Peter Kürten

Peter Kürten
Mugshot of Peter Kürten taken in 1931
Born	Peter Kürten 26 May 1883 Mülheim am Rhein, German Empire
Died	2 July 1931(1931-07-02) (aged 48) Cologne, Weimar Republic
Cause of death	Decapitation by guillotine
Other names	The Vampire of Düsseldorf The Düsseldorf Monster
Criminal penalty	Death
Motive	Sadistic sexual gratification Vengeance against society
Conviction(s)	Arson Attempted robbery Attempted murder Breaking and entering Burglary Murder Seduction Theft Threatening behaviour
Killings
Victims	Murders: 9+ Attempted murder: 31+
Span of killings	25 May 1913–7 November 1929
Country	Germany
State(s)	Rhine Province, Prussia
Date apprehended	24 May 1930

Peter Kürten (26 May 1883 – 2 July 1931) was a German serial killer known as both The Vampire of Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorf Monster, who committed a series of murders and sexual assaults between February and November 1929 in the city of Düsseldorf. In the years prior to these assaults and murders, Kürten had amassed a lengthy criminal record for offenses including arson and attempted murder. He also confessed to the 1913 murders of a 9-year-old girl in Mülheim am Rhein, and a 17-year-old girl in Loscheckes.

Described by Doctor as "the king of the sexual perverts," Kürten was found guilty of nine counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder for which he was tried and sentenced to death by beheading in April 1931. He was subsequently executed in July 1931.

Kürten became known as the The Vampire of Düsseldorf as he occasionally made attempts to drink the blood from his victims' wounds, and the Düsseldorf Monster both because the majority of his murders were committed in and around the city of Düsseldorf, and the savagery he inflicted upon his victims' bodies.

Peter Kürten was born into a poverty-stricken, abusive family in Mülheim am Rhein on 26 May 1883, the third of thirteen children (two of whom died at an early age). Kürten's parents were both alcoholics who lived in a one-bedroom apartment, and although Kürten's father was an efficient workman who earned sufficient money to provide food, shelter and clothing for his family, the relationship between his parents was marred by the domestic violence Kürten's father would inflict upon both his wife and children, particularly when he was drunk. When intoxicated, Kürten's father would often force his wife and children to assemble in one room before ordering his wife to strip naked and engage in intercourse with him as his children watched. He would be jailed for 15 months in 1894 for committing incest with his eldest daughter, who was aged 13. Shortly thereafter, Kürten's mother obtained a separation order, and later remarried and relocated to Düsseldorf.