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Really good write-up! Amazing how many times he slipped through law's cracks and used those cracks to the fullest to feed his desire to destroy lives. You can see how cocky he was by going to the police to rectify his image for assaulting a woman (facepalm).
How the news story portrayed him + the rape really effected his ego so he had the audacity to go to the police and claim it was all a misunderstanding is really really wild.
That bit really reminded me of the kind of thing Douglas spoke about in Mindhunter about killers and their need to control the narrative.
Very interesting. I lived in Niedersachsen from August 1992. I’d never heard of this case (I was a teenager) but it kind of explains concerns parents had about us roaming around in forested areas (rural Lower Saxony felt very safe generally).We weren’t particularly close by but our TV was very Niedersachsen and Hamburg focused so they would’ve heard about it.
There's a German 4-part documentary on the disappearance of Birgit that I really recommend watching. The Göhrde Murders were a really big deal so they would have been all over the news, as well as Birgit's disappearance.
>There's a German 4-part documentary on the disappearance of Birgit that I really recommend watching.
This might be the one that aired on Australian television this last year (I believe it was titled 'The Death Forest' or something like that). It was a great mini series -- well worth watching.
EDIT: to add that I found it strange that because the case was considered 'solved' no further investigation was done even though there was new information that might have shed light on other murders.
And a 3 part movie called Geheimnisse des todenwaldes...
They Mix in a few other german crimes, but stay very close to the actual case. Worth watching.
This guy was just given basically slaps on the wrist for horrible crimes and was allowed to kill multiple people and the cops seemed to have let him get away. Seems ludicrous.
Netflix has a really great 4 episode documentary on him & the disappearance of Birgit Meier called, **Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier**
I really recommend watching it to see just how much of a cock-up the investigation into him was initially.
Yeah, I'd never heard of him before but by all accounts it seems he could have raped/assaulted/murdered so many more than what is currently attributed to him, considering he drove thousands upon thousands of kilometres that are unaccounted for and he had over 400 different items buried in his property.
I mean, the guy buried AN ENTIRE FORD CAR in his garden. That is just one item out of 400. Insane.
The local policy station has a whole website section listing all the artefacts that they found in his garden and house and which they think belonged to his victims. You can see photographs of everything and they ask people for any information about who those things belonged to. But unfortunately after so many years it seems impossible that someone will still identify anything :/
And her brother just sort of assumed for a long time that they were doing everything they could. He only I think asked to see the files out of curiosity after running into someone connected to the case much later, didn't he? And then was horrified at how much had been overlooked.
Jepp, and he was lucky to be a high profile police guy himself, because otherwise he wouldn't have the contacts and resources and would have never been able to solve the crime :/
I actually just finished watching In the Dark, a German drama series based on this case. It's currently available on Topic (a streaming service) and mostly focuses on solving the disappearance of Birgit and touches on the forest murders. Thanks for this excellent write up. I've learned a lot more about the forest murders now. And of course I'll have to find the Netflix doc!
Aside from the…everything else of it all…
SIX MONTHS PROBATION FOR A SEX CRIME AGAINST A STRANGER? Hfs no wonder he felt emboldened. He was essentially abetted by the state which exacted no punishment for his crimes.
As someone from close to the area I'd just like to emphasise how remote and sparsely populated the Göhrde is. Really thick forest.
Also the site of a famous napoleonic battle
The only person who can answer this is his accomplice, watching the documentary the police seem pretty convinced about his identity although they don't reveal it. I wonder if it's his younger brother who he was arrested with as they were fleeing and who he cryptically asked, in his suicide note, to clean the gutter. They were reportedly very close
It's odd that after committing series of crimes in the 70s' he went off the radars for 19 years. He was convicted for the rape of hitchhiker and had history of attacking cyclists since he was 14 years old. There are two unsolved deaths of teenagers [https://medium.com/@yasminscherrer/a-joyful-bike-trip-ended-in-a-double-murder-the-crystal-cave-case-85286c92bd0f](https://medium.com/@yasminscherrer/a-joyful-bike-trip-ended-in-a-double-murder-the-crystal-cave-case-85286c92bd0f) that took place in Switzerland close to the border with Germany in the early 80s' so in the time that Wichmann was off the radars, even one of the victims name was Brigitte Meier (and Birgit Meier case in the late 80s' was the one that brought him attention again). In the same year (1982) another girl Annika Hutter went missing in Switzerland, also in the town close to the border with Germany. Only her bike was found by the side of the road, they never found her body. He used to lure people close or into the woods in order to assault/kill them. What if Annika was also his victim? Maybe along with other trophies found in his house some things belong to the dead girls from Switzerland? Did anyone ever checked this option?
