For more than two decades, women and children were murdered across West Germany’s Ruhr region and surrounding communities. The crimes occurred years apart, in different cities, and under circumstances that did not immediately point investigators toward a single killer.
Behind many of them, however, was the same man: Joachim Kroll, the German serial killer who became known as the Ruhr Cannibal and the Duisburg Man-Eater.
Kroll's known crimes stretched from 1955 until his arrest in 1976. During that period, innocent people were suspected of murders they had not committed, several cases remained unresolved, and investigators failed to recognize that crimes scattered across the region were connected.
After his arrest, Kroll confessed to 14 murders and an attempted murder. Prosecutors were ultimately able to secure convictions for eight murders and one attempted murder.
The following Joachim Kroll murders timeline traces the crimes attributed to him, the investigative failures that allowed the killings to continue, and the events that finally ended one of Germany's longest serial murder cases.
Who Was Joachim Kroll?
Joachim Georg Kroll was born on April 17, 1933, in Hindenburg, Upper Silesia, an area that is now Zabrze, Poland.
Following World War II, his family relocated to North Rhine-Westphalia. Kroll eventually settled in the industrial Ruhr region and held a series of relatively unremarkable jobs.
Nothing about his outward life revealed the series of crimes later attributed to him.
Kroll's first known murder occurred in 1955. His last came more than 21 years later.
His victims varied considerably in age. Most were girls or women, although one adult man was also killed during an attack in which a woman escaped.
The wide geographic distribution of the crimes became one of the factors that complicated the investigation. Cases were handled in different communities, and several murders were initially blamed on other people.
February 8, 1955 — The Murder of Irmgard Strehl
The known timeline of the Joachim Kroll murders begins on February 8, 1955.
Irmgard Strehl, 19, was attacked near Lüdinghausen. Her body was later discovered in a barn.
Kroll would eventually confess to her murder.
At the time, however, investigators had no reason to know that Strehl's death marked the beginning of a series that would continue for more than two decades.
Kroll was approximately 21 years old.
March 3, 1956 — Erika Schuletter
Roughly a year later, another young victim was killed.
Erika Schuletter, 12, was murdered near Kirchhellen, an area that is now part of Bottrop.
The crime was not connected to Strehl's murder.
That separation would become a recurring feature of the case. Kroll did not confine his crimes to one neighborhood or even one city. By moving between communities throughout the region, he made it much harder for investigators of the era to recognize a single pattern.
June 16, 1959 — Klara Frieda Tesmer
After a gap of more than three years, the killings resumed.
On June 16, 1959, 24-year-old Klara Frieda Tesmer was murdered near the Rhine meadows around Rheinhausen.
The investigation produced a devastating mistake.
A mechanic named Heinrich Ott was arrested in connection with Tesmer's death. Ott died by suicide while imprisoned.
Years later, Kroll confessed to Tesmer's murder.
The case became one of several instances in which suspicion fell on someone other than the man who would eventually admit responsibility.
July 26, 1959 — Manuela Knodt
Only weeks after Tesmer's death, another murder occurred.
Manuela Knodt, 16, was killed in Essen on July 26, 1959.
Her body showed signs of mutilation, a detail that would later become important when investigators examined Kroll's crimes as a group.
By this point, four murders later attributed to Kroll had occurred.
Yet there was still no recognized Ruhr Cannibal case. To police at the time, the killings were largely separate investigations.
1962 — The Killing Spree Accelerates
The year 1962 became one of the most active periods in the Joachim Kroll timeline.
Three young girls were linked to Kroll during that year alone.
The cases also demonstrate how badly fragmented the investigation remained.
April 23, 1962 — Petra Giese
Petra Giese, 13, was murdered in the Dinslaken-Bruckhausen area.
Another man, Vinzenz Kühn, was arrested and convicted in connection with the crime.
Kroll later confessed to killing Petra.
The consequences extended far beyond an unsolved murder. Investigators believed they had identified the perpetrator while the man who would later claim responsibility remained free.
June 4, 1962 — Monika Tafel
Less than two months later, 12-year-old Monika Tafel was killed in Walsum.
