Transcript: 175. The Acid Killer’s Torture Chamber | Germany

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Christa was scared and alone in the dark bunker where her captor kept her. She was surrounded by thick concrete walls in her windowless cell and he told her that if she screamed, no one would hear her. So, it was no use – trying to call for help. 

One yellow lightbulb was the only source of light. Her captor brought her food: some coffee and bread rolls, sometimes an apple. She usually hid the core under the matrass of the metal foldup bed where she spent most of her time. She wasn’t sure why she did this, perhaps to leave a trail, something to show that she had been there. Was he going to kill her? It was hard to say…

Sometimes the man with the icy blue eyes was kind and calm, but then he’d change – she never knew what set him off. He had shown her polaroid pictures of another woman inside his bunker – tied up and injured. It was clear that she had suffered severe torture: she was naked, hanging from a hook with her legs spread open. The man threatened to do the same to her if she didn’t follow his instructions. Christa knew he had called her grown son and her boyfriend with a ransom demand, and she could only hope that everything would go according to plan.

Christa was not the kidnapper’s first victim, but fortunately she was the last. When he was unmasked, the city of Hamburg was shocked to learn that a clean-shaven, jovial family man was in actual fact – a sadistic monster.

>>Intro Music

In March 1986, master furrier, Kurt Kloeßer’s Kurt and his 61-year-old wife Hilde had just returned from a wonderful holiday in Fuerteventura. Things were going well – or so it seemed. However, when Kurt returned home from his shop on Wednesday evening the 12th of March, he was dumfounded to learn that Hilde had left him. She had taken items adding up to a total of 40,000 marks, with her: jewellery and 20,000 Deutsche Mark in cash. On the dining room table was a strange note from his wife. It said:

            Am tired of working

            I don’t want to work anymore

            Want to live my life. It became clear to me while we were away.

Kurt’s whole world collapsed in that moment. Nothing about Hilde’s actions made any sense to him. How could his wife of 32 years simply up and leave him? And to write a note like that… Hilde had always been good at keeping in touch with her husband; she would let him know if she had any plans and always called if she was running late. It was a slap in the face that she did not even discuss ending their marriage with him. Kurt had no inkling that she was unhappy or that she wanted out. Yet, there it was, in black and white: Hilde had had enough.

A week later, Kurt received a letter from his wife urging him NOT to go looking for her. She reiterated that she never wanted to see him again and suggested he moved on with his life. This is what she said:

Lieber Kurti,

For years I’ve begged you to give up the shop, or to sell it. But you’re always looking for new excuses to be with your furs. This became clear to me when we were on vacation. Only 14 days of beautifully warm weather is not enough for me… I cannot and will not work any longer. I’ll give you one last chance to behave like a man: don’t go running to the police, because they won’t know where I am either. I am not a missing person. If you tell everyone about my disappearance, you’ll never see me again.

 Please stay calm and think about things. If you can hold it together, maybe you’ll have me and my belongings back home someday.

Kurt was puzzled and wondered if Hilde was experiencing a breakdown, because this didn’t sound like something she would write. Sure, it was written in her recognisable handwriting, but that was all. Everything that occurred in relation to her disappearance was completely out of character for her. She had also written her sister a letter, imploring her to be calm and to never go looking for her. The emergency cash Kurt kept at home was hidden behind a vanity in the bathroom. The entire cabinet had been ripped out of the wall and all the cash was gone. He could not imagine that Hilde would have done something like that.

For two months he heard nothing from his estranged wife. Then, in May 1986, a post card came from the Spanish island of Tenerife:

I am doing well. Don’t worry about me… I can finally laugh again. 

Greetings, from Donald and Hilde.

Donald was Hilde’s beloved Dachshund. Despite the nonchalant message, Kurt refused to believe his wife was acting of her own free will. He searched for her everywhere in Hamburg and even went to Tenerife, but there was no sign of her. On the 8th of September, 6 months after she vanished, he finally reported her missing to police. The peltmonger told them the entire story and showed them the letters. The police did not think Hilde was in trouble and thought Kurt was a lovelorn husband who could not accept the fact that his wife had walked out on him.         

Over time, Kurt had no other choice, but to make peace with the fact that he was never going to see Hilde again – she did not want to be found. Heartbroken, confused and alone, he struggled to cope without his wife. He gave up his fur shop because he could not keep up the pace. He suffered from ill health, and a heart condition eventually landed him in hospital, where he met Christa, a hospital administration worker. 

