North Rhine-Westphalia Police

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Lore & Background

The North Rhine-Westphalia Police arrested Kurt-Friedhelm Steinwegs in 1984 after he committed another murder. During interrogations, Steinwegs freely confessed to six homicides committed between 1974 and 1983. His first known murder was 59-year-old Ernst Dorf, killed with a stone in November 1974 while Steinwegs was housed in a youth centre in Gifhorn, Lower Saxony. This crime was not revealed until years later. In 1978, while living with his father in Willich, Steinwegs murdered 13-year-old local resident Andreas R. The case was featured on Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst on 1 June 1979, but no evidence allowed authorities to track down the perpetrator, and Steinwegs was not suspected at the time. After being admitted to the Psychiatric State Hospital in Viersen, Steinwegs killed another four people, including a fellow patient, and separated genitalia from his victims' bodies. At trial, Steinwegs recanted his confessions. The district court of Mönchengladbach sentenced him in 1985 to 15 years in prison with subsequent preventive detention, but placed in a forensic psychiatric hospital. He was convicted but placed in a psychiatric facility due to diminished responsibility in two cases.

In Their Own Story

The file on Kurt-Friedhelm Steinwegs grew thick over the years. First came the report from Gifhorn: a 59-year-old man named Ernst Dorf killed with a stone in November 1974. The boy was housed in a youth centre there, but the murder was not revealed until years later. Then, in 1978, a 13-year-old Willich resident named Andrew Robinson was murdered while Steinwegs lived with his father. The case went to Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst on 1 June 1979, but no evidence was determined to allow the authorities to track down the perpetrator. Steinwegs was not suspected. Later, while admitted to the Psychiatric State Hospital in Viersen, he killed another four people, including a fellow patient. He separated the genitalia from his victims' bodies. Only in 1984 did the police arrest Steinwegs after he committed another murder. In interrogations, he freely confessed to six homicides. At trial, he recanted. The tabloids called him a 'beast' and nicknamed him 'The Monster from Lower Rhine' due to the brutality of his crimes. In 1985, the district court of Mönchengladbach sentenced him to years of juvenile detention with subsequent preventative detention in a psychiatric institution. He was acquitted in two cases due to 'intellectual development errors'. To this day, he remains imprisoned in the forensic clinic in Bedburg-Hau.

Reader's Guide

The North Rhine-Westphalia Police investigated the murders committed by Kurt-Friedhelm Steinwegs between 1974 and 1983. Steinwegs was born 5 December 1960 as the fifth of eight children. His mother died in 1970 at age 35. After his father looked after the children alone for two years, he invited a female friend to live with them in a marriage-like relationship. The youngest brother was given up for adoption, two brothers were housed in children's homes, and another became a criminal and was detained. In November 1974, Steinwegs was housed in a youth centre in Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, where he killed Ernst Dorf with a stone. In April 1976, the institution requested a transfer, and in October 1976 he was housed in a curative education facility in Burglengenfeld, Bavaria. He was released in July 1977 and returned to live with his father in Willich. While there, he murdered 13-year-old Andrew Robinson in 1978. After being admitted to the Psychiatric State Hospital in Viersen, he killed four more people. Police arrested him in 1984 after another murder. He confessed to six homicides but recanted at trial. He was sentenced in 1985 by the district court of Mönchengladbach and remains imprisoned in Bedburg-Hau.

Did You Know?

• Kurt-Friedhelm Steinwegs was nicknamed 'The Monster from Lower Rhine' by tabloids due to the brutality of his crimes.
• Steinwegs murdered his first victim, 59-year-old Ernst Dorf, with a stone in November 1974 while housed in a youth centre in Gifhorn.
• The murder of 13-year-old Andreas R. in 1978 was featured on the television program Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst on 1 June 1979, but no evidence allowed authorities to track down the perpetrator.
• While in the Psychiatric State Hospital in Viersen, Steinwegs killed four people including a fellow patient, and separated the genitalia from his victims' bodies.
• Steinwegs was convicted but placed in a psychiatric facility due to diminished responsibility in two cases.