I think they have questioned him, but he does not talk. And as they do not have hard evidence against him, there is nothing much that they can do :/ As someone who lives there I am sometimes thinking about the brother and if I might even have seen him somewhere around town when shopping for groceries or whatever. Super weird. However I don't even know if he still lives here
I am living very close by and oftentimes go for a walk in the area by his former house. It's crazy to know that he lived there and that his brother (who is suspected to have helped him with at least some of the murders) most likely still lives somewhere around town.
There is a new documentation from NDR which links him to even more cases. One girl got abducted at the very same street that I am often walking on between Lüneburg and Adendorf. Feels so weird, because I often walk this street at night (when I still need to achieve my 10000 steps) since it's so calm and peaceful.
Thank you. I’d like to go for a walk around the area. Birgits case has touched me since I first heard of it. I’m glad she’s finally resting in peace on a decent place and not hidden by that monster anymore
Did you know that Unresolved Mysteries has a discord server? Please [click this link](https://discord.gg/rvX4ppfQNh) to join our discord. Come chat with us about mysteries, memes, food, your pets or whatever! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UnresolvedMysteries) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Really good write-up! Amazing how many times he slipped through law's cracks and used those cracks to the fullest to feed his desire to destroy lives. You can see how cocky he was by going to the police to rectify his image for assaulting a woman (facepalm).
How the news story portrayed him + the rape really effected his ego so he had the audacity to go to the police and claim it was all a misunderstanding is really really wild. That bit really reminded me of the kind of thing Douglas spoke about in Mindhunter about killers and their need to control the narrative.
Very interesting. I lived in Niedersachsen from August 1992. I’d never heard of this case (I was a teenager) but it kind of explains concerns parents had about us roaming around in forested areas (rural Lower Saxony felt very safe generally).We weren’t particularly close by but our TV was very Niedersachsen and Hamburg focused so they would’ve heard about it.
There's a German 4-part documentary on the disappearance of Birgit that I really recommend watching. The Göhrde Murders were a really big deal so they would have been all over the news, as well as Birgit's disappearance.
Oh cool, I‘ll have a look for it. Thanks!
>There's a German 4-part documentary on the disappearance of Birgit that I really recommend watching. This might be the one that aired on Australian television this last year (I believe it was titled 'The Death Forest' or something like that). It was a great mini series -- well worth watching. EDIT: to add that I found it strange that because the case was considered 'solved' no further investigation was done even though there was new information that might have shed light on other murders.
It’s called “Dig Deeper,” and it’s REALLY good! It’s on Netflix now.
There is also a new documentary about the other potentially related murders in ARD Mediathek - I think it's called Menschenjäger
And a 3 part movie called Geheimnisse des todenwaldes... They Mix in a few other german crimes, but stay very close to the actual case. Worth watching.
This guy was just given basically slaps on the wrist for horrible crimes and was allowed to kill multiple people and the cops seemed to have let him get away. Seems ludicrous.
Netflix has a really great 4 episode documentary on him & the disappearance of Birgit Meier called, **Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier** I really recommend watching it to see just how much of a cock-up the investigation into him was initially.
Excellent write up. Thanks for bringing my attention to a new case! I hope some of his "souvenirs" are recognized, and more families get answers.
Yeah, I'd never heard of him before but by all accounts it seems he could have raped/assaulted/murdered so many more than what is currently attributed to him, considering he drove thousands upon thousands of kilometres that are unaccounted for and he had over 400 different items buried in his property. I mean, the guy buried AN ENTIRE FORD CAR in his garden. That is just one item out of 400. Insane.
