  • Daniel († 1985, 7 years old) from Rümlang
  • Christian († 1987, 10 years old) from Windisch
  • Fabienne († 1989 in Hägendorf , 9 years old).

literature

documentation

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Criminal cases that moved Switzerland - The child murderer Werner Ferrari. Documentation on YouTube. Document at 0:37 min.
  2. Missing cases: The lost children In: NZZ am Sonntag of October 2, 2015
  3. a b Peter Holenstein: The riddle of the «Chefihau». In: Die Weltwoche 17/2004.
  4. The parents of the murdered Fabienne Imhof accuse: "Why do the judges learn nothing?" In: blick.ch . Retrieved September 25, 2014 .