Metod Trobec (June 6, 1948 – May 30, 2006) was a Slovene serial killer. A career criminal with a record dating back to 1967, he gained notoriety for murdering five women in a homestead in Dolenja Vas pri Polhovem Gradcu from 1976 to 1978, whose remains he burned inside a stove. The brutality of the crimes led him to become one of the most infamous Slovenes in the country's history, with one website stating that he was more well-known than most politicians.
The last convict to be sentenced to death in the country, his sentence was commuted and he spent the rest of his life in prison. On May 30, 2006, Trobec committed suicide while imprisoned at the Dob pri Mirni Correctional Facility.
Early life Metod Trobec was born on June 6, 1948, in the village of Planina nad Horjulom. He and his twin sister, Cirila, were born to an unnamed father and a farmer named Marija Trobec, who had two other children from previous marriages. They lived on a farm without any running water, which was given to Trobec's mother during the land reform.
According to his mother, Trobec began to walk at age four and could speak at age five, but failed the seventh grade and was unable to finish primary school due to learning difficulties. Neighbors stated that when he was 14 or 15, Metod had burned down several haystacks, a statement his mother claimed was false. After completing his compulsory service in the military, Trobec went to work in West Germany, ostensibly because of the higher salaries. He worked there from 1971 to 1974, where he trained to be an automechanic.
Adult life and places of residence After returning to Slovenia, Trobec met and married Štefka Kvas, who was 21 years older than him. At his later trials, she claimed that her husband was always rude to her in their intimate life, appeared to be overly attached to his mother, and that Metod also had brought stolen items back to their home. The pair would separate and Trobec remarried to another woman in 1978, but they divorced after only nine months. His second ex-wife did not attend his later trial in 1982, despite a summons from the court.
Between 1971 and 1972, Marija Trobec purchased a homestead in Dolenja Vas pri Polhovem Gradcu for 11 million dinars - she allegedly sold some of the family's cattle to make it, with some claiming that she had received additional financial support from her brother and Metod himself. Metod later moved into this homestead with his first wife, where he remained until 1978. For a brief period of time, Trobec moved to another homestead in Spodnja Bela, but eventually returned to Dolenja Vas.
His mother eventually sold the homestead in 1978 or the summer of 1979 to a lodger who only cared about the upper floor and did not use the rooms on the first floor. Once the new owner learned what had been going on in there, he wanted to return the house and get his money back, prompting an angry response from Trobec, who wrote to his lawyer and demanded that the letter be read in court.
Crimes and offenses From 1967 to 1979, Trobec was linked to six different crimes and successfully prosecuted for four of them. Additional charges for other crimes were also brought forward at his first murder trial: 1967: aiding and abetting in the theft of a bicycle and moped. 1971: auto theft, for which he was put on one month probation. 1974: one-year imprisonment for fraud and false accusations stemming from an incident in which he hid a car he had rented from West Germany at an outbuilding in Dolenja Vas and then reported the theft to the authorities in Kranj to collect a reward. 1976: accused of stealing electricity, but not convicted. March 25, 1977: shortly after murdering Marjana Cankar, he used her key to rob a crafting cooperative in Ljubljana. Trobec stole from them two calculators, two typewriters, an electric cooker, coffee-making accessories and two paper clips, with the stolen items' total value being at 21,499 dinars. 1978: 3 months imprisonment for poaching, but the sentence was suspended at his request. February 5, 1979: while driving near the Kranj bus station, Trobec offered a ride to pensioner Janez Valančič, who had just missed the bus. He then drove to a meadow in Dorfarje, knocked Valančič down to the ground and tore off his watch, as the elderly man had no money on him. July 2, 1979: pretending to be a taxi driver, he offered a ride to the elderly pensioner Jovanka K., who wanted to visit Planina to see her daughter. He drove her towards Srakovlje and threw her out of the car without her luggage, documents and money.
Stay in medical institutions In 1974, Trobec was taken from the remand prison (where he was held on fraud and false accusation charges) for treatment at a psychiatric clinic in Ljubljana. Psychiatric evaluations determined that he had psychosis, Ganser syndrome and a psychopathic personality by pretending to be a mental patient. During the two occasions he was detained there, Trobec underwent electroconvulsive therapy - in the first instance, he was given only three shocks, and during the second - two. He reportedly threatened to kill his mother during a visit, but she would later downplay the incident and claim that they had argued about work on the farm.
From February 20 to April 8, 1980, Trobec was put under special supervision at a hospital in Zagreb, SR Croatia, which confirmed that he was aware of his actions. He also underwent electroconvulsive therapy there, as he refused to cooperate with hospital staff.
