Germany Germany - Gruber Farm Murders, Waidhofen, Bavaria, 31 March 1922

[cenazoic]

I’m thumbs down on Man from the Train, mainly for two reasons:

A) the first half-ish was great and I enjoyed both the recounting of various crimes and following the process of the James’ investigation, but the latter half smacks strongly of “here’s every axe murder we could find in newspapers.com, 1900-1930.”

A, subpart B: there’s a snarky undercurrent in the writing, like, “everybody so stoopit in ye olden tymes lol” but their hypothesis isn’t novel; even at the time, LE had made the connection between proximal axe murders in Colorado, Nebraska, and Villisca, Iowa, and the proximity of rail to each.

B) dang it, I can’t remember the name of the victims now (want to say they were Missouri farmers) but basically the authors made a joke about their surname which I found unexpectedly off-putting and tasteless.

It’s mostly A though, so maybe one of each?

 

[Gators North]

I’m thumbs down on Man from the Train, mainly for two reasons:

A) the first half-ish was great and I enjoyed both the recounting of various crimes and following the process of the James’ investigation, but the latter half smacks strongly of “here’s every axe murder we could find in newspapers.com, 1900-1930.”

A, subpart B: there’s a snarky undercurrent in the writing, like, “everybody so stoopit in ye olden tymes lol” but their hypothesis isn’t novel; even at the time, LE had made the connection between proximal axe murders in Colorado, Nebraska, and Villisca, Iowa, and the proximity of rail to each.

B) dang it, I can’t remember the name of the victims now (want to say they were Missouri farmers) but basically the authors made a joke about their surname which I found unexpectedly off-putting and tasteless.

It’s mostly A though, so maybe one of each?

Thanks for your input! I’ll let you and @iamshadow21

 

[cenazoic]

Please do, @Gators North! I often feel that true crime books aren’t discussed as often as they might be.

As a caveat to future readers, MftT isn’t about Hinterkaifeck, but it does discuss that case as part of their overarching theory about a train-hopping serial killer in early 20th-century US.

 

[Gators North]

Thanks for your input! I’ll let you and @iamshadow21

Replying to myself because I hit “Post reply” too soon!

Was going to say that I’ll let you and @iamshadow21 know what I think of the book!

 

[Susikatze]

This makes a lot of sense, although I would like to know, which "freak accident" could have killed AG. I remember, there was someone, who fed the cattle for days after the murders. Seems logical, if it was him.

The analysis describes it. He somehow (probably while intoxicated) tripped over a tool that happened to sever his carotid if i remember correctly. And that matches the position he was found in and his wounds. He was the only one who did not die by blunt force trauma. Also, his body was not covered while most others were.

 

[FromGermany1]

Mystery killer hid in family's loft for months before murdering them

The Hinterkaifeck Murders have gone down in history as one of the most spine-shivering cases in history, and despite happening more than a hundred years ago, it is still being investigated by the true crime community

www.irishmirror.ie

One of the most eerie unsolved cases ever recorded involved a farmer and his family being brutally murdered in their own barn, with chilling evidence suggesting the killer could have been hiding in the loft above their home for weeks or even months before the attack.