Franz Fuchs
| Franz Fuchs | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 December 1949 Gralla, Austria |
| Died | 26 February 2000 (aged 50) Graz, Austria |
| Cause of death | suicide (?) |
| Residence | Gralla, Austria |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Other names | The Austrian Unabomber |
| Known for | sending 5 waves of letter bombs from December 1993 till December 1995 |
| Criminal charge | Murder, Attempted murder |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Motive | Racism |
| Conviction(s) | Murder, Attempted murder (10 March 1999) |
|
Capture status
|
Deceased |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 19 |
|
Span of killings
|
1993–1995 |
| Country | Austria |
| Killed | 4 |
| Injured | 15 |
| Weapons | Improvised explosive devices |
|
Date apprehended
|
1 October 1997 |
Franz Fuchs (12 December 1949 Gralla, Austria – 26 February 2000 Graz, Austria) was a racist Austrian terrorist. Between 1993 and 1997 he killed four people and injured 15, some of them seriously, using three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and five waves of 24 mailbombs in total.
Criminal psychologists characterized him as a highly intelligent but socially inept loner. His designated targets were people he either considered to be foreigners, or organisations and individuals "friendly to foreigners".
In December 1993 he started his first wave of mailbombs. Early victims were the priest August Janisch (because of his help for refugees), Silvana Meixner (ORF journalist for minorities), and the Mayor of Vienna, Helmut Zilk, who lost a large part of his left hand in the explosion. Other mailbombs which were discovered and neutralized were targeted at Helmut Schüller (humanitarian organisation Caritas), the Green politicians Madeleine Petrovic and Terezija Stoisits, Wolfgang Gombocz and Minister Johanna Dohnal.
While attempting to disarm an improvised explosive device found at a bilingual school in Carinthia, police officer Theo Kelz lost both his hands on 24 August 1994. (Kelz subsequently became the first Austrian to receive a double hand transplant, and made an impressive recovery.)
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