Kurt and Christa were friends at first, but over time their friendship developed into a relationship. By 1991, they were serious about each other, but chose not to live together, as Christa’s grown son still lived with her.

On the morning of September 6th, 53-year-old Christa did not show up for work. She called in sick, but this was very unusual for her. Soon, the reason for her absence would be explained. First, her son received a ransom call, from a man who claimed to be a lawyer who represented the person who had taken Christa. The kidnapper demanded 300,000 marks in return for Christa’s safe release. The kidnapper also called Kurt with the same demand. Kurt thought he recognised the voice on the other end of the line but did not know from where. It sounded like a raspy woman’s voice, perhaps a smoker. 

Negotiations continued with Kurt, who by this time had called the police. They tapped his phone, hoping to find some evidence during the conversations to help in identifying the kidnapper. The person had the habit of saying ‘Okay, okay’ a lot. Kurt became more and more convinced that he knew the person but struggled to place them.

Naturally, the high stress of the situation awakened Kurt’s demons: five years before his wife, Hilde disappeared. And the purported go-between lawyer knew about this. She stoked the fires of Kurt’s burning heart when she said he also represented Hilde and that she was ready to finalise their divorce. Who was this person and how did she know Hilde? Kurt was baffled.

On the 13th of September, while Kurt and Christa’s son were still scrambling to gather the funds together to pay the ransom, Kurt received a welcome phone call from the police. Christa’s captor aborted the plan and had released her. She was safe at Langenhorn police station. Christa did not have any major injuries and assured police that her kidnapper did not sexually assault her. Then she told them what had happened…

Christa was about to leave home for work the Friday morning that she was taken, when a man appeared next to her car, as if from nowhere. He poked – what she thought was – a gun into her ribs, and she complied. It was later established that the man had used a stun gun. He blindfolded her and commanded her to scoot over to the passenger seat. He then took her place behind the steering wheel and they drove around the city for a while. Christa had no idea where they were going. 

Sometime later, they arrived at a building, she thought it was the man’s house, as she was aware of suburban neighbourhood sounds. He forced her inside and took her to a cellar downstairs. The room was a small, windowless cube with one yellow light, and Christa was left, handcuffed to a metal bedframe. The kidnapper told her that she would be freed if she did as she was instructed.

He brought her a telephone and forced her to call the hospital where she worked to take a sick day. Then she had to phone her son to inform him of the kidnapping and tell him about the ransom demand of 300,00 Deutsche Mark. The man made her write several letters, to both her son and her boyfriend, Kurt Kloeßer.

She was left alone in the concrete room all night and the next morning the man brought her some bread and coffee. He said to her:

‘I’m a good kidnapper. I’ll help you to get out of here. I’m a good kidnapper, believe me.’

He seemed to love the sound of his own voice and told Christa many stories. He also told her that the South American organ trafficking mafia was behind her kidnapping. Personally, he was not a bad guy, he was simply their man in Germany, an agent of sorts.

It didn’t take Christa long to realise that her captor was a volatile man. He could be nice and talk about scuba diving in South America the one moment – but the next he turned dark and threatened her. He showed her polaroid pictures of his previous victim: a handcuffed woman who had clearly been tortured. The man warned Christa that she would suffer the same fate if her partner didn’t come through with the ransom money.

Fortunately for Christa, her kidnapper’s plan was derailed when his family returned home unexpectedly, and he had to be more discreet about the woman he was keeping captive in the bunker downstairs. He broke the globe and told his wife and daughter that they shouldn’t go downstairs, as it was too dark and he didn’t want them to get injured climbing down the stairs. 

Christa was scared and thought he was going to kill her for sure. But the kidnapper was unpredictable – besides being fickle and sometimes aggressive, he had a bizarre obsession with astrology. No decision was made before consulting his horoscope. So, when the stars predicted that things were not looking good for him, he decided it would be best to set his victim free. Late on the night of 13 September, he released her somewhere in Hamburg and Christa made her way to the nearest police station, where she arrived shortly before midnight.

Christa was traumatised and investigators found her behaviour suspicious. She cried and appeared to be exhausted, and then she would suddenly calm down and continue the interview. At first, they considered the possibility that Christa had somehow staged her own kidnapping to extort money from Kurt, but there was no evidence to prove this.

