When kindness hides something sinister | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website in december 1924 amid the growing
post-war recession and the aftermath of a crippling hyperinflation germany was transfixed by a monster
described as debonair and over-polite 45-year-old fritz harmon freely confessed to the sexual assault and
murder of numerous boys and young men while some details of his crimes were deemed too gruesome for publication
there was still plenty of grim fodder for the media to report on they dubbed harmon the vampire of
hanover and the woof man after he claimed to have killed his victims by biting through their necks for his own
sexual gratification then using his skills as a professional butcher harman dismembered his victims
and disposed of their remains in a nearby river this earned him the additional title of
the butcher of hanover it was also rumored that he'd consumed his victim's flesh
though evidence and experts soundly disputed this claim [Music] on december 19 1924
fritz harmon was convicted on 24 counts of murder and sentenced to death in a dramatic display that typified the
man he was harman declared that he would quote go to the decapitating block joyfully
and happily following news of harman's fate the german people breathed a collective sigh
of relief the monster had been defeated or so they thought the morning after the vampire of hanover
was condemned a second monster emerged 600 kilometers away in the town of munsterburg
[Music] [Music] 41 year old vincenz olivier was a stone worker by trade as a younger man in the
pre-war years he might have been a traditional journeyman traveling throughout the region and honing his
craft in exchange for meals and board but by december 1924 the economic hardship that had swept to
germany had reduced the vincennes to a wandering beggar on sunday december 21 vincennes woke
from his first night's sleep in the monsterberg evangelical homeless shelter now known as zhaobitsa in poland
munsterburg was a town of about 9 000 people located in what was then the lower schlesian region of weimar germany
at its heart were the town hall and a small town square enclosed by densely packed tenement housing that extended a
few hundred metres on all sides old fortification walls from the middle ages partially framed the township
overlooking the farmland and forests beyond vincennes olivier set off late in the
morning with the intention to beg on the outskirts of munster burke making his way out the northern edge of
town he soon found himself walking along tystraza the semi-rural residential strait
consisted of two-story grey brick apartment buildings each standing a respectable distance from its neighbor
vincennes approached building number ten winter had stripped the trees in the garden bear and a thin layer of snow
covered the courtyard he knocked on the first door and was greeted by mrs voight a woman in her 40s
who lived with her husband and two adult sons touched by vincenza's plight mrs voigt
handed him twenty fennigs enough to buy six eggs or nearly a kilo of potatoes inspired by this windfall vincennes
decided to try his luck with the other residents of number 10. vincennes headed to a flat at the rear
of the property and was no doubt pleased when its sole male occupant answered the
door as he was known for his generosity towards travellers and beggars the old man aged in his 60s invited
vincenz into his tiny one-room home offering to match mrs voigt's 20 fenigs in exchange for a small favor
short of sight and unable to write a letter to his brother he requested that vincent's sit at the table and
transcribe what he dictated happy to oblige vincenz entered the flat and closed the
door behind him [Music] minutes later mrs voigt heard a loud crash followed by shouting
the commotion had arisen from the rear of number 10 where father denka lived she sent her two sons to investigate and
upon arriving at father denka's flat they found his front door open and chaos unfolding inside
father danke was locked in a fierce struggle with vincennes olivier as the men grappled for control of a pickaxe
the voigt brothers dove into the fray and pulled the pair apart the brothers then called for their
father who took possession of the pickaxe as vincent's was ushered out into the hallway he told the voids through
gulping breaths that the old man had tried to kill him for those who knew father denka the
possibility that he would try to kill someone was absurd but blood was flowing from vincenz's head so
it was clear that something had happened vincent's didn't want to get police involved aware he'd be reprimanded for
begging in the first place he just wanted to retrieve his hat from dankers and be on his way
the voice escorted him back in finding father danke standing in the middle of the room flushed red and visibly
trembling his eyes fixated on vincent's as the younger man retrieved his hat off the
sideboard through clenched teeth denka told the voids that the beggar had tried to rob him
despite vincenz's objections the voice believed this was a matter for the police and escorted him to the local
