Casefile True Crime - Case 197: The Austrian Ripper

Episode Date: November 20, 2021

In 1974, a young woman named Margaret Schafer was strangled to death in her hometown of Ewersbach, Germany... --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Editing ��� Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn This episode's sponsors: Searching for Sarah MacDiarmid – New podcast from Casefile Presents Best Fiends – Download Best Fiends for free Scribd – Get a free 60 days trial to Scribd’s unlimited number of full-length books, audiobooks, and other content SimpliSafe – Get 50% off the entire security system Truebill – Take control of your finances and save money ShipStation – Try ShipStation FREE for 60 days with promo code ‘CASEFILE’ For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-197-the-austrian-ripper

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Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. It was a crisp spring night on May 13, 1974 when a young woman walked out of a Salzburg bar with a smartly dressed stranger. Julia, not her real name, had started chatting to the man after he initiated a conversation with her. Although they had just met, Julia was more than impressed with his charming and talkative manner. As he led Julia outside, he offered her a lift home, gesturing to his expensive Ford Mustang parked across the street. Accepting his offer, Julia hopped into the car's passenger seat.

As the Mustang drove away from the bright lights of Salzburg and into the surrounding countryside, Julia realised that the man was driving in the opposite direction of her home. She began to panic. They headed down a small laneway and into a meadow surrounded by dense bushes. It was completely deserted. With no street lights to illuminate the area, all was pitch black outside. Julia's fear grew. Then, just as the man drove deeper into the field, the car became stuck in the mud.

Suddenly, they stopped. As the Mustang's wheels turned and turned without gaining any traction, Julia saw her chance. She leapt from the passenger seat and began sprinting across the field. But the man followed. He was quick, catching up in no time and tackling her to the ground. He shoved her face in the mud to silence her screams, then began beating the back of her head. After he roughly removed her shoes, he tore off her stockings and used them to bind her hands behind her back. Dragging Julia back to the car, the man sexually assaulted her with a steel pole while he masturbated.

When he was finished, he freed Julia from her restraint. Headlights suddenly illuminated the field behind them. Another car had pulled up to the scene. Its occupants had noticed the Mustang stuck in the mud and the driver walked over to assist. Julia's attacker got out and greeted him, feigning distress over his car's state. As they spoke, Julia saw her second chance to escape. She clambered out of the Mustang and raced over to the other car, frantically asking the passenger to take her to the police. He agreed and called over the driver so they could leave immediately.

As they pulled away, carrying Julia to safety, their car's headlights cast a bright light over her attacker in the meadow. He stared back, still standing next to the Ford Mustang, stuck deep in the mud. 7 months after the attack on Julia, 18-year-old Margaret Schaffer said goodbye to her friends after spending the evening bowling with them and began to walk home. Margaret lived in Eversbach, Germany, approximately 650km north of the Austrian city of Salzburg. As she strolled along the footpath, a Mercedes pulled up alongside her. Glancing inside, Margaret saw her friend Barbara sitting in the passenger seat. Barbara asked Margaret if she would like a lift home to save walking in the cold night air.

Margaret gratefully agreed. 3 weeks later, a group of hunters were navigating through a dense copse of trees in a wooded area outside of the German town of Haerborn. As they carefully made their way through the forest, they spotted something. Lying face down beneath a tall conifer was the naked body of a woman. Someone had tried to cover her with leaves and branches, but her skin and dark curly hair were still visible. It was Margaret Schaffer. Her wrists had been restrained before she was beaten about the head with a blunt object. Then her attacker had used Margaret's own bra to strangle her.

It had been expertly tied in a unique series of knots to form an extremely taut ligature. German detectives attended the location and commenced an investigation, making sure to interview those close to Margaret. This led them to her friend, Barbara. It wasn't long before she cracked under the pressure. 24-year-old Jack Unterweger was already well known to authorities in the neighbouring country of Austria. In 1970, Jack abducted a 16-year-old girl and tried to force her into sex work. His extensive rap sheet also featured charges for robbery, car theft, burglary and fraud. Over time, Jack added sexual assault to his long list of criminal convictions.

Women were easy targets for him. He presented himself as intelligent, gregarious, wealthy and well-groomed and was able to charm his victims. Despite his urbane persona, the truth was that Jack was broke and could not read or write. Throughout 1973 and 74, Jack's assaults landed him short stints in prison, but every time he was released, he attacked again. Over time, his violence against women escalated, like the time he attacked Julia in a field outside Salzburg. Having gotten a good look at Jack, she quickly identified him as her attacker and he was sent to prison for the assault in mid-1974. After attempting to take his own life, Jack was transferred to a local psychiatric hospital. A few months later, he was released and decided to make a fresh start in Frankfurt, Germany.

It was there that he began dating a young woman named Barbara. On the night of December 11, 1974, Jack and Barbara decided they needed some easy cash and hatched a plan to rob Barbara's parents. They drove from Frankfurt to Barbara's hometown of Eversbach and headed directly to her family's house. They'd expected to find it empty, but to their dismay, Barbara's parents were home. Their plan foiled, the couple began driving around town looking for someone else to rob. Soon, they spotted Margaret Schaffer walking all alone. Barbara knew Margaret well, she had previously lived next door to her and the two were friends. Barbara told Jack as much and he hastily pulled over so they could offer Margaret a lift.

She happily accepted. The two women chatted in the car's back seat while Jack drove. After a little while, he stopped by the side of the road. As recounted in the book Entering Hades by John Lake, Jack asked Barbara, Do you have anything else you want to tell her? When Barbara said no, Jack remarked, then now we'll get to the point. He grabbed Margaret by her shirt, finding her slim frame easy to pull into the front seat. Using Barbara's belt, he restrained Margaret's hands behind her back.

