Hinterkaifeck Murders

Hinterkaifeck Murders events

Hinterkaifeck

The murders

Hinterkaifeck Murders theories

Hinterkaifeck Murders

Karl Gabriel

During the investigation there was a theory that questioned if Viktoria’s husband Karl actually died during the war in 1914, since his body was never found. If alive he would make a good suspect, but since officially he was killed during the war it is far fetched theory.

Facts that are supporting the theory:

since he was gone since 1914 (8 years) and his wife had 7-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son obviously he wasn’t father of at least one of them, which could have been the reason to murder his wife,
if the rumours that Andreas had incestuous relationship with Viktoria were true and he was father of one or both of the kids that would be a reason for Karl to kill his in-laws,
if he was traumatized during or after the war his actions would not have to be reasonable, f.e. if he wasn’t killed, but end up in the mental asylum he could have been released years after the war and could still have mental problems that triggered him to keep his presence secret and kill the whole family,
if he did survived the war and end up in the mental asylum he could have lost his memory and thus there were no record of his presence.

Facts that oppose the theory:

if he wasn’t killed during the war why he returned home in 1922 (even if he was hospitalized or was prisoner of war he would be most likely sent free in 1918 or 1919),
if the strange noises in the household were connected to the murders it would mean that it wasn’t crime of passion, but cold-blooded execution and that makes Karl Gabriel unlikely culprit,
if he was the reason behind the strange noises why would he enter the house in secret and stay off the sight? afterall he returned home...
since the strange noises and strange events took place long before the arrival of new maid why wouldn’t he kill the family when there was no one around? contrary to the family members Karl Gabriel didn’t have a reason to kill the made,
if Karl Gabriel did survived the war and end up in mental asylum with amnesia it would be unlikely that he would return home on his own.

But all of those arguments start with the assumption the Karl Gabriel did survived the war (and there are no clues to support that theory). Any further assumptions start at that point if Karl actually died and that makes it hard to tell if rest of those arguments make any sense.