Six Bodies in the Barn
On March 31, 1922, on a remote farmstead in Bavaria, Germany, six people were brutally murdered with a mattock (a pickaxe-like tool). The victims included the farmer Andreas Gruber, his wife, their widowed daughter, her two children, and the family maid. The Hinterkaifeck murders remain Germany’s most chilling cold case, not just because of the brutality, but because of the strange events leading up to it.
The Stranger in the Attic
Days before the murders, Andreas told neighbors about discovering footprints in the snow leading from the forest to the farm-but none leading back out. He also reported hearing footsteps in the attic and finding a strange newspaper from Munich that no one in the family had bought. A set of house keys had also gone missing.
- The Maid’s Premonition: The previous maid had quit six months earlier, terrified, claiming the house was haunted. The new maid, Maria Baumgartner, had arrived at the farm only hours before she was killed.
- Living with the Corpses: Autopsies revealed that the killer didn’t flee immediately. They stayed in the farmhouse for several days after the murders. Smoke was seen coming from the chimney, and the cattle were fed. The killer ate food from the pantry while the family lay dead in the barn.
- The Motive: Robbery was ruled out as large sums of money were found in the house. Was it a crime of passion? A vengeful neighbor? Or a wandering vagrant?
The Aftermath: The farm was demolished the following year, but the killer was never found. The image of footprints leading into a home but never leaving haunts German folklore to this day.