station vincenz maintained that he didn't do anything to provoke the man they called
father danke but officers were unconvinced father danke was a well-known and respected member of the community who'd
lived in munsterburg for over 30 years without incident they arrested vincenz olivier on
suspicion of begging and vagrancy and placed him in a cell they were not completely unsympathetic
to vincennes's condition however a doctor was summoned to treat his head wound which turned out to be a long wide
gash to the right side of his temple the seriousness of this wound coupled with the vinsense's insistence that he
was the victim prompted police to bring father denka in for questioning denka told officers that he had paid
vincennes 20 fenigs to pen a letter on his behalf vincennes then tried to rob him of the
remainder of his coins inciting the altercation the police were willing to believe
father denka's version of advance however just to be sure they decided to keep him in a holding
cell at the station while they investigated further townsfolk were appalled to learn that
the admired father danka was in police custody based on the accusations of an itinerant beggar
as a younger man before the war father denka had been a dedicated lutheran who performed the esteemed role of
processional cross-bearer during funerals at the local evangelical church he was not an ordained minister or a
pastor rather the term father was affectionately given to him by the people of munsterburg in response to his
gentle nature and unconditional generosity despite only scraping by himself father
denka welcomed the vulnerable and destitute into his home offering them a few coins in exchange for odder jobs
before they departed he'd gifted them with a handmade craft father denker's first name was carl
karl denker moved to munsterburg in his late 20s where he bought a small farm using the inheritance he'd received
following his father's death denka's lack of financial know-how resulted in him paying about three times
what the farm was worth though denka wasn't particularly close to his family his siblings worried that
his inadequate farming skills and limited intelligence would cause him to run the property into the ground
claiming they were looking out for his best interests they applied to have him deemed legally incapable in an effort to
rescind the farm purchase or establish some form of guardianship the application was ultimately dropped
and denka betrayed by his siblings actions withdrew even further away from his family and public life in general
the concerns held by his family proved true when denka was eventually forced to sell his farm
he bought the tenement property at number 10 tystraza with the proceeds residing in the rear flat while renting
out the remaining rooms when the post-war hyperinflation set in denka desperately needed more cash
he sold number 10 but was able to remain in his room as a tenant he made a living making armchairs and
woven bread baskets and selling salted pork and bones at the local meat market when meat became scarce during the war
and the years that followed denka resorted to the illegal slaughter of dogs to maintain his stock
given his good reputation and the desperate times the authorities were prepared to look the other way
true to his kind-hearted nature father denka initially offered his garden as a playground for local sick children but
eventually reclaimed the space to make additional income drawing on the skills he'd learned as an
apprentice gardener in his teens he began cultivating and selling rhubarb as a result
denka was regarded as the rhubarb king although well regarded as a generous man a father and a king
denka was not without flaws despite the country's economic woes karl denker was strong and well fed
exposing his gluttonous love for food he was known to consume two pounds of meat in a single meal
he also harboured chauvinistic attitudes towards women an eccentric loner father denka had
nevertheless indeed himself to the people of munsterburg his fight with vincennes olivier was an
uncharacteristic blight on his otherwise impeccable reputation father denka was set to spend the night
in a cell as police determined what exactly took place between him and vincennes olivier
at 9 30 that evening a sergeant went to check on the old man and was confronted by a shocking side
father denka was suspended about half a meter off the floor by a handkerchief tied around his neck
the abrupt suicide of father danka was equal parts confounding and unexpected whether out of staunch adherence to the
letter of the law or in retaliation for the death of father danka vincenz olivier was charged with begging
and vagrancy and remanded for trial in three weeks time father denka's estranged family were
notified of his death but they refused to collect his body or pay for his funeral
so it was left to the local authorities to arrange his burial two days later on christmas eve the
police attended father denka's apartment to take inventory of any cash or valuable items that could be sold to
