The murder plot

A deviously planned murder plot, which went down in criminal history as the “barrel murder,” took place in 2007 in Mönchengladbach, the largest city on the left bank of the Lower Rhine in western North Rhine-Westphalia. It was November 22, 2007, when a blue rain barrel was found floating on Lake Breyller near Nettetal. When the police retrieved it from the lake and opened it, they made a gruesome discovery. Inside was the body of an elderly woman who had obviously been murdered. The murder victim turned out to be 89-year-old former businesswoman Gertrud K., who had been reported missing by her Swiss relatives almost seven weeks earlier, which is why the police patrol had driven to the old lady’s house on Oststraße in Mönchengladbach twice to check on her. Each time, they encountered 57-year-old Karl M., who was carrying out renovation work in the house. Not only did he show them a power of attorney from the elderly lady without being asked, but he also explained that Gertrud K. had gone on vacation to Bad Oeynhausen. The Swiss relatives found this extremely uncharacteristic of Gertrud, who was known for her thriftiness and ascetic lifestyle. The autopsy revealed that the old lady had been strangled with a noose. She was then placed in the blue rain barrel with chemicals, into which holes had been drilled so that it would sink in the lake. However, this failed, and the barrel floated to the surface of the lake. But who had cold-bloodedly murdered the elderly lady, who was considered wealthy and owned several apartment buildings? The trail quickly led to Karl M., who occasionally performed caretaker duties for the elderly lady. Investigations revealed that he had recently emptied the woman’s bank account. Karl M. was friends with 21-year-old temporary worker Sascha L. and 20-year-old Tobias K. Sascha L. had a criminal record for obtaining services by deception and violations of the Narcotics Act. His buddy Tobias K. also had a few things to answer for. He had already been convicted of theft and making threats. It turned out that the trio infernale, whose mastermind was clearly Karl M., had planned to run a cannabis plantation. They wanted to take over a coffee shop in Venlo, where they planned to sell the cannabis they had grown. But they needed money to do this, which is why they had initially planned a burglary. But then Karl M. thought of 89-year-old Gertrud K., who lived alone. They wanted to kill the old lady and use forged documents to get their hands on her fortune. On October 6, they put their plan into action. Karl M. pushed Gertrud K. down the stairs in her house, but she survived the fall. So he pulled out his garrote and strangled the old lady. He then put her in a barrel of chemicals before they disposed of the barrel in Lake Breyller. Unfortunately, the barrel did not sink, but floated back to the surface, revealing the murder of Gertrud K. Karl M. and Sascha L. received life sentences for the joint murder and aggravated robbery. Their accomplice Tobias K. was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison under juvenile criminal law. With that, the trio infernale was history.