"Santa Strangler", or Productversie the story of a maniac

Adolf Theodor Laudenberg (Adolph Theodore Laundenberg) — a handsome white-haired old man of 94. Looking at him, hardly anyone can imagine, that before him was a ruthless maniac, kill and rape women in the 70-ies of the last century.

Chances of catching the killer was miserable and only his own confession helped solve a series of crimes. Laudenberg entered the history of crime as "Santa Strangler" (The Santa Strangler), because it looked like a good Christmas hero or cute bearded gnome.

The maniac is dealt with his victims, mostly during holidays and weekends. Due to the fact that Lautenberg was similar to Santa Claus, and soon his work was acquired by speculation and the history of the Christmas killer with a beard, gifts and in the red suit. Made his attacks Adolf year-round, including during the Christmas holidays, but it was not with his beliefs.

On weekends and holidays killer been easier to find a victim, because in bars and on the streets, it was easier to meet single drunken women, which he hunted. Had a rapist and a murderer, almost by accident, at fault. Have failed of its long tongue, but still quite innocent and even a positive hobby, unusual for serial killers.

Lautenberg was born in 1926 in the state of Kentucky in a family of German immigrants. Adolf was quite a bit when his mother died and his education began to deal with his father is a butcher by profession. It is known that the mother of the future serial killer drank a lot and, perhaps due to the childhood trauma he chose to sacrifice drinking women, older and often sick.

Canes of Manzanita

But really, young Lautenberg was a very peculiar type. If his wife prefer to spend time in a noisy company with music and booze, that Adolf was a recluse. His behavior seemed to many strange — he never left without the need of the house, could spend hours looking at one point and his hobby was carving walking sticks from the branches Manzanita — tree, which we have called bearberry.

Soon the family of Laudenberg fell apart — his young and too sociable wife is a stripper too fond of other men, thus completely denying the intima of the legitimate spouse. It is not excluded that the guy was always something wrong, but it is known that after the failures in family life, it was crazy even more.

After the divorce Adolf got married again, but this marriage was even more fleeting than the first. After the second divorce, the man made no attempt to arrange his personal life and lived alone. The education he received, and therefore worked as a worker, then as a watchman in a steel mill, then as a taxi driver.

Leah Petri — the first victim of a maniac

It work in a taxi and let Laudenberg start to kill with impunity. The first victims of a maniac appeared in the early 70-ies. Did the taxi driver always standard — picked weekends and holidays on the streets of drunk middle-aged women and questioned them about life. If their life was filled with disappointments, and they were ill, maniac sincerely sympathized with them, and then killed.

Interesting, but in Europe this time was different maniac and also the German Fritz Honka. It is better known than Lautenberg and in 2019 it even made the film "the Golden glove". It is noteworthy that the killer operating in Hamburg, also chose a middle-aged, and the sick women. However, it later emerged that this is not the whims of a sick mind, but simply the result of cowardice Honky — he was easier to deal with weak victims.

The body of one of the victims of Laudenberg on the highway near San Francisco

The first woman of Laudenberg strangled at Christmas 1972. It was Leah Petri — 43-year-old alcoholic, whose husband had recently died from cancer. The second was a 50-year-old Katherine Medina exiled with her husband out of the house for drunkenness and infidelity. The third victim was a 54-year-old Anna Felt saleswoman hot dogs, got drunk in the workplace, and strolling along the beach. The latter was 60-year-old Leah Griffin, a successful lawyer, poured alcohol grief after the news about the discovered she had breast cancer.

All the killings "Santa Strangler" made in California, where he lived and worked, and some who were victims very close to his house. In the list of victims "under the question" are even two women at the age of 80. As we can see, Laudenberg each time found it increasingly elderly and poor women — he just enjoyed their grief, posing as sympathetic, good-natured.

The police had a great chance to catch a killer in 1975. Then, Lautenberg told in details about his murders the girl who was preparing to become a wife of his adopted son Steve. The guy, whose mother was the same Annelie first unrequited love Adolf, was chosen a bride who didn't like her stepfather. He decided to scare her, hinting that she may become the next victim.

The frightened bride went to the police, but there is only laughed at her story, considering that her future daughter just want to intimidate. This is despite the fact that all California police actively searched for a serial killer. It's hard to say how many women has cost the lives of the negligence of the cops.

In 2002, the history repeated itself again. This time was going to marry the only son of Ludenberg from his second marriage. But this time the old maniac still managed to fall in love with young daughter! He followed her, wrote her notes, leaving them under the windshield wipers of the car, and in response to attempts to suppress courtship was threatened with murder. Once Adolf so broke that told of the murdered women, and this time son and daughter-in-law went to the police.

Fortunately, this time the officers seriously reacted to the statement by checking the details of the story of Laudenberg and facts, convinced that he is the killer. But it was not enough to bring charges, and direct evidence of the investigators had. The police were stored sperm samples "Santa Strangler", but to compare them with what was not.

In California there are many bureaucratic obstacles just to ask the relatives of the suspect his hair or any other material for genetic analysis. Samples, oddly enough, should provide himself but to apply directly to Laudenberg it was impossible not to scare it off.

Here's a cute old man! One of the police officers, posing as a collector, appointed Laudenberg meeting in a cafe. This short rendezvous to discuss the intricacies of the wood carving and properties of wood, the investigator claimed a valuable clue — a Cup of coffee with the DNA of Adolf. The rest was a matter of technique.

In 2003, Adolf Lautenberg was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder of his first victim Leah Petri. Now "Santa Strangler" live out his days in solitary confinement, deprived of the society of poor women and their favorite Hobbies are carving. Say it DIY now at a great price.