After rifling through her belongings and pocketing some cash, Jack drove to Margaret's house. Barbara let herself inside with a key from Margaret's purse. She wandered through the residence, pocketing about $40 from Margaret's room and grabbing some clothing as well. Meanwhile, Jack waited in the car with Margaret. He had pushed her to the rear footwell and she was unable to move. When Barbara returned, Jack drove 30km south to Haerborn, asking Barbara if she knew of any woodlands nearby. As Margaret sobbed in the back of the car, Barbara directed Jack past the restaurant and onto a forest road. Jack drove deep into the woods, then parked the car.

He untied Margaret and ordered her to take her clothes off, but she refused. Jack punched her in the face before undressing her himself. When he hopped out of the car, Margaret asked Barbara what he was going to do to her. Barbara just shrugged in reply. Jack reappeared and grabbed a steel rod from the glove box, then dragged Margaret from the car. He asked Barbara if she'd like to accompany him. She declined, but watched as Jack dragged a naked Margaret across the snow-covered ground. They disappeared into a thicket of nearby trees.

In a statement, Barbara later told detectives, I was terribly afraid for her, but also for myself. About 15 minutes later he came back to the car, and after he sat in the driver's seat, he handed me the steel rod, which was covered with blood and hair. What did you do with her? I asked him. He replied, There's no way she can betray us now. While there was no physical evidence from the crime scene linking Jack to the murder, his girlfriend Barbara's confession was enough to warrant action. On January 17, 1975, just a month after Margaret's murder, Jack Unterweger was arrested and charged.

Due to a treaty between Germany and Austria, Jack, an Austrian citizen, would be tried in his homeland, despite killing Margaret in Germany. It is unclear whether his girlfriend Barbara faced any legal ramifications for her actions on the night of Margaret's murder. In July 1975, while still waiting for Margaret Schaffer's murder trial to begin, Jack Unterweger was tried for violent offences against four other women in Austria. He was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. One year into his sentence, the murder trial finally commenced. In court, Jack wore a dark suit with a gaudy tie, while his long shaggy hair fell around his face. Short, slim and baby-faced with delicate features and small, wide eyes, Jack Unterweger didn't look like a stereotypical criminal. The prosecution instructed those present to look beyond his appearance as they heard the evidence against him.

The trial drew a large crowd. They listened attentively as Jack's defense team spoke of his troubled childhood. He was born in 1950 in the historic Austrian town of Udenborg. His mother was a waitress and sex worker. Jack's father, who he never met, was an American soldier. He'd been part of a group of US troops occupying the area following the end of World War II. When Jack was about 18 months old, his mother was jailed for fraud and he was sent to live with his grandfather in a desolate, run-down cottage in the Austrian countryside. It was during this time that Jack struggled the most.

His grandfather was a violent alcoholic who beat Jack for misbehaving. Jack often claimed that he was forced to sleep in the same bed as his grandfather while the elderly man had sex with various girlfriends and sex workers. However, this was likely not true, with many of Jack's stories about his childhood being embellished and exaggerated for sympathy. Ever since his arrest, Jack Unterweger had denied murdering Margaret Schaffer. But on the stand, he suddenly broke down. He admitted to beating Margaret and then strangling her with her own bra. When he'd looked into her face, he saw his mother's, which caused him to explode with rage and hatred. Jack sobbed and pleaded for forgiveness.

Instead of being forgiven, he was found guilty and given a life sentence to be served at Stein Prison, a maximum security facility in Cremes, Austria. Police Inspector August Schenner sat in the courtroom listening to Jack Unterweger's sentencing with interest. The murder of Margaret Schaffer bore strong similarities to a case that had landed on his desk three years earlier. On April 1, 1973, the body of a petite woman with long black hair was found floating in a lake in Salzburg. Aged in her mid-twenties, she wore a turtleneck jumper and was naked from the waist down. The woman's ankles had been tied together tightly with her stockings and her wrists bound expertly behind her back with a necktie. A bandage, likely taken from a car's first aid kit, was wrapped multiple times around her head and mouth, acting as a makeshift gag. She had been violently beaten across the face, but the cause of her death was drowning.

An autopsy revealed the woman had sexual intercourse just prior to her murder, but it could not be determined if she had been raped or if it was consensual. When tire marks were discovered leading to the lake's shoreline from the surrounding woodland, a horrifying picture began to emerge. The woman had been undressed, restrained and gagged, then dragged from a car to the lake and thrown in while still alive. The following morning, a man named Mato Horvath reported his wife missing. Marika Horvath had failed to return home after catching a bus into Salzburg two nights prior. Mato was taken to see the body of the woman recovered from the lake and was devastated to find that she was his wife, Marika. At the time, Austria had one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world and murders were virtually unheard of. Catching Marika's killer was of the utmost importance, so the country's top detectives were assigned to the case and no expenses were spared.

Despite this, a lack of leads and physical evidence had authorities coming up empty. Over time, the investigation dwindled and the murder gradually faded from public attention. But it remained firmly in the mind of investigating officer August Schenner. Although he couldn't find the man responsible, August was certain of one thing. Whoever killed Marika was a sadistic monster. When he later learned about the murder of Margaret Schaffer in Germany, August was struck by the similarities her case brought to that of Marika Horvath. He sat in on Jack Unterweger's trial, taking in every detail. The more he heard, the more certain he was that Jack was the man he'd been looking for.

But he didn't have enough evidence to charge him. As Jack's sentence was read aloud to the court, August Schenner took comfort in the fact that at least Jack was now facing life behind bars. On June 19, 1991, 15 years after Jack Unterweger went to prison, 20-year-old Shannon Exley stood on the corner of Seventh and Main in downtown Los Angeles. Behind her, the sign for the Cecil Hotel was brightly illuminated in the night sky. Shannon had been working in the sex industry since she had run away from home at the age of 16. She used her earnings to support her drug habit, but earlier that night she'd called her father, telling him she was going to get her life back on track and was looking forward to a brighter future.

