Meet Joachim Kroll – a German serial killer who led investigators back to his crime scenes and re-enacted the murders with volunteer police officers.
![German serial killer Joachim Kroll re-enacting one of his murders](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-1.webp)
Between 1955 and 1976, Kroll kidnapped, raped, strangled, and mutilated at least eight women.
On July 4, 1976, Kroll was arrested for kidnapping and killing four-year-old Marion Ketter after a man notified the police that his neighbor, Joachim Kroll, had clogged the pipes in their apartment building by flushing rabbit innards down the toilet.
![German serial killer Joachim Kroll re-enacting one of his murders with a female volunteer](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-2.webp)
After examining the sewage pipe, police realized that the innards were not those of a rabbit but of a small human.
Inside Kroll’s apartment, investigators found plastic bags containing four-year-old’s remains in the freezer. Simmering on the stove, police found a soup made of carrots, potatoes, and Ketter’s severed hand.
![Joachim Kroll's kitchen](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-kitchen.webp)
During questioning, Kroll told the investigators he would often catch his victims by surprise and strangle them. He would then strip the body naked and have intercourse with it, often masturbating over it afterward.
![German serial killer Joachim Kroll re-enacting one of his murders with a female volunteer](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-6.webp)
Kroll also revealed that he often sliced portions of flesh from his victims to cook and eat.
![German serial killer Joachim Kroll re-enacting the strangling of one of his victims](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-8.webp)
A former neighbor from a men’s hostel told the police that he witnessed Kroll having sex with blow-up dolls and strangling them during the act. Kroll himself confessed to having abused dead cows and pigs during an apprenticeship as a butcher.
![German serial killer Joachim Kroll re-enacting the strangling of one of his victims](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-7.webp)
During the investigation, over a span of more than two years, the police made nearly a hundred trips to Kroll’s crime scenes so that he could re-enact how he overpowered, strangled, and molested his victims.
![German serial killer Joachim Kroll re-enacting one of his murders](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-3.webp)
While incarcerated, Kroll was certain that after his conviction, he would undergo an operation to cure him of his homicidal urges and then be released from prison.
![German serial killer Joachim Kroll re-enacting the strangling of one of his victims](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-4-scaled.webp)
Instead, following a 151-day trial, Kroll was sentenced to life imprisonment for eight counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Kroll died of a heart attack on July 1, 1991, nearly 15 years after his last murder.
![German serial killer Joachim Kroll re-enacting the strangling of one of his victims](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/joachim-kroll-5.webp)
One of the most tragic aspects of Kroll’s case is that three men who were wrongly accused of his crimes committed suicide.
Additionally, two men were imprisoned despite being innocent, with one being so pressured that he admitted to a murder he did not commit.
![Behind the Tape Photobook](https://truecrimemag.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/photobook.webp)
Enjoy exploring the dark, uncensored side of true crime? Behind the Tape Photobook features a hand-picked collection of the most spine-chilling crime scene photos.
WARNING: THE PHOTOBOOK ISN’T FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
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