cover the cost of his burial upon entering they were struck by how filthy the cramped space was
a foul stench hung in the air and every surface including the floor was covered in jars pots bowls half woven baskets
and bundles of rags among the clutter were piles of papers that detailed denka's rhubarb sales
as officers flipped through the pages they uncovered something strange tucked between them were personal
documents pertaining to other men there was a prison release card in the name of hermann muller and a hospital
discharge form for a man named johann tommela failing to find anything of significant
monetary value from their cursory search of the flat officers headed out to the backyard and
into a small wooden shed inside father danke had built a mezzanine level with some scaffolding to
increase storage capacity from below the officers could see at least one wooden barrel sitting up there
clothes and other bundles of laundry took up the majority of the remaining space
there was also a large wooden bucket about 40 centimeters in diameter on the ground
it contained various cuts of cured meat settled in a salt solution this wasn't an unusual finding given
father denka's livelihood yet there was something about the meat that didn't look right
aware that father denka had previously slaughtered dogs for food attending officers took a closer look into the
bucket one of the pieces of meat caught their attention the realization dawned it wasn't fur sprouting from the pale
meaty substance it was human chest hair case file will be back shortly thank you
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[Music] the wooden bucket contained a total of 15 pieces of human flesh including two
portions from a man's torso and a large piece from a buttocks a medical examiner determined that the
salted meat mass had come from three different men and had been pickled less than a month prior
as police catalogued the array of clothing found in the wooden shed it became clear that the items were
unlikely to have belonged to danka there were coats trousers shirts vests and hats of various sizes most of which
had been washed clean those that hadn't were stained with blood [Laughter] within the large wooden barrel that sat
atop the mezzanine level were hundreds of cleaned and cooked human bones more were found in a small pond behind
the shed and in the surrounding woodlands in total 480 individual bones were discovered
indicating that at least eight people had been butchered at the hands of carl danker
the gruesome discoveries continued in denka's flat two tin boxes one labelled pepper and
the other salt didn't contain condiments they actually held dozens of pulled human teeth
more were found in a wallet and several paper bags bringing the total amount of individual teeth found to 351
the director of the local dental institute conservatively predicted that they belonged to at least 25 individuals
traces of human blood were found on a wood saw and a tree saw blood was also identified on the pickaxe
that denka had wielded when he fought vincent's olivier a gelatinous yellow mass in a bowl on a
table was confirmed to be human fat three enamel pots on the iron stove top contained portions of cooked human flesh
covered in a creamy sauce some with hair still protruding from the skin one of the pots was half empty
the horrific discovery of carl denker's crimes offered an explanation as to why the old man had abruptly and
inexplicably taken his own life after coming to the attention of police karl denker's neighbors recalled his
midnight strolls into the nearby woods and observed him carrying in large parcels but returning empty-handed
they considered it odd but didn't think he was up to anything sinister on many occasions they had witnessed him
hauling pots of meat from his flat to the wooden shed and pouring the bloody contents of his buckets into the
courtyard drainage at the time their only real curiosity was where he got his dog meat in such
high volumes they occasionally noticed a foul smell coming from denka's apartment
but it always disappeared once they raised the issue with him they assumed that the chopping and
soaring sounds emanating from his place at all hours of the night was just a danker constructing his
armchairs as news of denka's disturbing appetite spread more people looked back at their own
experiences with the introverted builder butcher with heightened suspicion a woman insisted she had once seen a
human navel on danke's dining table one winter children had found a thumb frozen in the pond
it also emerged that two other beggars had managed to escape denka's attacks a year or so earlier
one had broken free from a chain wrapped around his neck the other ran out of danker's apartment
covered in blood knowing they would likely be charged with begging and vagrancy neither reported the assault to the
police denka's family offered insight into what cultivated his disturbed mindset
they described him as a lazy and petulant child who long suffered with a bedwetting problem
he uttered his first words when he was about six years old with many viewing his silence as a lack of intelligence
