The gas man is here

The gas man is here—when this sentence was uttered, it meant death. In the early 1970s, a robber and murderer posing as a gas man terrorized the entire city of Vienna. His victims were elderly women living alone, who naturally let the gas man into their apartments, unsuspectingly, to check the gas appliances. Once inside, the gas man would try to find their hiding places for money. Once he knew where they were, he would ask for a glass of water. He would then use this moment to take the money. If he was caught, he would knock the defenseless women down with karate chops and flee. Women who survived described the gas man as an overweight man who was well dressed, had specialist knowledge, and appeared to have valid identification. Apart from a fingerprint he had left on a water glass, which had not been recorded by the police, the police had nothing to go on. However, a graphic designer who was a neighbor of one of the victims had seen the gas man and was able to describe him in detail. The gas man was between 23 and 30 years old, corpulent, and had black, slightly curly hair. A composite sketch was made based on her description, which would later prove fatal for the gas man. But before that, he committed another cruel crime. At 1 a.m. on February 12, 1972, a man broke into the private residence for officers’ widows in Vienna’s 13th district, Hietzing, where he broke down the door to 83-year-old Aloisia S.’s apartment. He strangled her until she lost consciousness and raped her. While the woman lay on the floor with a broken cheekbone, the perpetrator searched the apartment for cash, but found only a postal savings book with 3,000 schillings, equivalent to 218 euros. This was not enough, so the perpetrator broke down the door of 77-year-old Beatrix Rosa. He threatened the woman, who gave him an envelope containing 1,000 schillings, approximately 73 euros. With this meager haul, the perpetrator fled, having first demanded a glass of water like the gas man. While Aloisia S. was admitted to the hospital, Beatrix Rosa stated that the man had already been in her apartment a month ago, checking her gas appliances as a gas man. The burglar was Vienna’s wanted woman killer, the gas man. Aloisia S. was questioned in the hospital and stated that the perpetrator had been heavily intoxicated. The officers then searched the taverns, guesthouses, and hotels in the vicinity, as the perpetrator had fled on foot. In fact, a hotel owner recognized the man in the composite sketch and identified him as Harald Sassack. The police apprehended him at the small Hotel Reiser, where he was calmly drinking a glass of wine. Harald Sassack was confronted with Beatrix Rosa at the hotel, who recognized him immediately. The 24-year-old Harald Sassack was arrested and made a full confession on the way to police headquarters. He even betrayed his accomplice, 29-year-old Johann Scharaditsch, who was subsequently arrested and made a full confession. But who was Harald Sassack, the gas man who robbed and killed women? Harald Sassack was born on June 28, 1947, in Oberwart, the son of a bricklayer and a waitress. He successfully completed an apprenticeship as a plumber, which explained his technical knowledge. After completing his basic military service in the Austrian Armed Forces, he worked as an assistant nurse at Lainz Hospital from 1966 to 1969, where he contracted hepatitis twice. Since he did not provide a medical certificate for his second bout of jaundice, Sassack was dismissed. He then worked as a confectioner, but quickly quit again because he was stung by wasps ten times a day, which he did not like. What dangers the confectioner’s job entails. After an elderly woman approached him on the street and asked if he could repair her gas appliance, which he did and received a 1,000 schilling tip for, he came up with the idea of the gas trick. He pretended to be a gas man and gained access to the apartment. He checked the gas appliances and when he saw the hiding places for money while being paid, he knocked the women down with the edge of his hand and stole the money. With the help of his accomplice Scharaditsch, whom he had met in a liquor store, he initially only committed robberies. The first victim he robbed was 88-year-old Amalia Maxa from Vienna’s 3rd district, Landstraße. She was followed by Grete Kauer. Murder was never his intention. The first murder victim was 86-year-old Elenore Hauer, who tried to call for help. She was silenced forever with blows to the head. The only male victim was 79-year-old Richard Langer. He was not struck down with karate chops, but tied to a chair and cruelly abused before being killed. In total, he suffered 20 broken ribs, a shattered larynx, and several lacerations. Harald Sassack admitted to having been heavily intoxicated when he attacked Richard Langer. In addition to Richard Langer and Eleonore Hauer, 66-year-old Rosa Schwarz, 86-year-old Josefa Fierlinger, 84-year-old Gabriele Hammer, and 69-year-old Aloisia Meschnark were also killed. All died from strangulation and being beaten to death. The seventh victim was 88-year-old Maria Aberle from Vienna’s 6th district, Mariahilf. The doctor who was called to her home had assumed she had died of natural causes. But Harald Sassack confessed to the murder. On January 22, 1974, the trial against Harald Sassack began, with the reading of the indictment taking over an hour. He was charged with six robberies and murders, eleven robberies, and one rape. Johann Scharaditsch had been involved in several of them. Harald Sassack had confessed to seven murders and had also used his gas trick in Lower Austria to attack two women, 77-year-old pensioner Anna W. from Mödling and pensioner Andrea R., who narrowly escaped death. On February 17, 1974, Harald Sassack was sentenced to life imprisonment for the robbery and murder of Josefa Fierlinger, the robbery and manslaughter of Richard Langer, Aloisia Meschnark, Rosa Schwarz, Maria Aberle, and Eleonore Hauer, as well as robbery and theft in nine cases. His accomplice Johann Scharaditsch was found guilty of theft and robbery in two cases and robbery in two cases and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Harald Sassack accepted his sentence and served 39 years in Stein Prison. This made him the longest-serving prisoner in Austria. Shortly after his release, he died on August 21, 2013, in an Austrian nursing home as a result of a long illness. With that, the Gasmann was finally history.