Cold-blooded murders

Carinthia: These are the true protocols of evil

Mathias Weißenegger (right) was shot in cold blood.

(Bild: Hans Peter Scherer)

A journey through the gruesome world of crime in Carinthia: Griffner Valentin Hauser brings twelve criminal cases back to life in the work "Protocols of Evil".

Deadly poison in a roll of foam, a shot from a revolver, the gruesome story of a mother who murders, dismembers and disposes of her own child...

Horrific murders took place in Carinthia - from Lavanttal to Upper Carinthia - between 1897 and 1964. Valentin Hauser (75) from Griffen has packed twelve of these bloodthirsty crimes into an exciting narrative.

Twelve criminal cases are retold. Valentin Hauser (above) wrote the book.

(Bild: EVELYN HRONEK)

"I worked on it for two years," says Hauser. For what is now his seventh book, the Griffner spent 1700 hours researching, drove 6400 kilometers, spent 59 hours on the phone and wrote 400 emails. "I went to archives in Vienna, Graz and Klagenfurt. Nine men, eight women and two children were murdered in these spectacular cases. Working through the material often sent shivers down my spine."

Cold-blooded murders: from poisoned foam rollers to revolvers
One farmer's wife persuaded her farmhand to kill her husband: "She had poisoned a foam roll at the church feast, but he didn't want to eat it. Her first victim was her sister-in-law." Six months later, Mathias Weißenegger from Lavanttal was shot dead with a revolver. A wealthy farmer was also killed in cold blood in Griffen. "The farmhand became a robber-murderer for his mistress."

Courtroom drawing on the front page of the "Illustrierte Kronen Zeitung" in 1931. A mother had confessed her gruesome deed in court.

(Bild: Krone Kalian)

The book "Protokolle des Bösen. Violent Crimes in Carinthia" - with 42 photos and 192 pages - was published by Hermagoras Verlag. On April 26 (7.30 pm), the author will be reading at the Kultursaal in Griffen.