as he grew so did his indifference toward his family and people in general he was said to have had no fear harbored
no disgust and appeared emotionally numb [Music] denka's family described his fascination
with the daniel defoe's 18th century novel robinson crusoe particularly the passages describing and
illustrations depicting cannibals eating their victims carl denker's crimes made headlines
across germany and the world many likened his actions to the vampire of hanover fritz harmon
however where harman did not eat the flesh of his victims denka most assuredly did
[Music] a meticulous record keeper ndenka had documented his victim's details on pages
found within the piles of paperwork in his flat his first victim was listed simply as
eder with february 21 1903 as her date of death investigators would later determine that
this woman was ida launa who disappeared that day while on route to visit a friend
in total ndenka had filled four pages with victims details the final entry on the list did not
include a name only a date of death november 17 1924 a month prior to his suicide
according to denka's list this person was victim number 31. karl denker had been killing for 21
years [Music] the majority of denka's victims were traveling craftsmen carpenters
locksmiths blacksmiths mechanics and gardeners no doubt intentionally selected as they
wouldn't be noticed as missing they were mostly males in their late 50s to early 60s however four women did
appear on the list denka's youngest victim was a 15 year old boy named avold koenig who was
murdered during the war on august 15 1915. his eldest victim was a 75 year old baker named julius bush whose life was
taken on march 13 1921. there was also a separate list of shorthand names that corresponded with
the victim list next to each name was a number that represented their slaughter weight
that was the net weight of their body after their blood organs head and genitals had been removed
investigators concluded that denka had prepared just over two and a half thousand pounds of human flesh for
consumption the sheer amount raised the genuine fears that he had sold some of the meat
as skinless corned pork to marketplaces in the region's capital this prospect horrified one newlywed
couple as all the meat served at their wedding feast months prior had been purchased from karl denker
yet there was no evidence to indicate that denka sold human flesh to others he did serve meat to visitors at his
flat though its origin could no longer be ascertained nevertheless meat consumption in
munsterburg dropped significantly in the weeks following karl denker's death the revelation that denka was a prolific
cannibal serial killer was horrifying enough however the discovery of other seemingly
innocuous items would only heighten his depravity in addition to those in denka's wooden
shed more bundles of clothing and material had been found in his flat all had been neatly tied with narrow
straps of human skin closer inspection of the bread baskets revealed that they too were woven from
the skin of danke's victims the police also discovered three pairs of yellowish brown suspenders each about
six centimeters wide and 70 centimeters long all had been made from strips of dried
human skin at least one pair had been cut vertically from a man's torso as two nipples were clearly visible
another had been repaired with patches of skin from a man's pubic region no one noticed at the time
but denka had been wearing this pair when he died in his cell it was now abundantly clear that
vincennes olivier had been telling the truth all along he had not attempted to rob father denka
as the old man had alleged after entering denka's apartment vincenz had placed his hat on the small console
and sat down at the table while denka hovered behind him a little to the right denka wanted vincenz to address the
letter to his brother followed by the words you fat paunch amused by the phrase vincent's laughed
and turned his head to share the joke with denka just in time to see a pickaxe swinging
down towards him unable to dodge the blow completely vincenz was struck on the right side of
his skull he regained his awareness just as danker raised the pickaxe for a second time
vincennes quickly wrapped his hands around the pickaxe's handle and the two men wrestled for control
despite denka's age and short stature it was a fairly even physical match the pair pushed each other around the
tiny space crashing into the table and sending glass jars and crockery pots smashing to the ground
vincennes was able to wrench the pickaxe out of denka's hands open the door and scream for help
the old man threw himself upon vincennes in crazed determination finally the two voigt brothers appeared
and the fight was over carl denker had no doubt intended for vincennes olivier to be victim number 32
in the early hours of december 31 1924 karl denker's body was buried in an unmarked grave
twelve days later many of his personal effects were reduced to ashes in a bonfire
despite barely escaping with his life on january 15 1925 vincennes olivier stood trial and was
