Rudolf Pleil

Case record (Rudolf Pleil)

Identification

Rudolf Pleil was convicted in connection with manslaughter in the axe killing of a salesman in 1947 and was later sentenced to life imprisonment for rape-murders in 1950. He committed suicide by hanging in prison on February 18, 1958.

Timeline

• 1946 — Pleil claimed his first human victim, braining Eva Miehe with an ax and dumping her body in a canal.
• March 1946 — Pleil beat Eva Miehe, then raped her, and smashed her skull in with an axe.
• 1947 — Pleil was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to twelve years in prison after axing a salesman to death.
• November 1950 — Pleil stood trial in Brunswick; the jury convicted him, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment along with co-defendants Karl Hoffman and Konrad Schuessler.
• February 18, 1958 — A jailer found Pleil hanged in his cell.

The offences

Pleil took up murdering after trying it for the first time.

After the war, Pleil posed as a border guard in the no-man’s land near Saxony separating East and West, and picked up desperate women trying to flee the Eastern Bloc. He offered to help them escape, including by escorting female refugees across the frontier from East Germany into the western zone. Instead of sanctuary, women were raped by Pleil, then killed and mutilated.

Plein’s weapons changed each time: he used hatchets, knives, a hammer or a stone. Some items were found, and some were part of his personal arsenal. He also had accomplices at one point who helped trap victims, while he carried out the killing.

A dispute arose with an accomplice when the accomplice insisted on decapitating a victim; this enraged Pleil because he could not understand why the accomplice suggested such a barbaric action.

Pleil’s first murder for which he was imprisoned came after he axed a salesman to death. He was charged with, and found guilty of, manslaughter, and was sentenced to twelve years in prison.

Pleil later described his crimes as being driven by sexual satisfaction, and he denied that any victims had been killed for purposes of robbery. Nonetheless, his case summary described “Rape - Robberies” as a characteristic association.

Victims and numbers

Police charged Pleil with nine rape-murders. Five of the victims were never identified, and detectives named two accomplices.

In trial and later statements, Pleil insisted that the correct number of his victims was 25. He said prosecutors underestimated him and that his victims could only be found as nine bodies.

In later descriptions of his confessed history, he confessed to 25 murders.

The case also included a male victim: a travelling salesman, who was killed with an axe.

Investigation and evidence

A young woman came to the police with a story about the recently imprisoned Pleil, describing a new scenario involving a woman trying to escape East Germany and Pleil offering to help. The woman said she crossed paths with Pleil when he was working as a border guard after the war, and Pleil managed to get her over the west side of the wall. In a desolate area, Pleil started to beat her until, she said, he thought she was unconscious. She then faked being beaten senseless, and when Pleil left her, she ran off to safety. Police followed up and uncovered a history of multiple murders.

The police launched a full-scale investigation and charged Pleil with nine rape-slayings.

Authorities also pursued leads from writings by Pleil. Pleil sent to authorities and offered the whereabouts of new remains in exchange for an “airing” to visit the scene of his crimes.

On one occasion, he wrote to a mayor offering his services as a hangman. His credentials could be determined by examining an old well on the town’s outskirts, where authorities retrieved a woman’s strangled corpse.

Testimony and identification

A lone survivor identified Pleil. The survivor was Frau Lydia Schmidt, who identified Pleil as the man who bludgeoned her and then did “indescribable things” to her prostrate body. The survivor’s identification helped prompt police to charge him with nine rape-slayings.

Arrest and imprisonment

Pleil was imprisoned in connection with manslaughter after axing a salesman to death in 1947.

During his time in prison, he wrote memoirs and sent writings to authorities. His memoirs were titled “Mein Kampf”.

He also applied for a job as a hangman during his trial, writing that if they needed convincing of his skill they should check out a certain well; authorities later found a strangled corpse in the well when it was checked.

In February 1958, a jailer found Pleil hanged in his cell.

Trial

Brunswick trial and co-defendants

At his trial in Brunswick, in November 1950, Pleil shared the dock with:

• Karl Hoffman, 36 years old, charged in six slayings.
• Konrad Schuessler, 22 years old, linked with two murders and one bungled attempt.

Pleil’s behaviour was described as bizarre and arrogant throughout the trial.

Statements by Pleil at trial

Whenever prosecutors made reference to his estimated body count, Pleil interrupted them. Pleil said:

"It is 25," he insisted. "I had 25 victims but they can find only nine bodies. You underrate me. I am Germany's greatest killer. I put others, both here and abroad, to shame."

Pleil angrily denied that any of his victims had been killed for purposes of robbery, maintaining that the random slaughter had been “necessary for my sexual satisfaction.” He also declared:

"What I did is not such a great harm," he declared, "with all these surplus women nowadays. Anyway, I had a good time."

Trial outcome

The jury decided the crime involving the salesman in 1947 was “spur of the moment” and that Pleil did not intend to kill the victim.

At the Brunswick trial in November 1950, Pleil was convicted across the board with the other defendants, and all three defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Pleil was sentenced to life in prison for nine rape-murders.

Sentencing

• Pleil was sentenced to twelve years in prison for manslaughter in the axe murder of a salesman in 1947.
• Pleil was sentenced to life in prison for nine rape-murders in 1950.

Appeals and aftermath

After being sentenced to life imprisonment, Pleil lasted until February 1958, when he hanged himself in his cell.

Pleil spent time in prison writing his memoirs, which he titled “Mein Kampf”. His subtitle for the work was:

"Rudolf Pleil-Death Dealer (retired)."

He signed the diary as:

"by Rudolf Pleil, death dealer (retired)."

He wrote to authorities offering the whereabouts of new remains in exchange for an “airing” to visit the scene of his crimes.

Plein also told a maxim about killing:

"Every man has his passion. Some prefer whist. I prefer killing people."

He had described his first “sexual experience” as witnessing naked, battered bodies being thrown like garbage into a freshly dug pit by the Gestapo near his military post.

Pleil’s early life details included that he tortured and killed a cat at age seven.

Other details

Names and ages mentioned

• Eva Miehe — Pleil’s first human victim, brained with an axe and dumped in a canal; she was raped and then had her skull smashed in with an axe in March 1946.
• Frau Lydia Schmidt — survivor who identified Pleil; she said he bludgeoned her and did “indescribable things” to her prostrate body.
• Karl Hoffman — 36 years old at trial; sentenced to life on six counts in 1950.
• Konrad Schuessler — 22 years old at trial; sentenced to life for two murders and one attempted murder.
• Rudolf Pleil — convicted defendant; he committed suicide by hanging in prison on February 18, 1958.

Motive and description of methods (as described in the case summary)

The case summary described Pleil’s motive as “sex./Sad.” Pleil’s method included mutilation of victims and killing using weapons that included axes, knives, a hammer, stones, rope, and bricks.