The Chainsaw Man

Between 2002 and 2004, nine horribly mutilated young women were found in the woods or at a landfill site in the area around the Bavarian town of Landshut. The bodies of the young women showed horrific injuries to the abdominal area, but had not been sexually abused. The killer had often mutilated the women’s bodies beyond recognition with a chainsaw. However, the mutilations were not the cause of death. They had bled to death from multiple puncture wounds made with a sharp object, presumably a scalpel. The police were completely in the dark as to who the cruel serial killer was. But then the police discovered that the murdered women had been in contact with a young girl named Lilly. Could this be a coincidence? Lilly’s father was Alfons Gurtmann. He was born in Erding as the fourth son of construction worker Eduard and his wife Anna. Alfons’ mother Anna was chronically ill, which is why Alfons and his siblings were left to fend for themselves at an early age. After graduating from secondary school, Alfons completed an apprenticeship as a forester. In 1990, Alfons met and fell in love with Gudrun, whom he married just one year later. Six months later, their daughter Lilly was born. Everything finally seemed to be turning out well for Alfons. But then fate dealt Alfons a heavy blow when, shortly after Lilly’s birth, his beloved wife Gudrun passed away. Since then, Alfons and his father’s cousin have devoted themselves to caring for Lilly, who lives in a house in Kumhausen near Landshut. After the police discovered that Lilly’s teacher, her former babysitter, and her coach from a sports club Lilly attended were among the victims, suspicions against Alfons Gurtmann were confirmed, and he was arrested at his home on November 31, 2004. During the subsequent interrogation, Alfons Gurtmann, who had no previous convictions and was considered a loving father, confessed to the murders of nine women. Alfons remained silent about his motive and modus operandi. The police suspected that Alfons had lured the victims to his house or to a wooded area not far from his house through Lilly, where he then murdered them and mutilated them with a chainsaw. The police found this chainsaw during a search of Alfons’ house. Alfons Gurtmann was sentenced to life imprisonment on March 16, 2005, for nine counts of murder. When his 12-year-old daughter learned of her father’s conviction, she suffered a nervous breakdown. She was admitted to a closed ward at Landshut District Hospital. But that was not the end of Alfons Gurtmann’s story. In 2008, he attempted to escape when he was being transported to another prison with other inmates due to the closure of the Landshut correctional facility. When the vehicle veered off the road for unexplained reasons, Alfons was able to escape unnoticed. The driver of the van was dead and his passenger was seriously injured. Since then, there has been no trace of Alfons. Over the years, there were other murders similar to those committed by Alfons Gurtmann. Then, in November 2013, walkers found the body of a man lying in a large pool of blood in a wooded area near Landshut. The man turned out to be Alfons Gurtmann, whose body had 138 stab wounds and had bled to death. A scalpel was found next to his body. As there were no signs of a struggle or evidence of outside interference, the police assumed that Alfons Gurtmann had inflicted the stab wounds on himself in a state of delirium. He wanted to die in the same way as his victims. Alfons Gurtmann was buried anonymously in a cemetery in Landshut. This marked the definitive end of the story of Alfons Gurtmann.