Just after midnight, a car pulled up alongside her. Shannon Hopped In The next morning, a group of girls were picking up trash behind the parking lot of the girls' scout center, two and a half miles from where Shannon had been standing the night before. As they worked, the girls noticed something lying in a vacant, overgrown lot approximately 50 feet beyond the car park. They drew closer to get a better look. It was the body of a murdered woman. Shannon Exley was lying on her stomach underneath a tall eucalyptus tree.

She was naked, except for a t-shirt that had written up around her shoulders and a pair of bright blue socks. Around her neck was her bra, tied tight in a series of unique and complex knots. Whoever had attacked Shannon had used her bra to strangle her. Cuts and scrapes on her feet indicated she'd been dragged through the vacant lot, then dumped. Seaman from a number of different men was extracted from Shannon's body. None matched DNA profiles of anyone on record. The murder had been carried out in a clean, meticulous fashion, and there was no evidence left at the scene. Detectives concluded that the killer must have planned the slaying, scoping out the area in daylight, as it was not a sight clearly visible at night.

It was a puzzling location. Detectives knew that the city's sex workers rarely travelled more than a block or two from where they were picked up. The distance from Shannon's last known location suggested she had not gone to the lot willingly. Ten days later, a homeless man was looking for firewood one and a half miles from where Shannon Exley was found. As he searched around the parking lot of a freight company, he noticed something beneath a big rigged trailer. It was the body of a woman, lying on her back and naked, aside from a t-shirt and one sock. She had been hit in the abdomen so forcefully that it caused internal damage, but the cause of her death was ligature strangulation. The woman's own bra was knotted tightly around her neck.

Her name was Irene Rodriguez, and she was 33 years old. Irene had been in Los Angeles for less than three months, performing sex work to support a heroin addiction. She left behind a husband and four children. Irene had worked on the same corner as Shannon, just down the road from the Cecil Hotel. Just as in Shannon's murder, her killer left no evidence and a forensic examination resulted in zero leads. Detectives suspected Irene's attacker may have been a trucker from out of town, given where her body had been dumped. Sex workers who frequented the area where Shannon and Irene were taken were worried. Many were friends, and words spread quickly amongst their community that two women had been killed while working.

Some shared their fears with a journalist who was writing a series of articles on the dangers of sex work in Los Angeles. Known for his compassionate understanding of controversial topics, he wrote an article about the murdered women for Tiroline magazine, an excerpt of which read, Real life in LA is dominated by a tough struggle for survival, by the broken dreams of thousands who come to the city and an equal number who leave, sometimes dead. Sex workers who knew Shannon Exley and Irene Rodriguez opened up to the sympathetic journalist, describing how the murders had impacted them and crying over the loss of their friends. In one recorded interview, an unnamed woman said, It's ugly. It's dirty. It's scary. Every time you walk out on the street, you take your life in your hands. You could die every time you get in a car. Every time you drive away, you don't know this person. You don't know if he's going to kill you.

Two weeks after the murder of Irene Rodriguez, a deputy sheriff drove to a deserted Malibu hilltop in response to a frantic call received by the LA County Sheriff's Department. As described in John Leigh's book, Entering Hades, the deputy was met at the scene by a group of men and their children. They'd headed there to view a solar eclipse that was set to black out the Los Angeles skyline by mid-morning. Instead, they had stumbled across the body of a dead woman. She was lying on her back with her shirt up around her shoulders, exposing her breasts. Otherwise, she was fully clothed. Her fingerprints identified her as Peggy Booth, a sex worker who worked on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard, approximately seven miles from where Shannon and Irene were picked up. Detectives assumed Peggy must have known her murderer well, as the desolate location where she was found was not a place she would usually frequent. Just like Shannon and Irene, Peggy had been strangled to death with her own bra.

While the murder of sex workers in Los Angeles was tragically not a rare occurrence, this identical manner of killing was. Dr Lynn Herald from the LA County Sheriff's Department analyzed the ligatures. In the hundreds of strangulation murders Dr Herald had seen over the course of her career, these three were the only ones she had come across where a victim had been strangled by their own undergarments. The fact that the victim's bras had all been dismantled and tied together in the exact same way left her in no doubt that the same person was responsible for all three murders. Detectives began surveilling downtown Haunts where sex workers were known to operate in case the killer struck again. But he never did. On July 16, 1991, the journalist who had reported on the slayings in Los Angeles boarded a flight back to his home country. He'd gathered ample material for his work comparing the differences between sex work in LA and Europe, and intended to broadcast these findings in a radio series for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation.

He also planned to write several articles on the same topic. It was a busy time for the journalist, in addition to his investigative deep dive, he also had a book to promote with public signings. In his homeland, the journalist was a beloved public figure with thousands of fans who adored his empathetic writing style. He considered himself a ladies' man and picked up women effortlessly, even having a whirlwind romance with one of the Cecil Hotel's receptionists. She hoped to visit him in Austria soon. The journalist was Jack Unterweger. Jack Unterweger's prison sentence for the murder of Margaret Schaffer, who he had abducted and strangled to death in 1974, coincided with the period of reform in Austria's penal system. The nation's Minister for Justice implemented a program based on the theory that even the most violent criminals could be successfully rehabilitated whilst incarcerated.

One prisoner who took advantage of the new opportunities offered was Jack Unterweger. He became a regular at the prison library, teaching himself to read and write. Over time, he discovered that he had a natural talent for the written word. He began writing plays, poetry and short stories for children. While he remained behind bars, his short stories were broadcast over the radio, to the delight of many parents and children who tuned in. In 1983, eight years into his sentence, Jack Unterweger completed his autobiography and titled it Fiegerfeuer, which translates to purgatory in English. Jack told of his tragic childhood and the despair of prison life, neglecting to mention why he was imprisoned. The book was published later that year and became a bestseller.

