1. Peter Kürten AKA: The Düsseldorf Vampire9
By Anthony Konstant
Period 6 Honors Forensic Science

2. Early Years
Peter Kürten was born on May 26, 1883 in Cologne, Germany; and was the eldest of thirteen children. His family lived in poor, deprived living conditions, and lived in a one room apartment. His father was a sadist and an alcoholic who often sexually abused Kürten’s siblings as well as his mother. 4

3. Early Years
By age nine, Kürten was introduced to bestiality by a dog-catcher who lived in the same building. He initially carried out this act on dogs, but as he began to puberty, he also had sex with farm animals such as goats and sheep, and particularly enjoyed stabbing the animal during the sex. 5

4. Early Years
Once Kürten was sixteen, he participated in many petty crimes and misdemeanors, and served multiple short jail sentences. Because of the conditions of the prisons, he transferred his sadistic tendencies from animals to humans. He discovered a fascination for brutal sexual acts while in solitary confinement, which enhanced his fantasies: so much so that he began to break prison rules to ensure the maximum time in solitary confinement.1

5. General Killer Profile
Peter Kürten, in many ways, fits the general serial killer profile:
Middle aged (29 when he started his killings)
White
Male
Sexually motivated

6. Phases Trolling Phase:
Typically targeted young girls, women, and prostitutes
Wooing Phase:
Did not really “woo” his victims often
Attacks were often impulsive—after his first victim, he went on a series of axe and strangulation attacks2

7. Phases Capture Phase: Drags or carries victims away
If he snuck into houses at night, he would attack while the victim was sleeping
Murder Phase:
Typically sexually assaults and stabs his victims repeatedly, sometimes strangled and/or beat them 6

8. Phases
Totem Phase:
Decapitates and/or dismembers the corpse, and buries it
Often revisits the crime scene and masturbates 3

9. Killings
Peter Kürten sexually assaulted and killed his first victim on May 25, 1913; and killed at least eight others (possibly over sixty) before surrendering to the police in 1931, insisting that his wife would be financially rewarded by the police if she helped turn him in.

10. Mobility
Considering that the majority of his killings took place in Düsseldorf (hence his nickname), it can be concluded that Kürten is a stable killer. 7

11. Organization
Although Kürten’s killings are spur-of-the-moment killings, he can be classified as an organized killer:
Sexual abuse and torture before murder
Buries corpse
Uses his own weapons/tools to kill or torture

12. Trial and Sentencing
Kürten's trial commenced on April 13, 1931, on charges including nine murders and seven attempted murders. The jury took only 90 minutes to return a verdict of guilty on all counts, and Kürten received nine death sentences. He was executed by guillotine on July 2, 1931, in Cologne, Germany.1 8

13. Bibliography
“Peter Kürten Biography.” Biography.com Web. May 3,
Gilbert, Alexander. “Peter Kürten: The Vampire of Dusseldorf.” Crime Library Web. May 3,
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