When Kurt Kloeßer heard that Christa was held in a concrete bunker, he recalled something that broke the case wide open: he knew a man who had built a nuclear bunker in the basement of his house a couple of years before. The man was Lutz Reinstrom. He had done his internship with Kurt in 1972, learning the trade of skinning animals and preparing fur. During his Master-furrier’s exam, Kurt had caught the young Reinstrom cheating; he tried to pass off a completed fur as his own work. Because Kurt had busted Reinstrom, he was not allowed to complete his qualification at that time. Could this be motive enough to take Kurt’s partner hostage almost two decades later?

Fortunately for police, Reinstrom’s address was listed in the phone book. They established that he was married and had a 12-year-old daughter. Investigators also confirmed that the last phone call made to Kurt Kloeßer, came from a payphone in Herzogtum Lauenburg, where Reinstrom owned a weekend home.

Police arrested him in front of his duplex townhouse on Dompfaffenweg in Rahlstedt, Hamburg, on 17 September 1991. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, investigators knew they had their guy. His voice was high-pitched and he could easily have been mistaken for a woman. This is what had confused Kurt during the ransom phone calls – he was racking his brain, trying to place the woman’s voice, when in fact it was a man.

Police set out to build their case against Reinstrom. This seemingly friendly family man clearly had a dark side – who was he? 

Lutz Reinstrom was born in post-war Germany on the 29th of March 1948, in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen in northeast Germany. Lutz was born into his mother’s second marriage, and he had a half-brother and -sister. His parents divorced when he was five and the following year he moved to Hamburg with his mother and sister. His older brother chose to stay behind in the DDR.

Lutz’s sister described him as a mama’s boy, who hid behind his mother’s skirts. His mother was a strict disciplinarian and Lutz always did whatever he could to please her. A firm follower of astrology his mother often told her son what had been predicted for his future.

She was a determined woman, who was set on creating a new life for herself and her children. In 1956, she was in a position to open her own store, selling fur coats.

Lutz dropped out of high school, and in 1963, he began training as a furrier, so he could take over his family’s peltmonger business one day. He struggled to make it through the master’s qualification for many years. He did his internship under master-furrier Kurt Kloeßig’s supervision, but never completed the course. 

Sweeping that under the rug, Lutz started working at his mother’s store in 1973. He managed the shop for three years, under the ever-watchful eye of his mother. Feeling that he needed more adventure in his life, the young Lutz Reinstrom moved to Costa Rica, hoping to find treasure. He soon realised his folly and returned to Hamburg. He would pine for South America for the rest of his life.

Lutz married a tax consultant in 1975 and in 1980 their daughter was born. The names of his wife and daughter have never been released, and we will respect their privacy. Behind closed doors, things were not great. Lutz’s mother was very involved in his marriage and often came between him and his wife, causing friction. Eventually their marriage broke down, but they decided to stay together for the sake of their daughter. For all intents and purposes, they were no more than co-parents who lived in the same house. 

He always seemed to have a bee in his bonnet about something or another, so when he began renovations in the basement of their townhouse in 1983, no one thought it was strange. The 35-year-old Lutz poured all his love and energy into the construction of a nuclear bunker. When it was all done, he even invited the mayor of Hamburg and other distinguished guests to view his unique crypt and offered champagne and snacks to mark the occasion. 

Fur was going out of fashion at a rapid rate, as animal rights groups took up arms against the industry. Eventually, in 1989, Lutz sold the Reinstrom family business of thirty years.  

Lutz Reinstrom’s neighbours thought he was a respectable family man and had nothing but good things to say about him. He was very active at the local swimming club, and often invited fellow-members to his summer house in Basedow-bei-Lauenburg – about a 45-minute drive southeast of Hamburg. It was a short distance from the city, so guests would spend their summer weekends, having BBQs and drinks with Lutz Reinstrom. He loved entertaining people and was known to be a good storyteller. A long-time friend recalled how much fun it was, hanging with Lutz:

“We had many parties – barbequed in his garden or fried fish. We were a real neat clique. It was never boring when Lutz was there. He loved telling stories. He was really good at it. We even vacationed together in Mallorca. He took his wife and daughter and I had my son with me. It was very pleasant.”

Nothing about Lutz Reinstrom raised any red flags that would warn people about the sinister activities that was going on inside his cellar. The purpose-built bunker had 80cm thick concrete walls and a soundproof door separated it from the rest of the house. He later admitted during an interview with police that it was his fantasies of sadomasochism that drove him to build the bunker. Outside the basement, Reinstrom was the likeable suburban family man. However, his dark fantasies had gotten the better of him.