People felt connected to Jack and his compassionate descriptions of life behind bars. He seemed relatable, genuine and sensitive. But police inspector Auguste Schenner hadn't forgotten about Marika Hovart, the woman who drowned in Salzburg Lake. He remained convinced that Jack Unterweger was responsible and arranged to interview him in prison. A girlfriend of Jack's had written a statement placing them in Salzburg on the night of Marika's murder. She recalled that Jack had left without explanation for a period of the night and also remembered Jack keeping newspaper clippings about the murder. When she pressed him for information about the clippings, he threw them away. When Auguste Schenner confronted Jack with this information in prison, he burst into tears and told the investigator that if this line of questioning continued, he would return to his cell and hang himself.

Undeterred, Inspector Schenner appealed to the district attorney to prosecute Jack for Marika's murder. As per Austrian law, Jack could only serve one life sentence, but if he was found guilty of killing Marika, time would be added to his current term. The district attorney declined to proceed with the case, telling Inspector Schenner, He already has a life sentence, he can only be given one. It was suggested that his decision was influenced by the strong links Jack had to prominent Austrians, who wholeheartedly enjoyed his body of work. Although Inspector Schenner was outraged, he had nowhere else to turn. It wasn't long before Figefeuer caught the attention of Austria's literary elite. They praised the autobiography, describing it as the ultimate example of the power the arts had to transform lives.

Those responsible for the country's prison reform held up Jack Unterweger as their greatest success story. In 1984, Jack received an award for his work, a stage production titled Terminal Prison. He was permitted day release to attend the opening night performance, and arrived to a throng of photographers clamouring to take his picture. In 1985, Austria's literary community began to petition for Jack's early release. His editor recalled a reading Jack gave in Stein Prison, stating, At his reading, he was so tender, and at that moment we decided we had to get him pardoned. But Austrian President Rudolf Kirschlager refused to sign off on Jack's release, pointing out that he was legally required to serve at least 15 years of his life sentence.

In 1988, Jack's autobiography was adapted into a film. He collaborated with its director, but differences in artistic vision became evident when Jack continually requested to be portrayed as a hero. The director disagreed, unable to look past the Jack's conviction for murder. He believed Jack had a massive ego, and only used his writing as a means to escape prison, later telling British newspaper The Guardian. Jack doesn't like literature. Jack doesn't like writers. Jack doesn't like anything. Jack only likes Jack. Nevertheless, the film was released to positive reviews, and as the movie gained popularity and Jack's book was taught in Austrian high schools, support for his release only increased. On May 23, 1990, 39-year-old Jack Unterweger left prison as a free man, having served his minimum term of 15 years. His release was due in part to the campaigning of psychiatrist Dr Ernest Borneman, who never met Jack, but had read his autobiography.

Dr Borneman wrote a letter to the Justice Minister, which read in part, The man committed a serious act, is remorseful, understands the motive of his actions at the time, and has the means never to have a relapse. I am convinced that this act will never be committed again. Upon Jack's release, one prison warden said, We will never find a prisoner so well prepared for freedom. A psychologist at Stein Prison, who was straight out of university, had an hour-long conversation with Jack, and wrote that he was now fit for society, having worked on his problems with intellectual rigor. Jack Unterweger was welcomed back into the community with open arms. He settled into an apartment in Vienna, and bought a German shepherd he named Joy. When Jack walked down the street and dated cafes, he was constantly interrupted by people wanting to talk to him.

He soaked up this newfound celebrity status. Soon, Jack was given a job as a reporter with the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation. He went to photo shoots, sometimes posing shirtless to reveal the prison tattoos that covered his torso. On one occasion, he thought it would be amusing to take a series of photos posing with a noose around his neck. Jack attended book signings and gave public poetry readings. He became a regular on magazine covers and talk shows. A fortnight after being released from prison, he appeared on the popular national television program Club 2 and debated the topic of penal reform with other esteemed authors. The panellists described Jack as an exception to the prison rehabilitation program, which had since been deemed unsuccessful for 99% of inmates. In response, Jack said,

They fail, they end up in homeless shelters, because they don't have the inner strength to fend for themselves. It was less than four months after Jack went to Vegas release that the murders of vulnerable women began. Regina Prem was a sex worker in Vienna, Austria, who provided for herself and her husband Rudolph, as well as their young child. On the night of April 28, 1991, she had an appointment with a regular client, so Rudolph dropped her off at an intersection in Vienna's Red Light District. She said goodbye to him, then got out of the car. Rudolph waited at home for Regina's phone call, saying she was ready to be picked up. Hours ticked by. When 2am came and went with no call, Rudolph grew concerned.

He began driving around the city streets in search of his wife, but there was no sign of her. A food vendor came forward to say he'd spotted Regina at around 11.30pm, leaving a hotel she often frequented with wealthy clients. This was the last confirmed sighting of Regina Prem. A month passed with no leads. Rudolph Prem issued a public plea, telling reporters for the V&E's newspaper Courier, quote, I don't want to believe she's dead. Maybe she's been abducted and locked up somewhere. But if the lunatic has killed Regina, he should at least say where her body lies. My wife deserves a decent burial.

About five weeks later, Rudolph was at home when his phone rang. He answered it. A male voice on the other end said, At the Vienna Woods Lake, go left and follow the path that steeply ascends and forks. A few are lying there. The figure eight at the zenith stands, then I'll tell you where your wife lies. Rudolph abruptly hung up the call, believing he was a cruel hoaxer. He didn't report the incident to the police.

