The Ripper of Magdeburg

One of the most famous criminal cases in the history of the GDR is that of the so-called Ripper of Magdeburg, behind whom Peter Albrecht hides. He is said to have murdered at least two people between 1973 and 1995, becoming a symbol of the brutality and cruelty of a serial killer. Peter was born on February 12, 1953, in Magdeburg, but was sent to a children’s home shortly afterwards because his parents divorced early on. At the age of 14, he was sent to a youth work camp, where he had his first criminal experiences. In 1971, he was convicted of attacking his hated stepfather with a knife. However, thanks to an amnesty for criminals on the 23rd anniversary of the founding of the GDR, he was released from prison in early October 1972. In order to reintegrate Peter into society, he was given a job as an electric welder at the VEB Messgeräte- und Armaturenwerk “Karl Marx” (Karl Marx Measuring Instruments and Fittings Factory). But Peter was unable to leave his criminal past behind him and continued to commit burglaries, which is why his 17-year-old girlfriend Ilona J. moved out of their shared apartment. Shortly afterwards, on the night of February 23-24, 1973, a horrific crime took place. In an attic apartment in Magdeburg, the 23-year-old apartment owner Ingrid R., 21-year-old Frank L., and Ilona were found dead. The subsequent autopsy revealed that the perpetrator had stabbed them an incredible 200 times with a knife as if in a frenzy. Investigators quickly turned their attention to Peter, the ex-boyfriend of the murdered Ilona, who was arrested after bloodstained clothing that Peter had worn on the night of the crime was found in a garbage can. Peter finally confessed to the brutal murder during questioning. After a six-day trial, Peter was sentenced to death for triple murder by the Magdeburg District Court on February 11, 1974. But after the verdict, the case took an unexpected turn when Peter recanted his confession in the face of death. He claimed to have only killed Frank L., who had previously murdered the two women. On the instructions of GDR head of state Erich Honecker, the case was reopened. This revealed a gap in the evidence that ultimately saved Peter’s life. Only traces of Frank L.’s blood were found on Peter’s clothing at the time, but no traces of the two murdered women, which supported his statement. In a new trial in November 1974, the death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment. Peter continued to serve his sentence in prison in Brandenburg an der Havel. The relatives of the three murder victims were not informed of the new facts. In the course of German reunification, Peter was released from prison in April 1991 after 18 years of imprisonment. According to German law, he had already served eight years too long in prison, as he was not yet 21 years old at the time of the crime and was therefore to be treated as a juvenile. After his release, Peter settled in a small town in Brandenburg, where he worked as a janitor in the red-light district. But the evil within him had not been banished. On March 16, 1995, Peter met 16-year-old schoolgirl Melanie J. in a bar and took her home with him. There he killed her. After Melanie went missing, her mother reported her to the police and hired a private investigator. Once again, Peter was unable to escape, as witnesses had seen him driving away with Melanie and the private investigator eventually got him to make a full confession. Peter had strangled Melanie because he had failed to perform during consensual sex and she had called him a “wimp.” On December 15, 1995, the trial for the murder of Melanie J. took place before a jury court at the Potsdam Regional Court. Peter was sentenced to 13 years in prison for manslaughter, which he served in full in various prisons. He underwent therapy there several times and successfully completed two vocational training courses. He was finally released from prison as a free man in March 2008. No further information has been published about his whereabouts since his release. The case of the Magdeburg Ripper remains one of the most popular criminal cases in the GDR to this day, serving as a lesson about the depths of the human soul and the struggle between good and evil.