In September 1991, Reinstrom’s wife went away to Sylt [Zuult] for a seminar, while Reinstrom stayed in Hamburg. He bided his time and waited for the right moment to snatch his next victim, Christa. Reinstrom’s extortion plan was thwarted when his wife returned home from her holiday earlier than planned. And because of his astrology forecast, he decided to pull the plug, and let Christa go.

Thanks to Christa’s testimony, police were able to charge Reinstrom with kidnapping and torture. In court he was also questioned about the polaroid photos he had shown Christa. Did he have other victims? Reinstrom claimed that the photos were of a sexual partner – they were only playing, that’s all. However, he was unable to name the woman in the photo.

During the trial, an elderly woman approached detectives on Reinstrom’s case. She had read about his arrest in a newspaper on Mother’s Day 1992 and saw that as a sign, urging her to come forward. She told investigators about her daughter, Annegret B’s disappearance two years earlier. Annegret knew Reinstrom through her ex-husband, and the mother thought there were similarities to Christa’s case. Especially the strange letters she had received from her daughter.

Detectives had a second look at Annegret’s case: she ‘left’ in October 1988 and there were indeed strong parallels between her disappearance and Christa’s kidnapping. However, court proceedings were about to be wrapped up, and Reinstrom was not handed any additional charges at this point. The 43-year-old husband and father received a three-year prison sentence for extortion and robbery. 

Detective Atzeroth-Freier had promised Annegret’s mother that she would find out what had happened to her daughter, and if Reinstrom had anything to do with it. She set out to question Annegret’s friends and acquaintances and realised there was more to the story than she initially thought. Not only was Annegret’s strange disappearance similar to Christa’s kidnapping, but it also bore all the same hallmarks as the disappearance of Hilde Kloeßer.

Christa’s partner’s wife, Hilde left suddenly without any forewarning. She had left a note about being tired and unhappy, and urged him to forget about her. Even though Kurt Kloeßer didn’t believe it, he had to accept the fact that she was never coming back. 

Then, two and a half years after Hilde left Kurt, on the 6th of October 1988, 31-year-old Annegret’s cleaner found a curious note in her apartment and called Annegret’s mother. The note said:

‘It doesn’t matter what you do, I’m moving out. I wish you well.’

It made no sense – her daughter had no reason to leave. Annegret had a boyfriend, Thomas, and they had purchased a house together a short time before. Why would she leave in this way?

She had taken some of her clothing and other belongings. Interestingly, she hadn’t packed any underwear, which her mother found strange. Annegret also left her favourite plush toy behind. Her mother’s instinct told her that Annegret did not pack her own belongings. Her car, a white Volkswagen Golf was also gone. Within a week her mother received a handwritten letter from Annegret, claiming that she had found someone to replace Thomas in her life. Her new beau allegedly lived in Switzerland and had a beautiful home in the mountains. 

It was so strange, seeing as Annegret had been pressuring Thomas to start a family. She was eager to live with him and have his children, why would she change her mind so suddenly? Annegret had also cleared her bank account of 16,000 Marks and took 6,000 Marks from a joint account she held with Thomas. Thomas was furious and only wanted to find her so he could get his money back. He reported the theft to police, but they could not help him. Annegret had the legal right to withdraw the money from her and Thomas’ joint account. When her mother asked Thomas to help her find her daughter, he wasn’t interested. Annegret did not have the decency to break up with him in person and took off with their savings – he never wanted to see her again.

Annegret’s mother was firm in her belief that her daughter was in danger and reported her disappearance to police. Although Annegret had sent letters and postcards from abroad, her mother knew Annegret wouldn’t just walk out on her life. Police read some of the letters and concluded that Annegret was an adult, and if she wanted to start a new life with a new boyfriend in another country, it was her prerogative to do so.

Annegret’s mother was not appeased, however, and contacted all of Annegret’s friends. No one had seen her, but her mother was not about to give up. She recalled her daughter was friendly with a man named Lutz Reinstrom, whom she had met at a swimming club through her ex-husband. He even served as a witness at their wedding. Her mother wondered if he had any information. She paid him a visit at his shop, and he was open and friendly. He claimed he had not seen Annegret in ages and wished her mother well in her search. 