At 11.45pm on October 8, 1991, Rudolph Prem received another call. The same voice from three months earlier stated, I am an executioner. On Toolbinger Hill lies Gerda. God commanded me to do it. Tonight I have completed my work. To 11. I have carried out the just punishment. Five hours later, the phone rang once more. Again, the anonymous man spoke. They lie in the place of atonement facing downward toward Hades

because otherwise it would have been an outrage. Rudolph continued to dismiss these calls. He had no idea that bodies had recently started turning up in the very area that the caller spoke of. The Vienna Woods are a 45km stretch of dense woodland that runs through Vienna and Lower Austria. The forest that expanse is a popular destination for those wishing to escape city life. Throughout winter, the bitter cold keeps all but the most determined of hike is away. But during the warmer months, when the snow melts and sun shines through the wooded canopy,

the woods buzz with tourists and locals alike. On May 20, 1991, a 62-year-old man was walking along one of the woodland's paths when he noticed a putrid smell. Looking around for its source, he saw the body of a woman positioned on her stomach with her face pushed into the mud. She was naked aside from a leotard pushed up around her shoulders. One of her right leg was missing, chewed off by foxes. The body was that of 25-year-old sex worker Sabine Moitzel who had been reported missing five weeks earlier

and was last seen on the street corner she frequented for work. Three days later, on May 23, a woman scouring the woods for her guinea pig's favourite food found another decomposing body, also lying naked and face down. It was 25-year-old Karen Eruglu-Slatke, a sex worker who'd worked a few blocks from Sabine Moitzel and had been reported missing two weeks earlier. Karen had been left deeper in the forest, suggesting her killer forced her to walk there naked. She had been violently beaten in the face and one of her ears was partially torn. Both women were killed in nearly exactly the same manner.

Sabine Moitzel was strangled with a stocking tied tightly around her neck in a complex series of knots. Karen Eruglu-Slatke was strangled to death with her leotard, tied in the exact same way. In November 1991, a month after Rudolph Prem received his third and final disturbing call, which included a reference to the Greek god of death, Hades, a couple strolling through the Vienna woods spotted a female body lying amongst a strand of trees. She was naked and positioned face down, crudely covered with branches and clumps of soil. Dental records identified her as Sylvia Zagla, a 23-year-old sex worker who was reported missing four months prior. She had been strangled to death with her own pantyhose.

The Vienna woods were concealing yet another victim. One year after Regina Prem went missing, a retired police officer and his wife went for a walk along the woods' highest hill located deep in the forest. As the officer passed a tree, he noticed a branch lying against its trunk and kicked it absentmindedly. As he did so, he noticed a piece of fabric tied around the branch. Then he realized something. He hadn't kicked a branch. It was a human femur bone concealed inside a stocking. The bone belonged to Regina Prem.

More of her skeleton was found scattered throughout the area, having been scavenged by wild animals. Around two weeks after the first bodies were found in the Vienna woods, a reporter from the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation strolled into police headquarters to speak with Chief Max Edelbacher. He explained that he had been assigned to cover the newly discovered serial killings because of his personal connection to the crimes, claiming that his aunt was a sex worker who had been murdered by a client decades earlier. Chief Edelbacher was happy to provide a statement saying, Despite a number of leads, so far we have obtained no positive result.

What we are really missing is material evidence. The reporter sympathized with the situation, remarking, It must be very frustrating for an officer to, so to speak, run into such a dead end. After Chief Edelbacher's shift ended, he returned home and relayed the day's events to his wife. He told her about the journalist who had interviewed him, providing her with the man's name. His wife was surprised, but the chief didn't know why. He'd never heard of Jack Unterweger before. Jack was working on multiple pieces about the bodies found in the Vienna woods.

After Sabina and Karen were discovered, he interviewed sex workers from Vienna's Red Light District for an article. One woman voiced her fear that the killer had gotten away with it, stating, What can they do now? It's already too late to catch him. They should have taken the missing person's reports more seriously. A tone of dismay permeated Jack Unterweger's finished article. The dead in Vienna woods are another argument for why society should do more to provide security for prostitutes. The more securely integrated a prostitute is in society, the more she can work in safety, with less chance of falling victim to a crime. One individual following the coverage of the sex worker slayings with interest was former detective August Schenner.

Although he'd long since retired from the police, Schenner had been fascinated by the news about the women found in the Vienna woods. They reminded him of a case that he'd never been able to set aside, the murder of Marika Horvat in Salzburg in 1973. When Jack Unterweger was charged with killing Margaret Schaffer sometime later, August Schenner became convinced he had murdered Marika as well. He'd never had enough evidence to charge him, but took some comfort in his suspect receiving a life sentence. Now, almost two decades later, Jack was a free man, and women were being killed again. August Schenner was certain he was responsible. He passed on a message to the police, which eventually reached Chief Max Edelbacher. Chief Edelbacher thought the tip sounded highly unlikely, but as he had no other credible suspect, he decided to put Jack Unterweger under surveillance, just in case.

Jack led a somewhat lavish lifestyle. He often dined at cafes and restaurants with high-profile people. The rest of the time, he holed up in his high-end apartment and worked on his writing. The more Chief Edelbacher observed, the less he believed such a man could be his murderer. On June 10, 1991, Jack Unterweger paid another visit to Chief Edelbacher's office to tell him he was going to Los Angeles for five weeks to write about crime, the sex work industry, and law enforcement. He asked if the chief had any connections in the LAPD who could help him. Chief Edelbacher did not tell Jack that he was being looked at as a person of interest in the Vienna Woods crimes. Because he didn't consider Jack a likely suspect, he had no problem with him travelling to the USA. Jack Unterweger thoroughly enjoyed his time in Los Angeles.

The morning after Shannon Exley was killed, he went sightseeing and unsuccessfully tried to track down various celebrities to interview, including Cher and Zha-Zha Gabor. He got amongst it at the Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade, and a few days after Irene Rodriguez was killed, he saw the sights of Santa Monica. Early one morning, Jack left his room at the Cecil Hotel and strolled the five-minute walk to the LAPD Central Community Police Station. Flashing his ID, he explained what he was doing in the city. When he was offered the chance to go on a ride along with a local patrol officer, Jack leapt at the opportunity. The patrol officer found the small Austrian man quirky but friendly enough. He was extremely interested in Los Angeles law enforcement and constantly asked questions as he snapped photos out of the car window. A few days later, Jack returned to the police station and flirted with the female patrol officers, taking pictures of them.

