More than 35 years ago, a brutal robbery and murder of a prominent widow shook the Rhine-Main area. On June 11, 1989, 74-year-old Margarethe Buckwitz, the widow of former Frankfurt theater director Harry Buckwitz, affectionately known as Betsy to her friends, was murdered in her home in Königsstein im Taunus at around 11 p.m. Betsy had caught a burglar in the act, who then attacked her with brute force and ultimately killed her. The autopsy revealed that Betsy had suffered several broken ribs before being strangled with adhesive tape. After murdering Betsy, the burglar carried her into the bedroom, where he laid her on the bed. He then stole money, jewelry worth €50,000, and her handbag containing her debit card. Betsy’s killer used this debit card at an ATM in Fulda in 1990 to withdraw money. A photo was taken in the process. However, this and the coverage of the murder of the celebrity widow in February 1990 on the ZDF television crime show Aktenzeichen XY … ungelöst (File Number XY … Unsolved) did not lead to any clues about Betsy’s murderer. Almost 20 years passed before a routine DNA analysis finally exposed Betsy’s murderer. The tape that had been wrapped around Betsy’s neck at the time contained a tiny genetic trace that actually led to the perpetrator. When the DNA was compared in August 2008, it matched that of a man. He was 57-year-old bus driver and father of two Horst Josef K. from Schmitten im Taunus, who had been given a ten-month suspended prison sentence for sexual assault in September 2007. During this trial, he had provided DNA samples that matched those found at the crime scene at the time. Horst-Josef K. was arrested and charged with the murder of Margarethe Buckwitz. In a five-day circumstantial evidence trial held at the 21st Grand Criminal Chamber of the Frankfurt Regional Court, he presented the judge with a hair-raising story that could have come straight out of a fairy tale book. Horst Josef K. claimed that he had a romantic relationship with Betsy. At the age of 37, he had met 74-year-old Betsy in a parking lot, where he had repaired her car. Out of gratitude, she gave him money and jewelry. A romantic relationship developed. Once, when her bathroom drain was clogged, he wrapped the siphon with adhesive tape, which is why his DNA was found on it. He then drove Betsy to a hardware store to buy a replacement part. Betsy lost her debit card between the car seats. When he noticed this and wanted to return the card to Betsy, she had already been murdered. He wanted to dispose of the card. Before doing so, he tried it at an ATM in Fulda, where the photo of him was taken. The jewelry belonging to Betsy that was found in his apartment had been given to him by her. No one believed Horst Josef K.’s outrageous stories, which is why he was sentenced to life imprisonment on April 30, 2009, for the murder of Margarethe Buckwitz.
The murder of Frankfurt’s celebrity widow
Tagged:AileenWuornosAktuellesAlpenMysteryAngriffAntiterrorAttentateAutoeinbruchBankenVerbrechenCHBaslerBluttatenBayernKrimiBeklemmendSpannendBerichterstattungBernerMysterienBerühmteFälleDeutschlandBerühmteKriminalfälleBetrugBeweisaufnahmeBjarneMädelBlackDahliaBostonStranglerBRDVerbrechenBreakingNewsBrigitteHeikeBrunoLüdkeCelebrityCrimeCharlesMansonColdCaseColdCaseGermanyColdCasesColdCasesÖsterreichCommunityCrimeSolversCrimeDokuSchweizCrimeNeverSleepsCrimeSceneInvestigationCrimeSolveAttemptCyberCrimeDarknetDatenklauDatenschutzverletzungDDRVerbrechenDerMannimEisDetectiveWorkDetektivarbeitDetektivgeschichteDeutscheGeschichteDeutscheKriminalfälleDeutscherMordfallDiebstahlDigitalDetectivesDNAEvidenceDNARevolutionDrogenhandelnDrogenkartellDrogenkonsumDrogenmissbrauchDrogenschmuggelEchteVerbrechenEdGeinEinbruchEmdenMissbrauchsfallErmittlungenErmittlungsarbeitErmordetEvidentialBreakthroughExtremismusFacebookInvestigatorsFahndungFalcoMordtheorieFamiliendramaCHFanTreffenFemaleCriminalsFinanzbetrugFinanzverbrechenForensicScienceForensikForensikÖsterreichForensischeWissenschaftenFritzHaarmannGefährlicheDamenGefährlicheGifteGeheimnisseDerAlpenGeheimnisvolleVergiftungGeldwäscheGenferKriminalfälleGerechtigkeitGerichtsdramaSchweizGerichtsverfahrenGeschichtsverbrechenGesetzlosigkeitGewaltverbrechenGifteInDerKunstGiftigeRezepturenGiftMordGiftmordGeschichteGladbeckerGeiseldramaGlobalColdCasesGruseligeVerbrechenGruselnMitUnsHackingHamburgTrueCrimeHäuslicheGewaltHerculePoirotHinterkaifeckMordeHistoricalCrimeHistorischeVerbrechenHistorischeVerbrechenCHHistoryLover PastMysteriesIdentitätsdiebstahlInternetbetrugJackTheRipperJackUnterwegerJohnWayneGacyJonBenetRamseyJosefFritzlJugendverbrechenJürgenBartschJustizdramaJustizirrtümerJustizsystemKalteFälleDeutschlandKinderhandelKommissarBeckKommissarDupinKommissarMaigretKommissarWallanderKörperverletzungKreditkartenbetrugKrimiAutorenKrimiBuchKrimiDeutschlandKrimiDokumentationKrimiLiteraturKriminalfälleKriminalgeschichtenKriminalgeschichteÖsterreichKriminalitätNRWKriminalitätsgeschichteKriminalnachrichtenKriminalpolizeiKriminalpräventionKriminalpsychologieKriminalstatistikKriminelleAlchemieKriminologieKrimiPodcastsKrimiSchwarzwaldKrimiSerienKultkriminalfälleKunstraubLebachFallLiveBerichterstattungCHLocalColdCasesMagdaGoebbelsMysteryManfredScharfenorthMenschenhandelMilieuStudienMissbrauchMissingAustriaMissMarpleMittelalterlicheVerbrechenModerneGifteModerneSklavereiModernToxinMordMordfälleMordlustMordundTotschlagMünchenMordMysteriöseFälleMysteriöseTodeMysteriousCaseMysteryInTheUSAMysteryLoverMysteryLoversAustriaNataschaKampuschNaturschutzdeliktNeuesNordicNoirNSUProzessOldCaseNewEvidenceOnlineBetrugOnlineSleuthingOpferhilfeOpferschutzOpferUndTäterOrganisierteKriminalitätÖsterreichMythenPeterKürtenPhilipMarlowePhishingPlünderungPodcastJunkiePolitThrillerSchweizPolizeieinsatzPolizeiruf110ProfilerÖsterreichProfilingPromiSkandalePsychologieDerVerbrechenPsychothrillerRadikalisierungRansomwareRateMitRaubRaubüberfallRauschgiftRechtsmedizinRedditDetectivesRichardRamirezSagenUndMärchenSchuldUndSühneSchweizerKriminalfälleSerienmörderSexhandelSherlockHolmesSicherLebenSpannungPurSpurensucheStarVerbrechenSteirischeVerbrechenStrafrechtSuchtTaschendiebstahlTäterprofileTatortTatortBerlinTatortBremenTatortDeutschlandTatortDortmundTatortGiftfläschchenTatortHistorieTatortKlassikerTatortKölnTatortKommissarTatortKrimiTatortMünchenTatortMünsterTatortsonntagTatortSpekulationenTatortStuttgartTatortuntersuchungTatortWeimarTatortWienTatortZeitTedBundyTerroranschlagTerrorismusTheSodderChildrenThrillerThrillerLesenTimeTravelDetectiveTirolerMysterienTödlicheKulisseTotschlagToxischeWahrheitTrueCrimeAddictTrueCrimeAusstellungenTrueCrimeAutorenTrueCrimeBlogsTrueCrimeBücherTrueCrimeCommunityTrueCrimeDeutschlandTrueCrimeDokuTrueCrimeEventsTrueCrimeFandomTrueCrimeGiftTrueCrimeÖsterreichTrueCrimePodcastTrueCrimePodcastsCHTrueCrimeSchweizTrueCrimeSerieTrueCrimeStoriesTrueCrimeYouTubeUmweltverbrechenUmweltverschmutzungUngeklärteFälleUngeklärteFälleSchweizUnsolvedEuropeUnsolvedMysteryUnterschätztesGiftUrbanLegendsAustriaVandalismusVerboteneLiebeVerbrechenVerbrechenDerMächtigenVerbrechenIm19JahrhundertVerbrechenInBerlinVerbrecheninDeutschlandVerbrechenInWienVerbrechenUndStrafeVerbrechenVonNebenanVerbrecherjagdVergewaltigungVergifteteLiebeVermisstenfälleVersicherungsbetrugVerurteiltDerPodcastVintageCrimeVorsichtGiftWahreVerbrechenWaldbrandstiftungWarumMenschenTötenWildereiWirtschaftskriminalitätZeitVerbrechenZodiacKillerZürcherKrimiZwangsarbeit
Related Posts
The mother-in-law
November 2, 2025
Cyprus’ first serial killer
November 1, 2025