That was two-and-a-half years before Christa vanished. There was no denying it: the likelihood that Reinstrom took both Hilde and Annegret was high. Investigators took a step back and looked at all three cases together: Christa’s kidnapping, and Annegret and Hilda’s disappearances. Both Hilde and Annegret left unfinished business behind: Hilde had bought some flowers for her neighbour, to thank her for looking after their place while they were in Fuerteventura, but she never dropped them off. Annegret had called her doctor for a medicine script, but never collected it.

The investigators’ first port of call was to analyse the letters the women had written to their loved ones. Understanding that the letters were most likely written under duress, investigators had a new perspective on the case. Firstly, the letters were void of empathy and feeling – it offered no apologies for their sudden departures, only explanations. Hilde and Annegret said that they had met someone and were living abroad. Hilde said she did not want to be classified as a missing person; Annegret said she would be embarrassed to be detained at the border in front of people she knew and asked her mother NOT to report her missing. Both had made similar punctuation errors in their letters, for instance: using commas in the middle of phrases. Although their letters were written by them – a handwriting expert confirmed this – they did not use their own words, it was not how they would have expressed themselves normally. Were these errors and random words hidden cries for help within the messages? A Christmas card from Annegret to her brother read like a simple account of her time in Switzerland. However, forensic scientists noticed that some letters were slightly bolder than the rest. And when they strung those letters together, it spelled ‘Lutz Hilf’ – clearly suggesting Lutz Reinstrom together with the word ‘help’.

On 15 September 1992, with a warrant in hand, a forensic team showed up at Reinstrom’s townhouse in Hamburg, as well as his weekend property in Basedow. They found some items belonging to Hilde and Annegret, and confronted Reinstrom with the evidence. He admitted that Annegret had been with him but claimed that it was for sadomasochistic roleplay and consensual sex. Referring to Hilde, he said that he did not do anything to, quote: ‘the old lady’, unquote.

When investigators told Reinstrom that they had discovered Annegret’s portable radio in the basement of his weekend home, his smooth and dismissive behaviour was suddenly gone. He suffered an asthma attack and needed assistance before he could continue the interview. That is when investigators knew they were on the right track. 

Reinstrom gathered himself and spun the same story about the South American organ mafia that he had told Christa. According to Reinstrom he only acted on the orders of a larger criminal organisation. The story was far-fetched and police did not believe a word of it. They also made it clear they did not believe Annegret met up with him for sex. 

They interviewed everyone who ever had any ties to their prime suspect and learned that he was a seasoned swindler. In 1986, there was a fire in the Reinstrom fur shop, causing thousands of marks’ worth of damage. Some people wondered if insurance fraud inspired the fire, however, this could never be proven. Reinstrom also reported a theft in his own home, which eventuated in an insurance claim. With Reinstrom’s past under the magnifying glass, police became convinced the insurance claims were all fraudulent. 

Then he moved on to bigger cons: while taking a Spanish language course, he became romantically involved with his Chilean teacher, Mercedes R. Before long they had a joint bank account. The woman was the main contributor to the funds, but she did not mind. They were saving up to go back to her home country of Chile. But Reinstrom was only using Mercedes. 

Another woman, Birgit J, also fell for Reinstrom and said she was taken in by his blue eyes. Together they also planned on starting a new life together in South America – this time Costa Rica. Birgit sold all her assets and was excited about the fresh start. Reinstrom had told her about his luxury villa near San José and felt she would love it. He assured her he was involved in a couple of businesses, so she would not have to worry about money once they were there.

Although Reinstrom was married at the time, he convinced the women that it was over between him and his wife. He assured her the divorce was a mere formality, all that was left to do was the paperwork. He had confessed to a close friend that he was planning on killing his wealthy girlfriend, once they were in Costa Rica. He was going to make it look like an accident. Police confronted him about the story and he said he was only joking with his friend. At the time police warned Birgit, but she didn’t believe them, and stood by Reinstrom.

But he didn’t only target women. Reinstrom’s 66-year-old neighbour, Hans, who spoke English well, went to his house to help with a translation. Once Hans was inside Reinstrom’s house, his host took him on a tour, and showed off his bunker. Reinstrom knocked him out and handcuffed him to a pipe. He made his neighbour record a voice message, asking his wife to pay 160 000 Marks for his release. Hans said there was no way his wife would be able to gather that amount of money. Also that she had a heart condition and he did not think she’d survive the stress of the situation. 