Soon after, the third American sex worker, Peggy Booth, was murdered. Upon his return to Austria, Jack Unterweger met with Chief Edelbacher to discuss what he'd learned about sex work and crime in Los Angeles. As they chatted, Chief Edelbacher admitted to Jack that he was a person of interest in the Vienna Woods murders. Jack wasn't surprised, commenting that his background made him an obvious target while reassuring the Chief that he was in no way responsible. Nevertheless, Chief Edelbacher asked Jack to provide alibis for the nights that the murdered women had disappeared. He agreed and promised to do so within two weeks. But soon enough, Chief Edelbacher received a statement from Jack Unterweger saying he couldn't give any alibis for the nights in question as he couldn't remember what he was doing. Meanwhile, almost 200 kilometres south in the Austrian city of Graz, detectives began to suspect that two unsolved murders they were investigating were linked to the Vienna Woods crimes.

On the night of October 26, 1990, Brunhilde Masseur was standing on her regular corner in Graz's red light district. As the nearby clock tower illuminated the time of 12.15am, a taxi driver who knew Brunhilde pulled over to ask why she was out so late. Brunhilde explained that she was hoping for one last customer before heading home. She planned to take her children on an outing in the morning and wanted a bit more spending money for them. The taxi driver bid Brunhilde farewell, then continued on his way. Brunhilde never made it home that night. Two months later in January 1991, some children playing in a wooded area on the outskirts of the city came across Brunhilde's body. She was lying in a shallow brook, naked, face down, and poorly concealed by a few tree branches. Her clothing and purse had been taken, but she was still wearing her jewellery.

She had been stabbed once in the buttock and a piece of fabric was not untightly around her neck. Due to the advanced state of decomposition, the forensic pathologist could not determine what the fabric was. Then, on March 7, 1991, 35-year-old sex worker Alfreda Schrempf also vanished from Graz without a trace. It would be another seven months before her skeletal remains were found not far from where Brunhilde had been dumped. She was face down and naked aside from a pair of red socks. Alfreda's cause of death couldn't be determined, but strangulation seemed most likely given there were no other signs of fatal injury, such as bullet, knife, or blunt force trauma. Despite their best efforts, investigators in Graz hadn't been able to find the person responsible for these crimes. But they noticed they bore striking similarities to another unsolved murder that had been committed late the previous year on the other side of the country.

31-year-old sex worker Heidi Hammerer had vanished from the Austrian city of Bregens on the night of December 5, 1990. She'd been spotted at 9.30pm standing on her regular corner near Bregens train station. A few hours later, a neighbour saw Heidi back at home in her apartment garage. She was with a short man who wore a red scarf and a beige leather jacket. That was the last confirmed sighting of her. Just over three weeks later on New Year's Eve, two hikers traversing the nearby Lüstenauer Marsch found Heidi's body. She was lying face down and almost fully clothed with her petticoat shoved down her throat. Her wrists showed restraint marks, but there was no evidence that a sexual assault had taken place.

Her pantyhose were tied around her neck in a series of tight and intricate knots. And this time, the killer had left evidence behind. Red and black fibres on Heidi's clothing had likely come from something her assailant was wearing. When bodies started turning up throughout the Vienna woods, investigators in Graz noted how similar the crimes were to their own unsolved cases. The way the victims had been found and the method of killing was almost identical. When they found out that their colleagues in Vienna had looked into Jack Unterweger as a person of interest, they began digging into his whereabouts at the time of each murder. Hours before Alfreda Schrempf disappeared from Graz, Jack Unterweger was in the nearby town of Kufla for a reading in a local cafe.

Members of the public who had come to hear him enjoyed watching Jack's soulful performance. As the event drew to a close at 10.30pm, Jack left Kufla and headed into Graz's red light district. The night that Heidi Hammerer vanished, a white vehicle with the Vienna number plate W. Jack 1 was spotted driving past the train station she stood near. Another sex worker said she had actually seen Jack Unterweger approach Heidi before she went missing. The next day, he recorded a performance of his play Dungeon at the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation Studios, just eight miles south of Heidi's apartment. Gradually, the Graz detectives pieced together a timeline proving that each time a sex worker went missing, Jack had been attending a book signing or was working nearby. Although he insisted that he had no contact with sex workers outside of his research, a woman came forward with a different story. She had been picked up by Jack Unterweger on October 17, 1990.

Not long after she entered his car, he drove her to some nearby woods and cuffed her, then began violently raping her. Frightened, the woman began to cry. This seemed to spur Jack on. When he was unable to ejaculate, he angrily released the woman before driving off. The incident had traumatized the sex worker, leaving her terrified ever since. When Jack learnt of this woman's statement, he changed his story. Now he admitted that he had picked up a sex worker once, but it was entirely consensual. The handcuffs were nothing more than a birthday gift from a friend that he had stashed in his car's glove box.

And suddenly, Jack claimed that he remembered what he had done on the night that one victim went missing. He'd been with a girlfriend in Vienna. Investigators knew this wasn't true. Jack had been seen by a large number of people at a poetry reading on the night in question. This outright lie convinced Austrian authorities that Jack Unterweger could indeed be the murderer they were looking for. He was placed under surveillance once again. As part of the investigation, authorities began looking into unsolved murders of sex workers in other European countries. They discovered that when Jack Unterweger had been in Prague for work in September of 1990,

four months after his release from prison, a young woman named Blanka Bukova disappeared from the city after leaving a café. Blanka's body was discovered the next day in a nearby forest. She was naked and lying face down with a few sticks and twigs scattered across her body. Blanka had been stabbed once on one of her buttocks and then strangled to death with an unknown ligature which wasn't at the crime scene. Investigators' suspicions that Jack Unterweger was responsible only increased when the landlady of the hotel he'd been staying at reported seeing him in the same city square where Blanka was last seen. At around the same time that she vanished. Despite the increasing circumstantial evidence against Jack Unterweger, Vienna's district attorney concluded there wasn't enough to warrant an arrest.