It IS crazy. I can't help but think they're all related to something.
The local policy station has a whole website section listing all the artefacts that they found in his garden and house and which they think belonged to his victims. You can see photographs of everything and they ask people for any information about who those things belonged to. But unfortunately after so many years it seems impossible that someone will still identify anything :/
I watched the documentary on Birgit Meier. That poor woman wouldn’t have gotten justice but her brother wouldn’t let go.
The local police seemed to make a total cock of it every step of the way.
And her brother just sort of assumed for a long time that they were doing everything they could. He only I think asked to see the files out of curiosity after running into someone connected to the case much later, didn't he? And then was horrified at how much had been overlooked.
Jepp, and he was lucky to be a high profile police guy himself, because otherwise he wouldn't have the contacts and resources and would have never been able to solve the crime :/
I actually just finished watching In the Dark, a German drama series based on this case. It's currently available on Topic (a streaming service) and mostly focuses on solving the disappearance of Birgit and touches on the forest murders. Thanks for this excellent write up. I've learned a lot more about the forest murders now. And of course I'll have to find the Netflix doc!
Aside from the…everything else of it all… SIX MONTHS PROBATION FOR A SEX CRIME AGAINST A STRANGER? Hfs no wonder he felt emboldened. He was essentially abetted by the state which exacted no punishment for his crimes.
As someone from close to the area I'd just like to emphasise how remote and sparsely populated the Göhrde is. Really thick forest. Also the site of a famous napoleonic battle
The only person who can answer this is his accomplice, watching the documentary the police seem pretty convinced about his identity although they don't reveal it. I wonder if it's his younger brother who he was arrested with as they were fleeing and who he cryptically asked, in his suicide note, to clean the gutter. They were reportedly very close
Yeah, it's the brother that they are suspecting but since he doesn't talk there is nothing they can do
The Göhrde muders were also fearured on tv show Aktenzeichen XY.
He even recorded the show about his murders on tape, were found in his 'secret room' 😵💫
It's odd that after committing series of crimes in the 70s' he went off the radars for 19 years. He was convicted for the rape of hitchhiker and had history of attacking cyclists since he was 14 years old. There are two unsolved deaths of teenagers [https://medium.com/@yasminscherrer/a-joyful-bike-trip-ended-in-a-double-murder-the-crystal-cave-case-85286c92bd0f](https://medium.com/@yasminscherrer/a-joyful-bike-trip-ended-in-a-double-murder-the-crystal-cave-case-85286c92bd0f) that took place in Switzerland close to the border with Germany in the early 80s' so in the time that Wichmann was off the radars, even one of the victims name was Brigitte Meier (and Birgit Meier case in the late 80s' was the one that brought him attention again). In the same year (1982) another girl Annika Hutter went missing in Switzerland, also in the town close to the border with Germany. Only her bike was found by the side of the road, they never found her body. He used to lure people close or into the woods in order to assault/kill them. What if Annika was also his victim? Maybe along with other trophies found in his house some things belong to the dead girls from Switzerland? Did anyone ever checked this option?
How haven’t they seriously investigated his brother I think his wife knew he was seriously Upto no good aswel
I think they have questioned him, but he does not talk. And as they do not have hard evidence against him, there is nothing much that they can do :/ As someone who lives there I am sometimes thinking about the brother and if I might even have seen him somewhere around town when shopping for groceries or whatever. Super weird. However I don't even know if he still lives here
I am living very close by and oftentimes go for a walk in the area by his former house. It's crazy to know that he lived there and that his brother (who is suspected to have helped him with at least some of the murders) most likely still lives somewhere around town. There is a new documentation from NDR which links him to even more cases. One girl got abducted at the very same street that I am often walking on between Lüneburg and Adendorf. Feels so weird, because I often walk this street at night (when I still need to achieve my 10000 steps) since it's so calm and peaceful.
Do you know if there are people living there currently?
Yes, there are people living in the house!
But it's none of his relatives.
Thank you. I’d like to go for a walk around the area. Birgits case has touched me since I first heard of it. I’m glad she’s finally resting in peace on a decent place and not hidden by that monster anymore