Reinstrom went to an astrologer to ask what he should to next. When he returned, he apologised to Hans and let him go. Hans never reported the incident because he was only too happy to be free. Because Reinstrom sobbed uncontrollably when he apologised, Hans thought he must have had some kind of a mental break. He saw the feeble-voiced man as someone who had acted out of desperation and did not consider him to be dangerous. If only he knew how lucky he was to have escaped…

Investigators needed to gain a better understanding of the man they had in custody. They went to see a prominent Hamburg astrologer, Dr. Jean-Paul Zamora. He was Lutz Reinstrom’s go-to astrologer for years, and he shared his impression of the furrier with police:

“One doesn’t forget something like that. I can still see him in his white shirt, standing in front of his store – always smiling, always neat. Honestly a very friendly, engaging person. But one could see the devil in his eyes… Those cold, bright-blue, piercing eyes. It cuts right though you. This betrayed him. And then he had this comical voice: so shrill and high-pitched.” 

And when asked about their fortune-telling sessions, Jean-Paul said:

“The stars were always bad for him. The Tower, The Devil and The Hanged Man were his constant companions, I warned him enough.”

The astrologer was also able to give an insight into Reinstrom’s closest relationships:

“His one true love was money. Other than that, he loved his daughter more than anything, and hated his wife more than anything. He only had bad things to say about his wife and even said that it would be best if he killed her. [His mother] was the sovereign – she had immense power in his life. He was scared of her.”

Jean-Paul also claimed that he suffered terrible visions of the devil and Reinstrom. It caused him great anxiety, so much so, that he refused to consult with Reinstrom any longer. He eventually agreed to be an anonymous witness for the prosecution.

Police searched Reinstrom’s bunker yet again and discovered tapes, found in a locker, hidden inside the wall. The contents were disturbing – a frail female voice – presumably Annegret’s – relays her ordeal:

“Now I’ve been brutally gagged. I’m terrified, but he doesn’t seem to care… I beg, plead and pray, still there’s no escape. I am his captive, completely at his mercy.”

Long silences fall in between her helpless statements. Every time her voice seems softer and weaker. She talks about her torture, how he hit her with a belt. Then the last words…

“I’m scared of what else he’ll do in his state of mind.”

This audio-diary was very unsettling. It was clear that the victim was forced to speak, because some phrases did not make sense – she would thank him for showing her a whole new world of lust. Reinstrom must have made the recordings, so he could listen to it later, reliving the pain he inflicted on his helpless victim. 

Police also found items among Reinstrom’s belongings that obviously did not belong to him: a watch engraved with the name ‘Debra’ and ring engraved ‘Wilma’. A small wedding ring, engraved with K.K. was identified by Kurt Kloeßer to have belonged to his wife, Hilde.

By this time, investigators were sure that Reinstrom had killed Hilde and Annegret. But what did he do with their bodies? Cadaver dogs could not find any signs of human remains on either of Reinstrom’s residential properties, and police had to regroup once more. Was there a chance that they could still be alive and being held captive somewhere? 

Annegret’s White VW Golf disappeared along with her. Police eventually found it and learned that it had changed owners several times since Annegret vanished. They traced each sale, interviewed every previous owner, until they reached the end of the line: the person said that he had purchased the vehicle from a fur store in Hamburg-Wandsbek. The previous owner picked Lutz Reinstrom out of a photo line-up, identifying him as the man who had sold him Annegret’s Golf.

On 21 September 1992, Reinstom was charged with the murder of Annegret Bauer. This was the first time in Hamburg’s history that a suspect was charged before police had found the body of the victim. 

Another search of Reinstrom’s townhouse in Dompfaffenweg on November 21st revealed five cannisters of hydrochloric acid. Again, investigators went to prison to talk to Reinstrom. He did not seem surprised or scared, and plainly told investigators he had bought the acid to clean a brick wall at his house.

But the proverbial walls were closing in on Reinstrom… His neighbours in Basedow told investigators that he had dug a pit at his weekend home in the late 80s, after Annegret’s disappearance. He subsequently poured concrete over the spot and used it as a compost heap. 

Police went to Reinstrom’s second home on December 1st 1992 to excavate the backyard. They concentrated on the area beneath the compost and discovered a sealed barrel. Inside they found Annegret Bauer’s remains. 

