The Göhrde murders were two double murders which took place in the summer of 1989 near Göhrde in Lower Saxony, West Germany. Within the space of a few weeks, two couples were found dead in the Göhrde State Forest, deemed by police to have been victims of the same killer. Although the murders remain unresolved, police announced in December 2017 that Kurt-Werner Wichmann, a suspected serial killer who committed suicide in 1993, was their prime suspect. Investigators have also speculated that another unknown person may be linked to the killings. The murders were widely reported on in the German press, and the area where they took place was largely avoided by members of the public for nearly thirty years.Lüneburg: Göhrde-Doppelmorde nach 28 Jahren aufgeklärt in Spiegel Online vom 27.Pressemitteilung der Polizeidirektion Lüneburg vom 27.
Location and weather
The Göhrde and the crime scene The Göhrde State Forest occupies about 75 square kilometres in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district, with a small section crossing over into the Lüneberg district. The two crime scenes were located near Bundesstraße 216, in the hunting sections 138 and 147.
The Göhrde is the largest mixed forest in northern Germany and mostly uninhabited. It used to be the hunting ground of the Dukes of Brunswick and Lüneberg and later, the Kings of Hanover and the German Emperor. At the time of the murders the forest stood close to West Germany's border with East Germany.
Weather and temperatures There was an unusual heatwave in the summer of 1989 in Lower Saxony, and this meant the crime scenes were mostly undisturbed by weather conditions. On the other hand, the high temperatures greatly accelerated decomposition of the bodies.
Murders
First double murder
On 21 May 1989, Ursula (45 years old) and Peter Reinold (51 years old) from Bergedorf drove to the Göhrde to go for a walk. It is believed that the couple went to a glade in hunting sector 147 to sunbathe or have a picnic. Here they were killed before their bodies were moved and hidden in a nearby depression in the land. The victims were discovered undressed and it is unclear if they were in this state before the murder or if the murderer undressed them himself. The offender also stole the victims' picnic basket and took their car keys, using them to access their vehicle which he later abandoned 300 meters away from the train station in Winsen an der Luhe, a small town in the Hamburg region.
The Reinolds were reported missing and seven weeks later on 12 July 1989, their bodies were discovered by three blueberry collectors. The bodies were in a state of advanced decomposition due to the high temperature, and were partially mummified and skeletonized. While on their way to notify the forester, the collectors met a brown-haired, well-built man who looked about 40 years of age and was carrying a bag. The Kriminalpolizei assumed that this was the perpetrator attempting to seek out more victims.
Due to the condition of the corpses, the exact cause of death could not be explained, although it was clear that it was not suicide or an accident. Strangulation and shooting were considered possible causes. The husband had an injury to his larynx; however, it could not be determined whether this was caused by the perpetrator or by local wildlife such as a wild boar.
Second double murder On 12 July 1989, the day of the discovery of the first murders, Ingrid Warmbier (46 years old) from Uelzen and Bernd-Michael Köpping (43 years old), a district manager of the from Hanover, drove together to the Göhrde. Warmbier and Köpping were married to other people, but engaged in an affair. After eating lunch in nearby Bad Bevensen, they parked in a small side street near the Forsthaus Röthen and walked more than two kilometers into the forest.
In hunting sector 138 they met the perpetrator, and it is theorised that he threatened them with a firearm before forcing them to lie face down so he could tie their hands and feet with a Leucoplast band. The offender strangled Köpping and killed him with a headshot from a 5.6 mm small-caliber weapon. Warmbier had her skull smashed and received heavy chest injuries; her blouse was lifted up to the level of her bra, which had been cut. She was also shot in the head. The perpetrator then stole Köpping's Polaroid camera and the keys to his Toyota, which he used to leave the area. Further investigation revealed that the perpetrator used the vehicle for about a week before parking it in the vicinity of a spa clinic in Bad Bevensen.
Two weeks later, on 27 July 1989, police officers taking part in the nationwide investigation into the murder of the Reinolds discovered the bodies of Köpping and Warmbier by chance. The date of death was confirmed to have been 12 July 1989, the day the police began their investigation into the first double murder. The location was 800 metres from the site of the first double murder. According to the investigators' reconstructions, the perpetrator committed the second double murder at a time when the Kriminalpolizei were at the scene of the first murders. Subsequent tests revealed that despite the close range of the two sites, gunshots could not be heard between them due to depressions in the land.