sentenced to a further 10 days in prison for begging and vagrancy danke's victim list suggested he had
murdered and consumed a total of 31 people but investigators were certain the true
number was much higher other pages among denker's paperwork belonged to wandering craftsmen whose
names were not on his list but whose clothing were in his possession despite his initial notoriety karl
denker eventually faded from public consciousness although he was far more prolific and
arguably more disturbed than the vampire of hanover fritz harmon the ladder's vocal theatrics ensured denka was
forgotten in his shadows thus karl denka became known as the forgotten cannibal twenty-five-year-old emma sander lived
in the small town of neuerf less than six kilometers north of munsterburg on december 21 1909
emma vanished while on her way to work in the coming days her naked torso arms and head were found separately in the
woods outside of town her lower legs were recovered near a railway line emma had been choked unconscious then
killed by a method of slaughter popular with butchers for its efficiency and lack of blood splatter known as the
mutton sting given this procedure and the expertly performed dismemberment of emma's body
authorities concluded that her killer was a trained butcher suspicion quickly fell onto a local
butcher named eduard troutman it was well known that emma sander had been terrified of troutman ever since
she rejected his marriage proposal a witness at troutman's trial testified that troutman had declared that he would
beat emma to death if he were ever alone with her he was also seen wearing a leather coat
with sheep wool lining that looked remarkably like one that had belonged to emma
the day after emma had disappeared the distinct smell of burning leather and wool had emanated from troutman's house
harboring a reputation for violence troutman often spouted threats such as i'll turn you into sausage and i'll cut
your head off he had even once attempted to murder one of his instructors [Music]
one master butcher under whom troutman spent time as an apprentice testified that he'd seen troutman carry out at
least four mutton stings despite edouard troutman's claims of innocence he was convicted of emma
sanders murder in february 1911 and sentenced to 12 years in prison troutman was released in january 1923
[Music] 15 years after emma sanders murder carl denker's crimes were exposed the name emma was listed in his notes as
his second victim there wasn't a surname but denka had included her date of death
which coincided with the date emma sander had disappeared authorities soon realised that they had
made a terrible mistake edward troutman was telling the truth he did not kill emma sander
[Music] troutman's conviction for the murder of emma sander was overturned in march 1926
the jury's guilty verdict had been questionable given the time frame in which troutman had apparently committed
the crime he visited the neuhu finn at the time emma was set upon this permitted him a strict five-minute
window in which he confronted strangled bled out and dismembered the young woman
even a skilled butcher such as troutman could not have completed such lengthy procedures in so little time
emma was the only victim whose slaughter weight was not recorded on karl denker's
list as detective polka noted this was because denka hadn't used any of the meat for himself
a strange injury found on one of emma sanders lower legs now made grim sense a long wide strip of skin
had been removed from her shin [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Case 212: The Forgotten Cannibal

On December 21 1924, itinerant beggar, Vincenz Olivier, knocked on the door of an apartment building on the outskirts of Münsterberg in Weimar, Germany. Father Denke, the elderly man who answered the door, gladly offered Vincenz 20 pfennigs to help him write a letter to his brother. Vincenz accepted and was welcomed into Father Denke’s home...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Holly Boyd Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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Brief Summary

Fritz Harmon and Karl Denker, two notorious German serial killers, committed horrific crimes in the 1920s, including murder and cannibalism.

Key points

Fritz Harmon: The Vampire of Hanover. Fritz Harmon confessed to the sexual assault and murder of numerous boys, earning him the title of 'The Vampire of Hanover.'
Father Denka's Disturbing Discovery. Police uncover a gruesome collection of human remains in Father Denka's apartment, revealing his horrific crimes.
Denka's Victim List. Denka meticulously documented 31 victims, raising fears of cannibalism.
The Horrifying Discovery. Bundles of clothing made from human skin were found in Denka's flat.
Troutman's Conviction Overturned. Edward Troutman's conviction for Emma Sander's murder was overturned after 15 years.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The monster had been defeated, or so they thought.

2:18WatchMay 21, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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