North Rhine-Westphalia Police
The force that arrested the Monster from Lower Rhine.
The North Rhine-Westphalia Police is the law enforcement agency operating in the German state where serial killer Kurt-Friedhelm Steinwegs committed his crimes. Steinwegs was arrested by police in 1984 after he had committed another murder. During interrogations, he freely confessed to six homicides, though he later recanted these confessions at trial. The police investigation led to his conviction in 1985 by the district court of Mönchengladbach. Steinwegs died in 2019 while still confined in the forensic clinic in Bedburg-Hau. The agency's work in this case involved connecting Steinwegs to multiple murders spanning from 1974 to 1983, including the killing of 13-year-old Andreas R. in 1978, which had been reported on the television program Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst in 1979 without leading to the perpetrator.
Quick Facts
- Jurisdiction
- Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Lore & Background
The North Rhine-Westphalia Police arrested Kurt-Friedhelm Steinwegs in 1984 after he committed another murder. During interrogations, Steinwegs freely confessed to six homicides committed between 1974 and 1983. His first known murder was 59-year-old Ernst Dorf, killed with a stone in November 1974 while Steinwegs was housed in a youth centre in Gifhorn, Lower Saxony. This crime was not revealed until years later.
In 1978, while living with his father in Willich, Steinwegs murdered 13-year-old local resident Andreas R. The case was featured on Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst on 1 June 1979, but no evidence allowed authorities to track down the perpetrator, and Steinwegs was not suspected at the time. After being admitted to the Psychiatric State Hospital in Viersen, Steinwegs killed another four people, including a fellow patient, and separated genitalia from his victims' bodies.
At trial, Steinwegs recanted his confessions. The district court of Mönchengladbach sentenced him in 1985 to 15 years in prison with subsequent preventive detention, but placed in a forensic psychiatric hospital. He was convicted but placed in a psychiatric facility due to diminished responsibility in two cases.
Reader's Guide
The North Rhine-Westphalia Police investigated the murders committed by Kurt-Friedhelm Steinwegs between 1974 and 1983. Steinwegs was born 5 December 1960 as the fifth of eight children. His mother died in 1970 at age 35. After his father looked after the children alone for two years, he invited a female friend to live with them in a marriage-like relationship.
The youngest brother was given up for adoption, two brothers were housed in children's homes, and another became a criminal and was detained. In November 1974, Steinwegs was housed in a youth centre in Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, where he killed Ernst Dorf with a stone. In April 1976, the institution requested a transfer, and in October 1976 he was housed in a curative education facility in Burglengenfeld, Bavaria. He was released in July 1977 and returned to live with his father in Willich.
While there, he murdered 13-year-old Andrew Robinson in 1978. After being admitted to the Psychiatric State Hospital in Viersen, he killed four more people. Police arrested him in 1984 after another murder. He confessed to six homicides but recanted at trial. He was sentenced in 1985 by the district court of Mönchengladbach and remains imprisoned in Bedburg-Hau.
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