Her body was mutilated after death.
Once again, investigators focused on another person.
Walter Quicker was suspected in connection with the murder before being released. According to accounts of the case, the suspicion surrounding him continued afterward, and he later died by suicide.
Kroll remained unidentified.
September 3, 1962 — Barbara Bruder Disappears
Later that year, Barbara Bruder, 12, disappeared in Burscheid.
Unlike many of the other victims attributed to Kroll, Barbara's body was never recovered.
Kroll later confessed to killing her.
Her disappearance illustrates one of the difficulties surrounding the eventual investigation into Kroll's claims: decades had passed since some of the crimes, evidence was limited, and not every confession could be proven in court.
August 22, 1965 — Hermann Schmitz Is Killed and Marion Veen Escapes
The next known attack differed significantly from Kroll's previous crimes.
On August 22, 1965, Hermann Schmitz, 25, and his girlfriend Marion Veen were attacked while sitting in a car in Duisburg-Großenbaum.
Schmitz was killed.
Veen survived.
Schmitz is generally identified as the only male murder victim attributed to Joachim Kroll.
The surviving victim also made this attack especially significant. Years later, prosecutors would convict Kroll not only of multiple murders but also of an attempted murder.
Yet the attack still did not expose the larger pattern.
Ten years had now passed since Kroll's first known murder.
September 13, 1966 — Ursula Rohling
On September 13, 1966, Ursula Rohling, 20, was murdered in Försterbusch Park near Marl.
Suspicion again fell on someone close to the victim.
Her boyfriend, Adolf Schickel, was suspected of the killing and later died by suicide.
Kroll eventually confessed to Rohling's murder.
By then, the consequences of the failure to connect the crimes extended beyond Kroll's direct victims. Multiple innocent people had been arrested, convicted, publicly suspected, or otherwise drawn into investigations of murders later attributed to him.
December 22, 1966 — Ilona Harke
Only months later came one of the youngest victims attributed to Kroll.
Ilona Harke was five years old when she was killed in Wuppertal on December 22, 1966.
Her body was found in a ditch.
Once again, the crime occurred in a different location from many of the previous murders.
By the end of 1966, Kroll's crimes had stretched across more than a decade and numerous communities.
July 12, 1969 — Maria Hettgen
Nearly three years passed before the next known murder.
On July 12, 1969, Maria Hettgen, 61, was killed in Hückeswagen.
Her age made her markedly different from many of Kroll's earlier victims, several of whom had been children or teenagers.
The variation in victim age further complicated any simple profile investigators might have used to connect the cases.
Kroll's victims were not confined to a narrow demographic, and his crimes were spread across a broad geographic area.
May 21, 1970 — Jutta Rahn
On May 21, 1970, 13-year-old Jutta Rahn was killed after leaving a railway station.
The investigation again focused on someone other than Kroll.
Peter Schay was arrested and later released. Accounts of the case describe continuing public suspicion surrounding him even after his release.
Meanwhile, Kroll remained free.
By 1970, approximately 15 years had passed since his first known murder.
Then the known timeline suddenly goes quiet.
1970–1976 — A Six-Year Gap
No murder currently included among Kroll's acknowledged victims is dated between the killing of Jutta Rahn in May 1970 and the murder of Karin Toepfer in May 1976.
Whether Kroll actually stopped killing throughout that entire period is harder to establish.
What is known is that the next murder attributed to him would occur nearly six years later.
And within two months of that crime, his freedom would finally come to an end.
May 8, 1976 — Karin Toepfer
On May 8, 1976, Karin Toepfer, 10, was murdered in Voerde.
Her death became the next-to-last killing in Kroll's confession.
At this point, more than 21 years had passed since Irmgard Strehl was murdered in 1955.
Yet investigators still had not identified Joachim Kroll as the man responsible for the series of killings scattered across the region.
That changed on July 3.
July 3, 1976 — The Murder of Marion Ketter
The final known murder attributed to Joachim Kroll was also the crime that finally exposed him.
Marion Ketter was four years old.
She disappeared on July 3, 1976, in Duisburg.
Police searching for the missing child eventually reached the apartment building where Kroll lived.
