Murder Case Seewen
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The Seewen murder case (1976) was one of the biggest
Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...
crime cases and is the biggest Swiss murder case. Five people were killed, and the suspect remained unknown after the 30-year statute of limitations expired in 2006.


Course of events

The killings took place on 5 June 1976 in a weekend house named "Waldeggli" that stood on a meadow by the forest edge near Seewen, Solothurn, Switzerland. Five people were killed with a
Winchester rifle Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Developed from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. Th ...
, with a total of 13 rounds being fired. Eleven of the shots hit the head of the victims while the other two shots hit the chest and arm of the victims. Robert Siegrist, the son of two of the victims Eugen and Elsa Siegrist-Säckinger, wrote in his book ''Der Mordfall Seewen'' that one of the victims was shot four times in the head, with each shot hitting the victim with precision. The five victims were: *Elsa Clara Siegrist-Säckinger (aged 62 at the time of death) *Eugen Siegrist-Säckinger (63), husband of Elsa Siegrist-Säckinger *Anna Westhäuser-Siegrist (80), sister of Eugen Siegrist *Emanuel Westhäuser (52), son of Anna Westhäuser-Siegrist *Max Westhäuser (49), son of Anna Westhäuser-Siegrist The crime was discovered on 6 June 1976, by the daughter of two of the victims. When the police arrived, they found four corpses in the house with the fifth wrapped in a carpet on the terrace. It is suspected that only Elsa and Eugen Siegrist-Säckinger were meant to be killed, but the killer was surprised at the presence of the other three people and killed them as well.


Suspects


Carl Doser

The criminal investigation department followed many leads and systematically searched for owners of
Winchester rifle Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Developed from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. Th ...
s. However, there was little hope of finding the culprit until the autumn of 1996, when a Winchester rifle was found hidden in the walls of a kitchen of a house belonging to a woman named Doser. The gun, which belonged to Carl Doser, was an Italian Winchester imitation with a short barrel. It was identified as the weapon used to kill the victims. It was discovered that Carl Doser was a
loner A loner is a person described as not seeking out, actively avoiding, or failing to maintain interpersonal relationships. There are many potential causes for this solitude. Intentional causes include introversion, mysticism, spirituality, reli ...
living in
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
. He had legally bought the rifle in 1973 from Hofmann & Reinhart Waffen AG. He had earlier been interviewed by the police, but he lied, telling them he had sold the gun on the
flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...
. However, Doser was not charged because a clear motive for killing the victims could not be found, with no recorded meeting between Doser and the victims. However, the majority of the Swiss population still believe Doser was the killer.


Adolf "Johnny" Siegrist

A man named Hans Blaser felt that his business acquaintance Adolf "Johnny" Siegrist, who was related to the murdered couple, was the main culprit, with Doser assisting in the murder. Blaser, a combat shooter, claimed that Johnny had asked Blaser for a
machine pistol A machine pistol is a handgun that is capable of automatic firearm, fully automatic fire, including shoulder stock, stockless handgun-style submachine guns. The Austrians introduced the world's first machine pistol, the Steyr M1912 pistol#Masch ...
. The
ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...
was bought three weeks before the crime, from R. Mayer AG at the Basler Steinenvorstadt, and was likely to have been bought by Johnny. The shop assistant at R. Mayer AG recalled that the man who bought the ammunition had asked for two packages of Kal. 38 Spez ammunition, with each package containing 50 rounds. The customer had asked for ammunition with extra heavy lead bullets and had asked if the rounds would fit in his Italian Winchester rifles. He had mentioned that he was obtaining the ammunition for someone else. Johnny was described as being occasionally irascible, and styropore heads that had been shot through were discovered in his flat. It is suspected that his motive for killing the victims was related to his relationship with the victims. In addition, Johnny, who was 1.5m tall and had a voice that sounded like a woman's voice, had an inferiority complex which could have played a part in his motive for killing the victims. It was also suspected that he wanted revenge against the Siegrist-Säckinger couple for having nicknamed him "Dölfeli", which is a belittling name for "Adolf", and "
Globi Globi is a Swiss cartoon character occasionally referred to as Switzerland's Mickey Mouse. He is pictured as an anthropomorphic blue parrot with a yellow beak wearing a black beret and a pair of red and black checkered trousers. He was created ...
", which is the name of a Swiss children's book's protagonist. He was arrested temporarily but died in the mid-1980s.


See also

*
List of unsolved murders These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances. * List of unsolved murders (before 1900) * List of unsolved murders (1900–1979) * List of unsolved murders (1980–1999) * List of unsol ...


References


External links

* The Swiss national TV's “DOK“-Series (documentary) "Ungelöste Kriminalfälle" (unsolved crime cases, 2006) was, amongst others, dedicated to Seewen. Law professor
Daniel Jositsch Daniel Reuwen Jositsch (; born 25 March 1965) is a Swiss attorney and politician who currently serves on the Council of States for the Social Democratic Party representing the Canton of Zürich since 2015. He previously served on the National ...
was interviewed. * {{Mass shootings in Switzerland 1976 murders in Switzerland Family murders Mass murder in 1976 Mass murder in Switzerland Solothurn Unsolved mass murders Unsolved murders in Switzerland Mass shootings in Switzerland 1976 mass shootings in Europe