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Ludwig TESSNOW
A.K.A.: "The Mad Carpenter"
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Rape - Mutilation
Number of victims: 4
Date of murders: September 9, 1898/July 1, 1901
Date of birth: 1872
Victims profile: Two
young girls, aged 7 and 10 years /
Hermann Stubbe,
8, and Peter Stubbe, 6
Method of murder: Stabbing
with knife
Location: Lower Saxony/Rugen Island, Germany
Status: Tessnow was allegedly beheaded in the courtyard of the
Greifswald prison in 1904
German Ludwig Tessnow's first known
killings occurred in 1895 in Lechtingen when he abducted and killed two
young girls, leaving their bodies dismembered and butchered in some
nearby woods. Tessnow was identified as having been in the vicinity of
the murder scene but when questioned about the stains on his clothing
Tessnow claimed the spots were from wood dye. Not unusual for a man
who's trade was carpentry. Tessnow was let go.
Tessnow was also quickly retained and
questioned in 1901 concerning the murders of two brothers, aged six and
eight, who were found in the woods of Rugen Island. The two youngsters,
who were dismebowelled and gruesomly dismembered, were last seen talking
to Tessnow the day they disappeared. As with the earlier case
authorities noted large stains on Tessnow's clothes but were rebuffed
with the slayer's now-standard explanation that the stains were the
result of wood dye he used in his work.
The police were not so easily fooled this
time, however. Tessnow had also been recently identified as the man
caught hacking a local farmer's sheep to death. It was all too obvious
and they had the stains tested to see if they were in fact blood, a very
knew scientific procedure at the time. When the results came back
positive for both human and sheep blood, Tessnow was arrested. He was
convicted and executed in 1904.
The Mad
Carpenter
By Katherine Ramsland
It was the brutal murder and dismembering of two
young boys on the island of Rugen, off the coast of Germany, that turned
the authorities' attention toward Ludwig Tessnow, a carpenter from Baabe.
The year was 1901, and the two boys had run out to play. When they
failed to return, a search was organized. It wasn't long before their
body parts were found scattered over a wide area, and eventually the
searchers located their disemboweled remains.
Earlier that day, Tessnow had been seen talking to
them, and although he denied any involvement, a search of his home
turned up recently-laundered clothing that had suspicious stains. He
claimed that they were from wood dye, which he used almost daily in his
profession. Unable to prove otherwise or to find other incriminating
evidence, the police left him alone...until one investigator recalled a
similar crime.
Three years earlier in Osnabruck, Germany, two young
girls had been found in the woods, butchered in a style similar to the
boys. The man seen loitering near the woods, his clothing stained, was
Tessnow. At that time, too, he had claimed that the stains were from
wood dye.
The local prosecutor then heard a farmer's report
that a man who looked like Tessnow was seen fleeing from his field, and
he then found seven of his sheep slaughtered. Their legs had been
severed and tossed about the field. Tessnow was brought in for a line-up
and the farmer had no trouble picking him out as the man who had run
from his field.
Still, the police needed better evidence to tie
Tessnow to the murders. Then they heard about a test recently developed
by a biologist, Paul Uhlenhuth, that could distinguish blood from other
substances, as well as mark the difference between human and animal
blood. Tessnow's clothing was given to Uhlenhuth for thorough
examination and his conclusions marked a turning point in the history of
forensic science. He found dye, but he also detected traces of both
sheep and human blood.
With this evidence, Tessnow was charged, tried,
convicted, and executed.
CrimeLibrary.com
Ludwig Tessnow
Ladyofspiders.wordpress.com
The murder and dismembering of two
young boys in 1901 on the island of Rugen, off the coast
of Germany, turned the attention of local authorities
toward a strange, reclusive man named Ludwig Tessnow, a
carpenter from Baabe. The two boys had failed to return
from their play, so a search was organized. It wasn’t
long before searchers came across some of their parts,
which had been scattered over a wide area in the woods
near their home. When their heads were found, the skulls
were shattered, and from the eight-year-old, the heart
was missing. A blood-stained stone proved to be the
murder weapon.
Earlier that day, someone recalled,
Tessnow had been talking to them. Authorities went to
interview him, but he denied any involvement. Still,
they searched his home, which produced recently-laundered
clothing that bore suspicious stains. He claimed that
they were from wood dye, which he used daily in his
profession. There was not much anyone could do to prove
otherwise. But then a magistrate recalled a similar
crime, also associated with Tessnow.
Three years earlier in Osnabruck,
Germany, two young girls had been found in the woods,
butchered and disemboweled in the same manner as the
boys. The man seen loitering near the woods, his
clothing stained, was Tessnow. At that time, too, he had
claimed that the stains were from wood dye. So he’d had
a ready excuse then, which had worked, and he now knew
he had a good cover. It helped him as well when a local
farmer reported that a man who looked like Tessnow had
fled from his field, leaving behind seven slaughtered
sheep. Their legs had been torn or cut off and tossed
about the field. Tessnow was brought in for a line-up
and the farmer had no trouble picking him out.
Still, the police needed real
evidence to tie Tessnow to the murders. Then they heard
about the test that biologist Paul Uhlenhuth had
developed only four months before that could distinguish
blood from other substances (such as wood dye), as well
as distinguish animal blood from human. The authorities
contacted him and asked him to test Tessnow’s clothing
and the blood-stained stone. Uhlenhuth was ready for
such a test, and he applied his method to more than one
hundred spots. He then announced the results: While he
did find wood dye, he also detected traces of both sheep
and human blood. They were quite distinct from one
another, and his tests proved it.
With this evidence, Tessnow was tried,
convicted, and executed.
No one called Tessnow a werewolf, but
his compulsive ripping apart of animal and human corpses
was similar to the “werewolves” from earlier eras. There
was actually a period of time in which such killers were
considered fairly common.
Case Study: Ludwig Tessnow
July 1, 1901- On the island of Rugen
just off the northern coast of Germany, Hermann Stubbe,
8, and Peter Stubbe, 6, set out to play. Little did they
know when they left their home on that fateful day that
they would never return again. The hours passed and the
young brothers did not return. Their family grew
immensely concerned and a search party was organized the
following morning. Several of the searchers stumbled
upon dismembered body parts scattered among the woods.
They followed the trail and made a macabre discovery:
the eviscerated bodies of the two little boys.
A witness reported seeing a man by
the name of Ludwig Tessnow conversing with the children
on the day of their disappearence. Tessnow was a local
carpenter who lived in the neighboring town of Baabe. He
was interrogated by the police and claimed to have no
knowledge of or involvement in the deaths of the two
boys. As per the protocol of the time, Tessnow's home
was searched. Upon searching the quarters, the police
discovered several articles of clothing and shoes that
were covered in dark stains. The man had a viable
explanation: he claimed that the stains were from wood
dye, a substance commonly used in his profession.
For some reason unbeknownst to him,
Johann Schmidt (the examining magistrate) was very
suspicious of Tessnow. Upon doing a background check,
some disturbing information was uncovered. Three years
prior, two young girls had been found disemboweled in
the wooded area by their home. A man was seen lurking in
the area where the bodies were discovered. His clothes
were riddled with dark stains and he was detained and
questioned by police officers. His name was Ludwig
Tessnow and he claimed that the stains on his clothes
were from wood dye. The officers accepted his
explanation and Tessnow was not further investigated.