The Favoriten Girl Murders

The most populous district of the Austrian capital Vienna is Favoriten, where over 10 percent of Vienna’s inhabitants live. This 10th district of Vienna is located in the south of the city and was created in 1874 by merging the five suburbs of Favoriten, Inzersdorf-Stadt, Rothneusiedl, Unterlaa, and Oberlaa. To this day, it has a reputation for being the most dangerous district in Vienna, as it is indeed where most crimes take place. This district was also the scene of one of the most heinous series of murders in criminal history, known as the Favoriten murders, which took more than two decades to solve. It all began with the murder of 20-year-old saleswoman Alexandra Schriefl on October 26, 1988. On that day, she had visited the Azzuro discotheque in her home district of Favoriten. Her boyfriend wanted to pick her up afterwards. But after leaving the disco, there was no trace of Alexandra. Eleven hours later, her naked body was found in Himberger Straße, tied to a tree with her stockings and sweater. Alexandra had been raped and strangled. Just three months later, on February 3, 1989, 10-year-old Christina Beranek was found in the Per-Albin-Hansson housing estate, only 100 meters from the scene of Alexandra Schriefl’s murder. The girl, who had last been seen alive buying a Mickey Mouse comic at a kiosk, was sexually abused in her apartment building, strangled with her tights, and tied to the stair railing with them. Due to the proximity of the two crime scenes and a similar modus operandi, investigators assumed that the same perpetrator was responsible for both crimes. This was followed by the largest police operation since World War II, with over 200 officers searching for clues. The police suspected that the perpetrator came from the Per-Albin-Hansson housing estate, where approximately 11,000 people lived. Over 1,000 people were checked and more than 500 apartments were searched. A reward of 160,000 schillings was offered. However, this was unsuccessful. Almost two years passed before the body of 8-year-old Nicole Strau was found in the Laaer Forest on December 22, 1990. After picking up Christmas presents from her aunt, she encountered her killer on her way to the bus. He sexually abused Nicole and then tried to strangle her with her own shoelaces. When this failed, he killed her with a broken branch. After this murder, the police assumed it was the work of a serial killer. Over 1,600 people were investigated. However, significant errors were made during the investigation. In the Alexandra Schriefl murder case, the forensic medicine department had secured a contaminated trace, which led to the wrong blood type being determined for the perpetrator. In addition, in the Nicole Strau case, the only suspect who had not provided a DNA sample was not sought out. There was considerable sloppiness. But then the tide turned. Traces of semen had been secured in the cases of Alexandra Schriefl and Nicole Strau. The DNA contained in these traces yielded a match in September 2000. This match led to Herbert P., who had been investigated shortly after the crime. However, due to the incorrect blood type determination, he was ruled out as the perpetrator. Herbert P. was arrested in October 2001 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of Alexandra Schriefl, the maximum sentence for a young person who was not yet 21 at the time of the crime. Although it was suspected that he was also responsible for the death of Christina Beranek, there was no evidence to support this. Furthermore, it would not have had any effect on the sentence. In November 2001, the murder of Nicole Strau was solved. She had been murdered by Michael P., who was already among the suspects at the time. However, he had given a false alibi, which is why he was no longer considered a suspect. DNA testing proved him to be Nicole Strau’s killer, and in December 2002, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder. This finally solved the mystery of the Favoriten girl murders.