Murders Modus operandi Trobec's modus operandi consisted of bringing out unfamiliar women to his homestead, where he raped and strangled them, severely beating two of his victims until they were bleeding. After killing them, he would shove their corpses into a masonry oven and then set them alight with gasoline and firewood, later throwing out the ashes and remaining human bones in a wooden urn or a nearby septic tank. The victims' personal items and documents were either also burned, or brought to the homestead in Spodnja Bela. Investigators were unable to determine the exact reason why Trobec did not kill every woman he brought with him, but some speculated that he only targeted victims with health problems, as two of his victims had epilepsy.
Despite this, officers investigating the homestead after his capture found patches of blood in several locations. In addition to this, they also found a novel named "X-100", which describes cruel murders and burning corpses, and another novel named Lun in Ekskadus, where they noted that Trobec had marked one sentence in bold - "I give all my secrets to the fire" (). During interrogations, Trobec gave three different accounts of what supposedly had transpired, initially claiming that the women were brought to him and then murdered by strangers. Later on, he claimed that he had given the victims some pills and that he participated in the murders, before ultimately admitting that he strangled them during intercourse and that he burned the bodies in the oven. Contrary to what his defense attorneys would claim, he never stated that his victims died of natural causes.
The manner of death attributed to the victims - suffocation - could not be proven with certainty at either of Trobec's trials. In the second trial, forensic experts were also unable to determine whether the murders took place during intimate intercourse or rape.
Chronology of murders In the spring of 1976, Trobec met 18-year-old Vida Markovčič, a retailer's apprentice, at a bar in Ljubljana. He offered to take her on a ride with his motorcycle and drove to the homestead, where he severely beat, raped and strangled her. Her white flip-flops, a piece of her dress, identification documents and a photograph were later found in Trobec's homestead.
On March 25, 1977, Trobec met 53-year-old pensioner and part-time cleaner Marjana Cankar at a Nama department store in Ljubljana. It is unclear what exactly transpired between the two, but it is presumed that she was raped and killed at the homestead in Dolenja Vas sometime that same day or the day after. Her coat and a burnt gold chain with a heart were later found there, while other personal items were found at the homestead in Spodnja Bela. Trobec would later use a key she had to rob a crafting cooperative she used to work at.
On March 20, 1978, 21-year-old Urška Brečko, a bartender at an inn in Črnivec, went missing near the Ljubljana Train Station while out on an errand for her mother.Some sources say that it was to pick her mother's dress and arrange a financial issue with neighbors regarding her mother's pension. Others said that she had gone to arrange the purchase of a vineyard. After failing to appear at work the following day, her mother reported her missing to the police station in Sevnica. Both authorities and concerned citizens began a large-scale search for her near the Sava river, in Okroglice and even abroad, but were unable to find anything. It would later emerge that she had been picked up by Trobec at the train station and driven back to the homestead in Dolenja Vas, where he killed her. Her keys to the back door, to the inn's hallway and to the closet in her room would later be found at the crime scene.
The fourth victim, 43-year-old alcoholic laborer Ana Plevnik, went missing sometime in the spring of 1978 after meeting Trobec at the Daj-Dam restaurant in Ljubljana. Little is known about her case, but it is said that she was killed shortly after Brečko. Some of her personal items were found after the Trobecs sold the homestead in Dolenja Vas, while her clothes were later found hidden away in Spodnja Bela.
The final victim, 33-year-old housekeeper Zorica Nikolić, went missing on November 17, 1978, while on her way to see the doctor. Unlike previous victims, she was an acquaintance of Trobec, as the two of them had worked together at the Metalka manufacturing company in Ljubljana. Investigators would find the key to her apartment in where she lived with her sister, and her fur-trimmed coat was found in the possession of Trobec's sister, who lived in Kranj. Her mandible, found among the ashes of the masonry oven, was identified by a forensic dental expert as belonging to Nikolić after comparing the teeth to her dental records.
Arrest and discovery of remains At the end of July 1979, Trobec met a German tourist named Hermann Lampenau in Medno, while the latter was searching for a place to stay. Under the pretence of going to visit his sister, Trobec drove off with the man's car. Lampenau reported the theft to the authorities, but went to search for him on his own and eventually found him again on August 5 at the bus station in Kranj. Trobec promised that he would give him the car back and a place to stay, then drove Lampenau towards a forest near Preddvor. There he beat him up and stole his wallet, which contained 200 Deutsche Mark, 1,900 dinars and his ID. Lampenau had his clavicle broken and suffered wounds to his forehead.