Juergen Hein

Case record: Juergen Hein

Background

Juergen Hein was a native of Berlin and the oldest of eight children born to an alcoholic tailor and his mentally retarded wife. He left his troubled home as soon as he was legally of age, carrying years of pent-up rage and a stunted sexuality that later found its outlet through sadistic violence. Hein married Edith Dzillak in Berlin; she bore two children, but his second bid at family life proved no more stable than the first.

The offence

Hein strangled his wife at home following a domestic argument.

In 1973, Hein attacked a 6-year-old girl named Sonja Kleber, raping her and causing bleeding from her vagina. She survived long enough to offer the police a clear description of her rapist.

In 1985, Hein killed and mutilated two women:

• On October 31 and November 6, 1985, he stopped 50-year-old Elvira Kaszuba and invited her to dine with him. They grew intimate within the next few days. Elvira let him have a key to her apartment, and he visited each night. After he cooked their supper on the evening of November 6, he disemboweled Kaszuba with a hunting knife and stuffed her body in a closet.
• On the same investigation thread, a missing person report concerned Theresia Hoog, age 55, whose missing car was found after police attention was triggered by a clinic visit. Hein lured Hoog from a clinic using a story that her friend, Elvira Kaszuba, had been gravely injured in "an accident." At knifepoint, he lashed Hoog to a bed, assaulted her repeatedly, and tortured her with superficial cuts using a hunting knife, planning to return later to finish her when he came back from the errand that resulted in his apprehension on the street below. Investigators later found Hoog stripped naked and spread-eagle on a bed, with her wrists and ankles tethered to the bed posts and tape wound tight around her head and face, and with her breasts and genitals bloody and marked with superficial cuts.

Investigation

After Sonja Kleber disappeared while walking home from school in the Neukoelln district of Berlin, strollers in a wooded park discovered her that night unconscious, naked, and hemorrhaging from her vagina. She survived to offer the police a clear description of her rapist. Officers used her description to reach the address where she had been attacked.

In Baden-Baden, police filed a missing person report in the name of Theresia Hoog, age 55. Hoog's son had found her missing from the home they shared that morning, and he got no answer when he called her closest friend, Elvira Kaszuba. Detectives learned that Hoog had gone for rheumatism treatments at a local clinic on the evening of November 10; it now appeared the widow never made it home.

Detectives visited the Black Forest Clinic. A nurse remembered seeing Mrs. Hoog the night before. She arrived on schedule for her treatment but was called away beforehand by a man whom clinic workers readily described. Theresia's missing car was not outside the clinic, and its license number was relayed to street patrolmen, along with composite sketches of a suspect sought for questioning.

That afternoon, a traffic officer discovered the missing car parked out in front of an apartment house. The officer observed a man resembling the suspect sketch emerging from the house and retreating toward a call box. The suspect, Juergen Hein, was taken into custody without resistance as he slipped a key into the door latch on the driver's side. With knowledge of Hein's record, officers searched the building.

In a second-floor apartment, police discovered Mrs. Hoog stripped naked and spread-eagle on the bed, her wrists and ankles tethered to the bed posts, tape wound tight around her head and face. Her breasts and genitals were bloody, and there were superficial cuts indicating she had been tortured with a hunting knife that lay beside her on the bloodstained sheets.

Concerned detectives went to see Kaszuba at her flat and found her mutilated body in the closet.

Seeking information from the building's manager, Ruth Tschantscher, 48, police found she had also fallen victim to the killer. Her body had been strangled, stripped, and slashed, and had lain undiscovered in the bathroom for eleven days.

Arrest

Juergen Hein was taken into custody without resistance in Baden-Baden as he slipped a key into the door latch on the driver's side of the car he had been observed to retrieve.

In custody, Hein readily confessed his crimes.

Trial

On June 27, 1986, Hein was convicted of double murder and was consigned to prison on two consecutive life sentences.

Sentencing

Hein was convicted of manslaughter in November (following the 1967 domestic argument in which his wife was strangled) and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He served only five years and was freed on parole November 24, 1972.

On April 4, 1973, 6-year-old Sonja Kleber disappeared while walking home from school in the Neukoelln district of Berlin. After Hein was questioned and he confessed to the assault, he was returned to prison on a violation of parole with ten years added for the rape. He was released again in mid-July of 1985.

On June 27, 1986, he was convicted of double murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

Appeals

No appeals information was provided.

Outcome

Hein's legal outcomes were:

• Sentenced to eight years for manslaughter in 1976; paroled in 1972.
• Sentenced to ten years for rape of a 6-year-old girl in 1973; paroled in 1985.
• Sentenced to two consecutive life terms on June 27, 1986.

Aftermath

The case described that, in theory, Hein would never walk the streets in search of human prey again.

Timeline

• 3 March 1967 — A domestic argument turned savage and Hein strangled his wife in their home.
• November 1976 — Hein was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison.
• 24 November 1972 — Hein was freed on parole after serving only five years.
• 4 April 1973 — Six-year-old Sonja Kleber disappeared while walking home from school in the Neukoelln district of Berlin.
• 1973 — Hein confessed to the assault on Sonja Kleber; he was returned to prison on a violation of parole with ten years added for rape.
• mid-July 1985 — Hein was released again after being in custody for the parole violation.
• 30 October 1985 — Hein moved to Baden-Baden, in West Germany.
• 31 October 1985 — Hein stopped 50-year-old Elvira Kaszuba on the street outside her home and invited her to dine with him.
• 6 November 1985 — Hein cooked supper at Kaszuba’s apartment and then disemboweled Kaszuba with a hunting knife, stuffing her body in a closet.
• 5 days later — Police filed a missing person report for Theresia Hoog, age 55.
• 10 November 1985 — Hoog went for rheumatism treatments at a local clinic on the evening of this date.
• 11 November 1985 — A nurse remembered seeing Mrs. Hoog the night before at the Black Forest Clinic and recalled she was called away beforehand by a man whom clinic workers readily described.
• 27 June 1986 — Hein was convicted of double murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

Other details

Hein kept lodgings and a waiter’s job in the Neukoelln district of Berlin, courtesy of German rehabilitation officers.

On the street where Hein was apprehended, police knew his propensity for violent sex.

Hein had kept Elvira Kaszuba's apartment access by receiving a key from her and visiting each night.

Theresia Hoog survived her painful injuries long enough to describe how her captor lured her from the clinic with a story that her friend, Elvira Kaszuba, had been gravely injured in "an accident." At knifepoint, he lased her to the bed, assaulted her repeatedly, and tortured her with superficial cuts.

A nurse remembered seeing Mrs. Hoog at the clinic and remembered she was called away beforehand by a man whom clinic workers readily described.

Ruth Tschantscher, 48, was the building’s manager and was found to have also been killed by Hein. Ruth Tschantscher’s body was strangled, stripped, and slashed, and it had lain undiscovered in the bathroom for eleven days.

Ruth Tschantscher's son had been a former cellmate in Berlin. He performed the introductions and once suggested Hein might look his mother up in Baden-Baden if he ever needed lodgings, and "the rest was history."

A waiter's job and lodgings were waiting for Hein in Berlin.

Michael Newton, described as "An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers," listed SEX as M, RACE as W, TYPE as N, and MOTIVE as "Sex./Sad." It listed date(s) as "1967/1985," and a method of "Strangled wife, 1967; killed/mutilated two women age 50 and 55, 1985." It set DISPOSITION as "Eight years for manslaughter, 1976 (paroled 1972); 10 years for rape of 6-year-old giri, 1973 (paroled 1985); 2 consecutiva life terms, 1986."