Killer lived hidden in family’s loft for months before murdering them | World | News

One of the most bone-chilling unsolved mysteries in history involves a farmer and his family being brutally murdered within their own barn, with eerie evidence suggesting that the killer may have been lurking in the loft of their home for weeks or even months prior to the attack.

The Hinterkaifeck Murders are etched in history as one of the most terrifying cases ever, and despite occurring over a century ago, it continues to be probed by the true crime community.

On a freezing Friday evening in March 1922, Andreas Gruber, 63, his wife Cäzilia, 72, their widowed daughter Viktoria Gabriel, 35, Viktoria’s children Cäzilia, seven, and Josef, two, and their maid, Maria Baumgartnerwere, 44, were savagely killed at their farmstead in the quaint Bavarian village of Kaifeck.

Lured into the barn one by one, they were brutally murdered using a mattock – akin to a pickaxe. The perpetrator then chillingly stacked many of their bodies before residing in their home on at least three occasions.

During this period, the murderer consumed the food in the house, tended to their animals, and even lit their fireplace. Their mutilated bodies were only discovered by a neighbour four days later when young Cazilia failed to attend school, reports <a href=”https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/horrifying-murder-entire-family-gruesome-35949729″ rel=”Follow” target=”_self”>the Mirror</a>.

However, prior to the horrifying events of that March evening, the family had long suspected that something was amiss, even fearing that their home might be haunted. In a chilling twist, police believe the attacker may have been hiding in the rafters of the family’s home for weeks, possibly even months, before committing the murders.

In the days leading up to their deaths, the family was on edge due to a few odd occurrences. Andreas, the father, found a newspaper in the house that he was sure no one had purchased and noticed fresh tracks in the snow leading towards his home but not returning.

Adding to the mystery, the family’s maid had recently resigned, claiming the house was haunted after hearing what she believed were voices emanating from the ceiling, which now appear to have been their violent intruder.

Initially, police suspected a botched robbery, but this theory was dismissed when large sums of money were found untouched in the house.

Despite the ongoing investigation, no one was ever apprehended for the murders, and over the past century, numerous rumours and suspect names have circulated, leading to a variety of theories.

One such theory suggests that Viktoria’s husband, Karl, who was presumed dead in WW1 but whose body was never recovered, returned to Germany to carry out the attack. Another theory implicates Lorenz Schlittenbauer, the neighbour who discovered the bodies.

Schlittenbauer is believed to have been romantically involved with Viktoria, and both claimed he was the father of her son Josef. He had intended to marry Viktoria, but Andreas intervened, ending their relationship.

Interestingly, Schlittenbauer managed to break into the locked barn where the bodies were found and seemed to have a key to the house itself, as one had mysteriously disappeared just days before the attack.

Other potential suspects included the Gump brothers, local far-right activists wanted for a murder in Poland, a farm worker named Peter Weber, and a German serial killer, Paul Mueller, who had committed a similar crime in the US before returning to Germany.

The investigation took an unsettling twist when it was suggested that Andreas and his daughter may have been involved in an incestuous relationship. They were found guilty in 1915, sparking local whispers that Josef might actually be Andreas’s son.