Parallels The parallels between the two crimes were that a middle-aged couple was murdered in both instances and that both crime scenes were located in the same area of the forest. In each case the offender stole conspicuous technical items, although neither crime resembled a classic robbery, and it is believed that he disposed of these following high public interest in the case. The perpetrator also took both victims' cars and abandoned them in small towns with railway connections, both of which located on the Hanover-Hamburg railway. These parallels prompted investigators to believe that the perpetrator of both crimes was the same person.
Aftermath The two double murders had significant consequences for the Göhrde. In German press and television, the forest was called "Totenwald" (Death Forest). Hikers and walkers avoided it for many years.
Investigations Measures Immediately following the discovery of the first crime, the Lower Saxony police formed a special 40-member commission with the detectives from the region and Lüneberg. The commission's appeal created 1,911 records and about 10,000 people were interviewed . A facial composite was created and published with a reward of 50,000 Deutsche Mark. In December 1989 and again in January 1990, the case was broadcast in the television series Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst (a cold case programme) but it did not lead to success.
As a result of further investigations by police profilers, the perpetrator was characterized as "brutal, aggressive, emotionally cold, a loner, sexually disturbed, mentally ill, choleric, overcorrect" and "introverted". The investigators assumed that he had been a non-smoker, that he could organise his own time, and that he would not have missed a day from work.
The examinations of a number of persons, for example patients of closed psychiatry who were on parole at the time of the crime, as well as the guests of inns, hotels, and spas in nearby Bad Bevensen, did not provide new leads. Likewise, no clues were drawn from the review of all vehicle owners from license plates recorded in the area at the time. Also, the later identified Kurt-Werner Wichmann was checked. He was suspected due to his criminal record and was on sick leave at the time of the double murder (he also did not have to work at the time of the first murder on a Sunday).Kunze, Rohrbeck, Auf der Lichtung, Zeit Online, 31. One witness saw him, but because he had worn glasses, he claimed that Wichmann did not match the facial composite.
Also suspected was the husband of Ingrid Warmbier, the female victim in the second double murder. It was theorized that he had hired somebody to kill his unfaithful wife and lover, and that the hitman accidentally got the wrong couple first.Anne Kunze, Felix Rohrbeck, Auf der Lichtung, Zeit Online, 3.
First "clue" After a short time there was an apparent clue. In Wales, a similar double homicide had occurred in June 1989 for which John Cooper (64 years old) was later arrested in May 2009. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Dixon couple had been on a camping trip at Little Haven when they were shot at close range. The corpses were found away from the road, with the husband's hands tied behind his back. A day before these double murders, witnesses noticed an approximately 40-year-old man whose description was similar to that of the alleged Göhrde murderer. The witnesses also reported a companion of about 20 years of age with a German or Dutch accent. In the Göhrde, police had found a Dutch coin near the first scene. The crime scenes in Germany and Wales were both near UK military training grounds. Despite this, no firm connection between the Göhrde Murders and Cooper has been made.
Second "clue" In 1993, a witness heard a man threaten his wife during a quarrel that she should not forget the Göhrde murders and that she might go the same way if she continues to cheat on him. The witness reported their observations to the police. The first superficial review was promising, because the suspect had a firearms permit for a small caliber 5.6 mm gun, the same weapon used in the second double murder. In addition, the appearance of the suspect matched the prepared facial composite. Finally, the suspect came from the area and had local knowledge as a forester. After several months of further investigation, a search warrant was obtained by the police and the forester's house was searched and the weapons were seized. Many hours of interrogation of the suspect and his wife did not lead to success as there were no incriminating circumstances and the suspect had an alibi for the second double murder.
Further development The special commission was later dissolved, as it did not find the culprit. The head of the special commission retired in 1997. After that, only two detectives from the former special commission worked on the case, namely an investigator from Lüchow and an investigator from Lüneberg. In 2009, only the detective from Lüneberg was delegated to follow up on occasional hints.
In July 2009 there was another, possibly last investigation approach: the two hairs secured from the vehicle of the Reinolds, which were neither assigned to them nor the environment. The Kriminalpolizei wanted to carry out a new DNA test using more modern methods and compare them with the data stored in their records. The problem of DNA analysis was that the DNA pattern in old, failed, rootless hairs can only be completely isolated with a 60 percent probability. The criminal investigation was still based on the assumption that the two hairs were suitable to identify the perpetrators.Polizei sucht 25 Jahre nach Göhrde-Morden weiter nach dem Täter. In 2014, however, it was stated that the case would not be reopened due to capacity reasons. In June 2017 it was announced that a DNA result linked the crime to the scene of a murder in Hanover in 2015. However, because of another murder and the conviction of a 27-year-old man named Leger, no links were confirmed.Tobias Morchner: Gibt es eine Wende bei den Göhrde-Morden?
Links to the murder of Birgit Meier