Confronted with the evidence, Lutz Reinstrom admitted that he had killed both Annegret and Hilde. Hilde’s remains were found on the 4th of December – in an acid-filled barrel, buried in the backyard of Reinstrom’s Hamburg property.

When police asked Reinstrom about the circumstances of the murders, he told the story of the South American organ mafia yet again. He claimed they killed women to obtain transplant material. He took Hilde on their orders, and when he marched her into his bunker, she fell down the stairs and broke her neck – her death was an accident. He panicked and dismembered her body, placing the limbs in a barrel before covering it with acid, sealing it and buried it in his backyard.

As for Annegret, Reinstrom maintained that she had visited him for consensual sex. Her death, he claimed, was an accident too. According to Reinstrom, during consensual oral sex, she bit his penis and he pushed her away. She fell backwards and injured herself. He locked her in a sauna where he later discovered she was no longer alive. He disposed of her body in the same way as Hilde’s and took the barrel to his weekend home where he buried it.

Police asked Reinstrom to explain the letters that were posted after her disappearance. If she had died because of an accident, how could she have written those letters. He could not explain. 

The trial of Lutz Reinstrom began in Hamburg in January 1995. The grim case of the Acid Killer was sensational and the trial was an absolute media frenzy. Reinstrom was charged with the murders of Hildegard Kloeßer and Annegret B and he pleaded not guilty. On the advice of his lawyers, Reinstrom did not take the stand in his own defence and opted to remain silent. 

His statement of the two alleged accidental deaths were relayed to the court. They jury asked if a medical expert could examine Reinstrom’s penis for scars from the alleged bite. The court-practitioner concluded that there was no evidence that Reinstrom had ever suffered a bite-injury on his penis. This brought the defendant’s credibility into question.

In the end, once all Reinstrom’s fabrications were stripped away, the horrific truth of events that took place between 1986 and 1991 were revealed… Reinstrom was not the good-humoured family man he had pretended to be. He was a calculating predator who built a bunker in preparation for his heinous acts. Three years after its completion, he abducted Hilde Kloeßer from her home and kept her captive. He forced her to write to her husband, saying she wanted to break off all contact with him. Reinstrom held Hilde hostage for a week before he killed and dismembered her. 

Reinstrom took Annegret from her home and kept her prisoner in his dungeon. He tortured Annegret, sexually abused her, took photos and recorded his sessions with her. After four weeks, he ended her life. As he did with Hildegard, he dismembered her and placed her remains in an acid-filled barrel. Presumably, Annegret was still alive, inside his bunker, at the time her mother came looking for her at Reinstrom’s store.

The jury concluded that the motive for Hilde’s murder was greed and revenge, and that no sexual abuse occurred. He harboured resentment towards her former teacher Kurt Kloeßer, and by taking his wife and his money, he avenged his younger self. Reinstrom killed her and disposed of her remains to conceal the fact that he had stolen her jewellery and cash. In Annegret’s case, however, the jury believed that the motive was greed and lust. First, he took her money, then he sexually assaulted her and tortured her, which eventuated in her death.

Ultimately, the killer did not only have a double life in Hamburg, but he also kept a foot in South America. He was driven to start a new life there with all the money he stole from his victims.

On 22 May 1996, Lutz Reinstrom was found guilty on both counts of murder, attempted robbery, deprivation of liberty and extortion. He was given the maximum penalty of life in prison followed by preventative detention. This means that once he has served his sentence, he will be kept in the prison system until such a time that he is no longer deemed a danger to society. In Germany, these cases are typically reviewed every two years.

Today, he is serving his sentence in a high-security Hamburg prison, commonly referred to as Santa Fu. He has never shown any remorse and prison psychiatrists report that he still claims Hilde’s death was an accident, and Annegret was a kink-encounter-gone-wrong. He disposed of both bodies because he panicked and did not want to tarnish his family’s reputation. It is unlikely that he would ever see life outside of prison walls again.

Many missing person’s cases were re-examined to determine if Reinstrom was responsible for more murders. However, he could not be conclusively linked to any other cases. They had circumstantial evidence, placing Reinstrom at the location of a disappearance, but they did not have enough to charge him in no less than five additional cases. There is no way we’ll ever know exactly how many women fell victim to the peltmonger of Hamburg.

People who lived in Germany at the time, will forever be haunted by events that took place at Dompfaffenweg, and still feel chills down their spines when they hear the diabolical name of the Acid Killer, Lutz Reinstrom. 

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