Thomas Niedermayer

Thomas Niedermayer (1928–1973) was a German industrialist, kidnapped and killed by the Provisional IRA in 1973. He was managing director of the Grundig factory in Belfast and the West German honorary consul for Northern Ireland.

Niedermayer was abducted on 27 December 1973, at around 11 pm by two men who lured him outside his house on the pretext that they had crashed into his car. The incident was witnessed by his 15-year-old daughter Renate, who had answered the door to the kidnappers, and by a neighbour who worked at the Grundig factory. Niedermayer was never seen alive again, and it would be over six years before a breakthrough in the investigation of his disappearance led to the recovery of his body on 11 March 1980. The investigation revealed that he had been pistol-whipped and then buried face down in a shallow grave under a rubbish dump at Colin Glen.

Downing Street denied received any demands from the IRA, but revealed to the police several years later that they had negotiated with the IRA over Niedermayer. The negotiations ended abruptly without explanation.

Eugene McManus, who in 1973 had been Adjutant of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisionals, and 42-year-old John Bradley, an IRA training officer, were charged in connection with the crime. Bradley was originally charged with murder, but at his trial in 1981 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and several ancillary offences. McManus pleaded guilty to withholding information and IRA membership. Lord Justice Jones sentenced them to 20 years and 5 years imprisonment respectively.

In 1979, then CID chief Alan Simpson began a relationship with an informant that would lead to a breakthrough in the investigation. The kidnapping had been the brainchild of Brian Keenan, chief of staff of the Provisional IRA and onetime employee at the Belfast Grundig factory that Niedermayer was director of.

Niedermayer’s funeral took place at Dunmurry in March 1980, where he was interred in the churchyard. His wife Ingeborg returned to Ireland exactly 10 years after her husband's funeral and booked into a hotel at Bray, County Wicklow. She later went for a walk along an isolated stretch of beach and committed suicide by walking into the sea. Ingeborg and Thomas' two daughters, Gabrielle and Renate, both subsequently committed suicide (respectively in 1993 and 1994). Gabrielle’s husband, Robert, killed himself 3 years after that. Gabrielle and Robert are survived by their two daughters.