Marianne Bachmeier killed her 7-year-old daughter’s murderer in court
Marianne Bachmeier was born to a devoutly religious mother and a strict Nazi soldier with a drinking habit for a father. After she became pregnant at 16, they threw her out of the house. Homeless, unemployed, and ill-prepared to raise the baby, Marianne gave her up for adoption. She gave a second baby up for adoption when she was 18.
Marianne found herself pregnant a third time at 23 while working as a waitress in Lübeck, Germany. She chose to raise the baby as a single mother and named her daughter Anna, who quickly became the light of her life. Tragically, Anna was brutally murdered just seven years later.
After getting into an argument with her mother on May 5, 1980, Anna decided to skip school and visit a friend who lived nearby. On her way there, the 7-year-old was lured into the apartment of 35-year-old butcher Klaus Grabowski under the guise of playing with his cats. He held Anna captive for several hours, molested her, and strangled her to death with a pair of pantyhose belonging to his fiancée.
It wasn’t long before Klaus’ fiancée called the police, alleging her husband-to-be had murdered a little girl, stuffed her inside a cardboard box, and buried her in a shallow grave on the bank of a nearby canal. Klaus was promptly arrested and charged with murder.
A two-time convicted sex offender, it wasn't the first time Klaus had acted upon his sadistic urges. In 1973, he received probation for strangling a 6-year-old girl. A few years later, he molested two 9-year-old children. Rather than serve jail time, Klaus was allowed to consent to voluntary castration.
Klaus proved time and time again that he was a predator and yet, he was allowed to roam free and prey on innocent children. Marianne decided that this time, Klaus would pay the ultimate price.
On March 6, 1981, Marianne pulled out a .22 Beretta pistol in a crowded courtroom. Seated behind Klaus, she aimed at his back and fired 8 times. He died instantly in a pool of his own blood three days into the murder trial.
After the killing, Marianne looked the judge straight in the eye and said, “I wanted to shoot him in the face…I hope he’s dead.” When asked to write a statement, the grieving mother wrote, “I did it for you Anna.” with 7 hearts — one for each year she had lived.
Marianne told the court she purchased the gun a week earlier to take her own life. She ultimately decided to kill Klaus when he defamed Anna, alleging she seduced him and threatened to report him for molestation unless he paid her.
Marianne was sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter, causing public outrage as many believed her actions had been justified. She became a household name overnight and was soon given the moniker “revenge mom.”
Marianne was released on parole in 1985. She married and moved to Nigeria with her husband, but the couple eventually divorced. Marianne returned to Germany and succumbed to pancreatic cancer shortly after on September 17, 1996. She was buried in the same grave as her beloved daughter, Anna.
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