The district attorney in Graz disagreed and on February 13, 1992, he successfully petitioned the Graz criminal court to order Jack's arrest. Two days later, investigators rushed to Jack's apartment to apprehend him armed with an arrest warrant, but he wasn't at home. Detectives began rummaging through the residence. It was spotlessly clean with nothing out of place. However, a search soon uncovered three pairs of handcuffs, a can of pepper spray, a switchblade knife and a shotgun. As a convicted felon, Jack was not permitted to own any of these items. Detectives also found a beige leather jacket, similar to the one described by a witness who had seen Heidi Hammerer with a short man on the night of her murder. A red scarf seemed similar to the fibers found on Heidi's clothing.

Discovered in Jack's library was a collection of books and manuscripts that featured the same unusual words used in prank calls to Rudolph Pram. Hades, the Atonement, Zenith and references to the figure eight. When investigators eventually learned about the prank calls, they struggled to determine the meaning behind these strange phrases. One possible explanation behind the reference to the figure eight was that this was the shape a restraint made when tying someone's hands behind their back. Another remark from the calls that puzzled detectives was the killer's claim, quote, To eleven, I have carried out the just punishment. Jack Unterweger was suspected of murdering seven women in Austria and one in Prague throughout the year following his release. Investigators wondered if there were three more murders they were unaware of.

Also found tucked amongst the Jack's belongings was a menu for a seafood restaurant in Malibu, California. LAPD detective Fred Miller was surprised to receive a long distance call from somewhere as far away as Austria. On the other line was investigator Ernst Geiger, who wanted to know whether any women, most likely sex workers, had been strangled to death in Los Angeles between June and July of 1991. Detective Miller checked. There were three, Shannon Exley, Irene Rodriguez and Peggy Booth. Inspector Ernst Geiger was certain that Jack Unterweger was responsible. This explained why the Los Angeles serial killer had abruptly stopped after a two week killing spree. Ernst Geiger travelled to LA to investigate further. If Jack could be tied to those murders, that would make him responsible for the strangulation deaths of eleven women within one year of his release from prison.

Meanwhile, Austrian authorities waited for Jack to return home so they could arrest him. Unfortunately for them, Jack had other plans. By this stage, Jack Unterweger had struck up a relationship with the seventeen year old named Bianca Muck, who was more than half his age. Within two weeks of meeting, they were living together, and a month later they got engaged. Jack was a controlling partner. He expected Bianca to cook and clean for him, forbade her from visiting her friends, and didn't like her leaving the apartment. Bianca had taken a job at a bar in Switzerland, which Jack had been supportive of, saying the pay was better than in Austria. On February 15, 1992, the same day that detectives went to Jack's apartment to arrest him, he surprised Bianca by joining her in Switzerland, unannounced. He claimed he was growing tired of all the publicity he received at home.

In reality, Jack had learnt of his impending arrest after someone leaked the news to the press. Soon, he told Bianca that he was being framed, and they had to flee. The couple drove 650km from Switzerland to Paris, where they booked a flight to Florida. Bianca had always wanted to visit Miami. Her favourite television show was Miami Vice, so it seemed the ideal location to hide out. The couple rented an apartment in South Beach, but struggled to make ends meet. On February 21, 1992, Jack called an Austrian radio station to publicly protest his innocence. He promised to return if his arrest warrant was withdrawn. Jack still had strong support in his homeland, with many members of the public convinced he was being framed because the police were too inept to catch the real killer.

After failing to convince a former girlfriend to provide him with an alibi, Jack started contacting another woman he had secretly been seeing behind Bianca's back in Vienna. He begged her to help him by sending money. She didn't have the funds, so she passed along the request to her boss, who was the editor of a magazine called Success. He agreed to pay Jack $10,000 in return for an interview from wherever he was hiding. Jack excitedly agreed, and provided instructions for a wire transfer in Miami Beach. On February 27, 1992, Jack drove to Miami Beach, and Bianca hopped out of the car to collect the money from the wire transfer. As she did so, the couple and their vehicle were suddenly surrounded by US marshals. Unbeknownst to Jack and his girlfriend in Vienna, the editor of Success intensely disliked Jack. After agreeing to pay for an interview, he went straight to the Austrian authorities and told them about the plan.

Austrian officials contacted Interpol, who in turn contacted the US marshals. They organized a stakeout, waiting in an apartment building across the street for Jack to arrive. When they saw him, they leapt into action. Upon realizing the marshals were there for him, Jack fled on foot, running through outdoor restaurants and weaving through back alleys. But soon, the marshals had incarnated, and Jack finally surrendered. He was taken to the Miami Metropolitan Correctional Center, sobbing the entire way. Detective Fred Miller and an associate flew to Miami from Los Angeles to interview him about the three murdered women in their jurisdiction. Shannon Exley, Irene Rodriguez, and Peggy Booth. Whilst there, they took his blood, saliva, and hair samples for DNA analysis. Testing revealed that Jack Unterweger's DNA matched one of the semen samples taken from Shannon Exley.

With the evidence mounting against him, Jack grew fearful that he would be extradited to California, which had the death penalty. In a lucky break for him, it was against Austrian law to extradite citizens to jurisdictions with capital punishment. The deal was struck between the USA and Austria that Jack would be tried for the American murders in his home country. He was extradited to Graz and arrived on May 28, 1992, greeting the reporters who were waiting at the airport with a wide smile. While Jack Unterweger was held in a small jail at the Graz Criminal Courthouse, Inspector Ernst Geiger and criminal psychologist Fred Muller travelled to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. They enlisted the help of Special Agent Greg McCrary to create a signature crime analysis of their killer. It was clear to Agent McCrary that all the murders shared the same pattern. The killer drove his victims far out of town, strangled them with their own clothing, left their jewellery on their bodies, took their identification, dumped them near trees or water, and partly covered them with dirt and leaves.