What happened next transformed what appeared to be another missing-child investigation into the discovery of a serial killer.
July 3, 1976 — A Blocked Drain Leads Police to Kroll
During the search, police learned about a disturbing problem inside Kroll's apartment building: a blocked waste pipe.
Human remains were discovered in the plumbing.
Investigators entered Kroll's apartment and discovered evidence connecting him directly to Marion Ketter's murder. Portions of her remains had been placed inside the apartment, including in his refrigerator.
Kroll was arrested that day.
After more than two decades, the Ruhr Cannibal's killing spree was over.
But investigators were only beginning to understand the scale of the case.
1976 — Kroll Begins Confessing to Earlier Murders
Once in custody, Kroll began discussing crimes stretching back decades.
Within weeks of his arrest, contemporary reporting described investigators dealing with an expanding series of confessions to murders committed throughout the Rhine and Ruhr regions. A July 1976 report in Die Zeit described authorities trying to determine how many old cases could actually be connected to him.
Eventually, Kroll confessed to 14 murders and one attempted murder.
Investigators now faced an enormous task.
They had to reopen crimes dating back to the 1950s, compare Kroll's statements with old case files, determine whether details he provided could be independently verified, and reconsider cases in which other people had once been suspected or convicted.
The emerging timeline finally revealed something investigators had failed to see while the crimes were happening:
Many apparently separate murders were connected.
Why Was Joachim Kroll So Difficult to Catch?
Looking back at the Joachim Kroll timeline, one question is unavoidable:
How could one killer remain unidentified for more than 20 years?
There was no single reason.
The Crimes Were Geographically Scattered
Kroll committed crimes across numerous communities rather than repeatedly hunting within one small area.
Investigations conducted by different police jurisdictions were far more difficult to compare in the decades before modern computerized crime databases.
Years Sometimes Passed Between Murders
Kroll's crimes did not follow a predictable schedule.
Some occurred only weeks or months apart. Others were separated by years.
The six-year gap between the known murders of Jutta Rahn and Karin Toepfer is an extreme example.
His Victims Varied in Age
The victims attributed to Kroll ranged from very young children to adults in their sixties.
Most were female, but Hermann Schmitz was male.
That variation made the series less obvious than a group of crimes involving nearly identical victim profiles.
Investigators Had Other Suspects
Perhaps most importantly, several individual investigations appeared to have produced suspects.
In some cases, innocent people were arrested or convicted. In others, public suspicion continued even after a suspect had been released.
Instead of pointing toward an unknown serial killer, those apparent resolutions could make the murders look unrelated.
1979 — The Joachim Kroll Trial Begins
The legal process took years.
Kroll's trial in Duisburg began in October 1979.
Prosecutors faced a difficult evidentiary problem.
Kroll had confessed to crimes stretching back more than two decades, but a confession did not automatically mean every murder could be proven to the standard required in court.
Some physical evidence was long gone.
Witness memories had faded.
Crime scenes dated back to the 1950s and 1960s.
And in Barbara Bruder's case, no body had ever been recovered.
The trial eventually lasted 151 court days. Contemporary German reporting from January 1982 described Kroll facing charges involving eight murders and one attempted murder.
April 8, 1982 — Kroll Is Convicted
On April 8, 1982, nearly six years after his arrest, Joachim Kroll was convicted.
The court found him guilty of:
Eight murders and one attempted murder.
He received a life sentence.
This distinction is important when discussing the Joachim Kroll murders.
Kroll confessed to 14 murders, but that does not mean all 14 were judicially established against him.
Eight murders were proven sufficiently for conviction.
That difference explains why sources sometimes give different numbers when describing the number of Joachim Kroll victims.
July 1, 1991 — Joachim Kroll Dies in Prison
Kroll never left prison.
He died of a heart attack on July 1, 1991, while incarcerated at Rheinbach Prison.
He was 58 years old.
His death came almost exactly 15 years after the murder that had finally exposed him.
Joachim Kroll Murders Timeline at a Glance
1955 — Irmgard Strehl, 19
First known murder attributed to Kroll.
