1. Peter Kurten “The Vampire of Dusseldorf”
Lauren Cahalan
Period 4

2. Dates Born- May 26, 1883 Died- July 2, 1932 Years killing- 1913-1930
Worst years

3. Early Life Poverty Eldest of 13 kids Father was an alcoholic, abusive
Jailed for 15 years for incest with his 13 year old daughter
Drowned two of his school mates
At age 9 he befriends a dog catcher. Together they practice bestiality and torture dogs.
Later performs bestiality on sheep
Age 16 he is charged for petty crimes, runs away from home
Receives his first prison sentence
Released from prison in 1899, lives with an ill-treated masochistic prostitute twice his age
Each prison sentence he gets increases his frustration with society
Enjoys being in solitary confinement
Enjoyed arson as sexually stimulating

4. General Profile Yes he fits the general profile. But… White male
Age 40 (slightly older)
Pleasant looking but forgetful
Sex motive
Goes on for months without being caught
But…
Victims were not all from the same group, he killed women, children, and men
Victims did not have similar attributes, all ages, gender, residence
He is married…

5. PHASES

6. Trolling
Originally when he searched for his victims he broke into houses and found children sleeping
Moves on to stalking people in the streets
Greeting them with “good evening”
All victims were chosen at random with no similar characteristics
EXAMPLE: Christine Kline, Kurten was breaking into a house but found nothing of value. He did find a 10 year old girl sleeping. He slowly slit her throat.
This was his first murder

7. Wooing
Just grab people off the streets at night as they are walking home
Ask women if they needed help/ if they wanted to be walked to their destination
Ask girls to buy him cigarettes
EXAMPLE: two foster sister, Gertrude Hamacher (age 5) and Louise Lertzen (age 13) were walking home from the annual fair in Filene. Kurten asked Louise to go buy him cigarettes and said he would watch Gertrude. When Louise came back, Gertrude was dead and Kurten strangled her as well.1

8. Capture Would walk with victim
Then he would abruptly grab them by the neck
Some were stabbed in the streets

9. Murder Used a combination of methods:
Strangulation
Beating with hammer
Slitting throats with knife
Stabbing during rape
EXAMPLE: Rosa Ohliger was found in a hedge with 13 stab wounds and signs of rape. There was an attempt to burn the body with petrol but it was unsuccessful.1

10. Totem
He would commonly return to the murder site and become sexually excited reliving the experience of being the location
EXAMPLE: Frau Kuhn is stabbed 24 times. Kurten stated, “The place where I attacked Frau Kuhn I visited again that same evening twice and later several times. In doing so, I sometimes had an orgasm.”1

11. Death Toll He confessed to: 79 offenses 9 murders 7 attempted murders
(possibly over 60)
7 attempted murders

12. Transient or Stable Stable
He remained in Dusseldorf, Germany for all of his murders
After his first kill he returned to Dusseldorf in the evening and said, "the sunset was blood-red on my return," interpreting this as an “omen of his destiny”1
He felt he has a special connection to the area

13. Organized or Disorganized
Combination
Disorganized
He does not know his victims prior, they are chosen off the streets
Organized
Rapes victims and prolongs the pain by stabbing them multiple times
Brings knife to stab them or slit their throat
Delays the discovery of the bodies by moving them
EXAMPLE: Gertrude Albermann disappeared. Two days later the newspaper Freedom received a letter with a map enclosed stating the body would be found by a factory wall.
Kurten liked to be involved in the investigations, even going so far as to talk with detectives

14. Conviction
May 14th 1930:
Maria Budlick is approached by a man at the train station who offers to walk her to a hotel but instead leads her to the park. She remembers the recent murders and refuses to go. A man walks up and asks if everything is ok. The man from the train station leaves and Maria leaves with the new man who happens to be Peter Kurten. They go back to his house and he rapes her but does not kill her because she was not resistant.
May 17th 1930:
Maria writes a letter to Frau Bruckner about the incident, but it is received by Frau Brugmann instead and she reports the letter to the police
May 21st 1930:
Keep in mind that Kurten is married. Before being arrested, Kurten felt suspicious of Budlick so he told his wife about all the murders.
He is fully aware that he is the “Vampire of Dusseldorf” and that there is a reward for whomever turns him in. He wants to financially support her once he is arrested.
His wife turns him into the police
Maria and police show up back at Kurten’s house. The police charge at him with revolvers but he smiles and does not resist.
He says, “There is no need to be afraid”.

15. Conviction He confesses to Professor Karl Berg, a psychologist
He was not accused of his crimes, but rather relayed his account of each murder
His trial opened April 13, 1931
He was displayed in a shoulder high cage, and behind him were the victim’s skulls, and murder weapons
He looked like a professional businessman
Kurten pleaded not guilty at first, contradicting is extremely descriptive confession. Later caved in to plead guilty
When asked if he had a conscience he stated, "I have none. Never have I felt any misgiving in my soul; never did I think to myself that what I did was bad, even though human society condemns it. My blood and the blood of my victims will be on the heads of my torturers. There must be a Higher Being who gave in the first place the first vital spark to life. That Higher Being would deem my actions good since I revenged injustice. The punishments I have suffered have destroyed all my feelings as a human being. That was why I had no pity for my victims.”1
July 2, 1932: Kurten sent to the guillotine

16. Peter Kurten’s Final Words
“After my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck?" He savored this thought for a while, then added, "that would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.”1

17. Other Facts
Peter Kurten’s mummified head is displayed at Ripley’s Believe it or Not

18. Bibliography
1. Gilbert, Alexander. "Peter Kürten: The Vampire of Dusseldorf." Crime Library on TruTV.com. Turner Entertainment Networks, n.d. Web. 06 May < serial_killers/history/kurten/terror_2.html>.