Frank Gust

Frank Gust (born May 24, 1969 in Oberhausen) is a German serial killer. He has been dubbed Rhein-Ruhr-Ripper by the media, because his actions show similarities with Jack the Ripper and mainly committed in the Rhine-Ruhr region in western Germany.

Gust is classified as a sexual sadist. At a very young age, he showed a tendency to commit animal abuse. He experienced lust by torturing, killing and gutting animals. At age 13 he broke into morgues to act out his necrophiliac inclinations. After he was arrested, Gust stated that his greatest desire was to touch the beating heart of a dying woman.

Between 1994 and 1998 Gust killed at least four women. His first victim was a 28-year-old hitchhiker from South Africa who lived in the Netherlands and was on a Europe trip. Her decapitated body was found in a forest area near Ede. In 1996 and 1998 Gust killed two prostitutes, whom he had picked up from Essen central station. His presumed last victim was a 47-year-old aunt of his wife. Gust placed the mutilated bodies of his victims in such a way that they could be discovered soon after the murder. However, the body of his aunt-by-marriage has never been found.

In 1999 Gust indicated to his mother that he had committed a murder. She told a friend of hers, who informed the police. Gust was arrested shortly afterwards. On September 21, 2000 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing four people. Gust started a therapy which he quit after only six months, stating that he wasn't treatable and would always remain a threat to other people.