1956 — Erika Schuletter, 12
Killed near Kirchhellen.
1959 — Klara Frieda Tesmer, 24
An innocent man was arrested during the investigation.
1959 — Manuela Knodt, 16
Killed in Essen.
1962 — Petra Giese, 13
Another man was convicted in connection with her murder.
1962 — Monika Tafel, 12
Killed in Walsum.
1962 — Barbara Bruder, 12
Disappeared; her body was never recovered.
1965 — Hermann Schmitz, 25
Killed during an attack in Duisburg-Großenbaum; Marion Veen survived.
1966 — Ursula Rohling, 20
Killed near Marl.
1966 — Ilona Harke, 5
Killed in Wuppertal.
1969 — Maria Hettgen, 61
Killed in Hückeswagen.
1970 — Jutta Rahn, 13
Killed after leaving a railway station.
1976 — Karin Toepfer, 10
Killed in Voerde.
July 3, 1976 — Marion Ketter, 4
Her murder led directly to Kroll's discovery and arrest.
1976 — Confessions begin
Kroll eventually admits to 14 murders and an attempted murder.
October 1979 — Trial begins
The lengthy proceedings open in Duisburg.
April 8, 1982 — Conviction
Kroll is convicted of eight murders and one attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
July 1, 1991 — Death
Kroll dies in prison.
The Investigative Failures Behind the Ruhr Cannibal Case
The most disturbing aspect of the Joachim Kroll timeline may not simply be its length.
It is what happened around the murders.
Again and again, individual cases failed to reveal the larger pattern.
Different jurisdictions investigated different victims. Other suspects emerged. Years passed between some crimes. Kroll's victims varied dramatically in age.
Several innocent people suffered serious consequences after being connected to crimes they apparently had not committed.
Only after Kroll was arrested for Marion Ketter's murder could investigators work backward through more than two decades of unsolved and disputed cases.
Seen chronologically, the murders therefore tell two stories.
The first is the story of a serial killer.
The second is the story of how fragmented investigations can prevent authorities from recognizing that seemingly isolated crimes are part of something much larger.
How Many People Did Joachim Kroll Kill?
The most accurate answer depends on what is being counted.
Joachim Kroll confessed to 14 murders.
However, he was convicted of eight murders and one attempted murder.
For that reason, sources may describe Kroll as having eight confirmed victims while others use the 14 murders he admitted committing.
When discussing the case, distinguishing between confessed murders and murders proven in court provides a clearer picture than simply assigning Kroll a single victim count.
How Long Was Joachim Kroll Active?
Kroll's first known murder occurred on February 8, 1955.
His final known murder and arrest occurred on July 3, 1976.
That means his known murder timeline stretched across more than 21 years.
It is an extraordinary period of time for a serial killer to remain unidentified, particularly considering how many investigations occurred during those decades.
How Was Joachim Kroll Finally Caught?
Kroll was not captured because investigators successfully connected his earlier murders.
Instead, his arrest followed the disappearance and murder of four-year-old Marion Ketter in July 1976.
During the search, a blocked waste pipe at Kroll's apartment building helped lead investigators to human remains and ultimately to his apartment.
Once Kroll was arrested, his statements caused investigators to reopen and reexamine murders dating back to the 1950s.
The Legacy of the Joachim Kroll Case
The Joachim Kroll murders remain one of the darkest serial murder cases in postwar Germany.
But the case is significant for reasons beyond Kroll's crimes themselves.
It demonstrates the problems investigators can face when crimes cross jurisdictional boundaries, occur over long periods, and appear individually to have plausible suspects.
Modern investigators have access to tools that police departments of the 1950s and 1960s did not: computerized databases, DNA profiling, digital case management, and far easier information sharing between jurisdictions.
Kroll's crimes unfolded in a very different investigative environment.
By the time police finally entered his Duisburg apartment in July 1976, more than two decades had passed since the first murder attributed to him.
Only then did investigators begin assembling the pieces into a single horrifying timeline.
And only then did the scattered murders across the Ruhr region finally acquire the name that would become permanently associated with them:
Joachim Kroll — the Ruhr Cannibal.
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