Cause of death Execution Name Friedrich Schumann Victims 6 | Span of killings 1918–1920 Date apprehended August 20, 1920 Country Germany | |
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Born February 1, 1893 ( 1893-02-01 ) Spandau, Germany Other names Terror of Falkenhagen Lake Conviction(s) Murder,
rape,
aggravated burglary Died August 27, 1921, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany | ||
Criminal penalty Capital punishment | ||
Friedrich Schumann (1 February 1893 – 27 August 1921) was a German serial killer. He is also known as "Massenmörder vom Falkenhagener See" ("Terror of Falkenhagen Lake"). Schumann murdered six people and raped several women. He was only 28 years old when he was executed in 1921.
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Murders
On 18 August 1919 Schumann shot 52-year-old forester Wilhelm Nielbock from Spandau. On 20 August 1919 he was arrested in Berlin. The trial against Schumann started on 5 July 1920 in Berlin.
Trial and execution
Friedrich Schumann was convicted of murder, and on 13 July 1920 he was sentenced to seven death penalties, one life sentence, ten years hard labour and several other sentences in Berlin. He was therefore sentenced to death.
On August 27, 1921, at 6 o'clock in the morning, Schumann was executed in the courtyard of the Plötzensee Prison by Prussian executioner (Scharfrichter) Carl Gröpler, using the axe. The Berlin lawyer Erich Frey later recalled his brief encounter with the executioner: "At the end of the corridor, I had to give way to a broad-shouldered man. He looked like a transport worker; the high-buttoned formal jacket looked strange on him. His closely-cropped skull rested upon a bull neck. In spite of the faint light, he looked suntanned and healthy. Never before had I seen executioner Gröpler from Magdeburg. But as he passed me with a slight bow, I knew it was him. Anyone who had any business in the Criminal Court of Justice knew about Gröpler. He had been a horse butcher previously.... each month he collected a small fixed salary, and had in return to be ready with his massive axe and his three skilled assistants at the demand of the State attorney. For every execution he received 300 Marks plus his expenses. Gröpler went in to see his customers.... "You can go to him [Schumann] with no trouble," I heard the guard say to Gröpler in Berlin dialect, "he's got no nerves."