The lack of semen samples at most crime scenes indicated the killer was impotent and struck out against the women in rage. The killer was consistent with the statement from a sex worker who said Jack had attacked her after failing to climax. The reason why the murderer chose to use pantyhose in Europe compared with bras in the USA was easily explained. In Europe, sex workers did not commonly wear bras. Instead, they donned leotards and pantyhose as undergarments. The murderer was different to other serial killers, though. Instead of attacking in one familiar area, he wasn't afraid to kill in different countries. This suggested that he was intelligent, sophisticated, and organised. After two weeks of analysing the data, McCrary was convinced that one killer was responsible for all the murders, and that killer was Jack Unterweger. Jack Unterweger had owned six different cars during the year he spent out of prison, and although a search of his most recent vehicle revealed no evidence tying him to any murders, Austrian officials successfully tracked down the first car he'd bought, a BMW.

It had long since been sold and was sitting in a junkyard, untouched. Investigators searched the vehicle and found hairs in the passenger seat. A few belonged to Jack Unterweger. Three longer hairs were also found. Only one still had its root attached. A mitochondrial DNA sample was obtained. It matched murdered Czechoslovakian sex worker Blanka Bukova with 99.99% accuracy. Additionally, the results of 142 red fibres and 153 black fibres found on the body and clothing of Heidi Hammerer were bound to be consistent with the Jack's red scarf and a pair of black woolen trousers taken from his wardrobe. Jack Unterweger was charged with 11 counts of murder in three countries. His trial began in Graz on April 20, 1994. It was the first time in Austrian history that a person had stood trial for so many counts of murder, and the media dubbed it the Trial of the Century.

Members of the public began queuing up at 4.30am to get one of the 32 seats in the public gallery and catch a glimpse of Jack Unterweger as he walked into court. The defendants smiled at reporters as though he was attending a red carpet event. One hour into proceedings, a bomb threat was called in, forcing everyone to evacuate. After the threat was dismissed as a hoax, the trial finally got underway. Jack's defence blamed the media for painting him as a monster and not abiding by the principle of innocent until proven guilty. They pointed to a claim Jack made that he'd slept with more than 150 women since being released from prison, arguing that he didn't need to murder sex workers when there were so many women available to him. Jack's girlfriend Bianca gave evidence. It was obvious that she no longer wanted to be associated with him in any way.

She told the court how he had kept women's clothes in his basement and she found pantyhose in his glove box, evidence she'd previously kept from police. Ex-girlfriends and sex workers described brutal sex acts Jack subjected them to against their will and while they were handcuffed. An actor who was touring in one of Jack's plays gave evidence about the time Jack had told a performer, your nipples should be cut off and preserved in vinegar. Jack's defence lawyer minimised the comment, telling the jury it was just guy talk. This angered the judge, who retorted, don't count me among the guys who talk that way. A psychiatrist told the courtroom that Jack was a malignant narcissist, adding, Jack Unterweger is legally sane but mentally abnormal. He is suffering from a deep-reaching narcissistic personality disorder with sadistic tendencies.

When Judge Haas asked if Jack had anything to say in response to these findings, he replied, What should I say? He's the expert. The trial finally wrapped up on June 28, 1994, just before midnight the night prior. A thunderous roar was heard throughout the streets of Gratz as a section of the courtroom exploded. Shattered glass from the windows rained down onto the street and a burst water pipe caused flooding inside. A bomb had been planted in the building. Although rumours spread that the bomb was set off by Unterweger's supporters, this was never confirmed and the culprits were never identified. Fortunately, the main courtroom was spared and proceedings continued as usual the next morning.

As per Austrian law, Jack Unterweger was the final person to address the jury before they began deliberating. He stated, I was a rat. I consumed women rather than loved them. I was a greedy, ravenous individual, hungry for life and determined to rise in life from the bottom. It wasn't me. I'm innocent. For Jack to be found guilty, five of the eight jurors had devoted in favour of his guilt. By 8.50 that night, they'd reached a verdict. As they reconvened in the courtroom, a furious thunderstorm raged outside.

Jack was found guilty of nine murders, six votes to two. He was acquitted of killing Alfreda Schramf and Regina Prem as their causes of death could not be definitively established due to the deterioration of their remains. Jack cried upon hearing the verdict. He promised to appeal before being let out of the courtroom. At 3am the following morning, a warden completing a routine check noted Jack Unterweger was lying quietly on his mattress. 40 minutes later, the same warden found Jack's lifeless body hanging from a curtain rod. He had taken his own life. His ex-fiance Bianca awoke to the news on her clock radio.

She got out of bed and went about her day as normal. When Jack's lawyer found out about his client's death, he announced that because Jack intended to appeal his conviction, which had not been reviewed by the court, he could not legally be referred to as guilty under Austrian law. Austria's Justice Minister had little to say about Jack Unterweger's choice to end his life, other than to say that out of all the lives he took, this, quote, was his best murder. The conviction and death of Jack Unterweger caused a period of deep reflection for those who had campaigned for his release. Special Agent Greg McCrary said in an A&E documentary about the case, You educate a psychopath. What do you have? You have an educated psychopath. We've not made him better. We've probably made him more dangerous. In 2009, Academy Award-nominated actor John Malkovich produced and starred in an operatic portrayal of Jack Unterweger's life,

which he toured in theatres around Vienna, Spain, France, London and Los Angeles. Titled The Infernal Comedy, Confessions of a Serial Killer, the show had taken more than 10 years to write and produce. Its musical director had attended one of Jack Unterweger's poetry readings many years earlier. Of the period surrounding Jack Unterweger's short-lived release from prison, he told The Guardian, quote, It epitomised the thinking at the time that art is stronger than crime and the far too liberal idea that everybody can be changed. John Malkovich recalled first seeing Jack Unterweger on a television talk show. He became enthralled with the murderer who fooled so many people. In an interview, Malkovich also told The Guardian, quote,

At the time, I didn't get it. I wondered why people believed in someone who was so obviously fake, so obviously lying. Only years later did the real story come out. .