01x03 - The Lust to k*ll

[bunniefuu]

[techno music playing]

[crowd cheering]

[man moaning]

In these types of cases, we often

find ourselves asking the question, "Why?"

[music and cheering continue]

[Anka] Why? The question, "Why?"

[Miroslaw] Why would you go out

and k*ll someone?

[Christian] After basically

getting away with m*rder,

why did he target someone else?

- [Miroslaw] Why?

- [Anka] Why?

[dance music playing]

[woman] How come this one man

all of a sudden had the urge to k*ll,

while millions of others don't?

It just doesn't make sense.

Another question we can ask ourselves is,

"What could you possibly gain

from this crime?"

[ominous music playing]

[woman] The answer lies with the criminal.

[mysterious music playing]

[music ends]

[ominous music playing]

BASED ON ORIGINAL PERPETRATOR STATEMEN

[perpetrator] At first,

I sat at the bar and had a beer.

Two guys were behind the bar,

but only one was serving.

The other was having a side conversation.

I wore sneakers and dark blue jeans,

and a dark blue jacket

made from synthetic fibers.

[suspenseful music continues]

[perpetrator] Both the bar up at the front

and the back area were fairly busy.

There were maybe around 15 to 20 people

in the back room.

And then I went to the back.

And had a look around.

[heart beating]

[suspenseful music continues]

[music and heartbeats end]

POLICE

At this point, it was likely that

Nicky M. from Grosse Freiheit

was considered as victim number two.

Miroslaw was three,

and Alexander was victim number one.

STATE PROSECUTOR

So, now we could call him a serial k*ller

because he had gone after three victims.

We then realized

we had another lead to look into.

Alexander M. had died in his apartment,

so, we tried to find out

who was the last person he was with.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Regina] Alexander must have

let him into the apartment.

This

m*rder*r.

That was something I thought about.

ALEXANDER'S GRANDMOTHER

How did he get in?

He and the perpetrator

must have been pretty close

to let him into his apartment.

[ominous music playing]

[perpetrator] I saw in the chat

that Alexander had set up a new profile

on the dating site.

BASED ON ORIGINAL PERPETRATOR STATEMEN

So, I messaged him.

We exchanged texts

on April 24th or maybe the 25th, 2012.

- SHALL WE MEET UP? THURSDAY?

- OKAY.

[ominous music playing]

[suspenseful music intensifies]

[ominous music playing]

- [ominous music continues]

- [heart beating]

BASED ON ORIGINAL PERPETRATOR STATEMEN

[perpetrator] He didn't know

about the knockout drops.

He shuddered

and I thought he'd spit it back out.

But he didn't.

He stood in the kitchen

and drank two glasses of water.

He said he didn't feel well.

He was a bit disoriented.

He then went to bed

and I stole his belongings.

"I put on the jacket

that was hanging in the closet,

and then had another look

around the bedroom."

"He was lying there, eyes closed.

I was about to leave the apartment,

then I saw on a bookshelf,

just to the right of the front door,

keys, an iPhone, and Alex's wallet."

"Then I threw the wallet and iPhone

into a backpack,

which was also by the front door,

lying on the ground."

[ominous music playing]

BASED ON ORIGINAL PERPETRATOR STATEMEN

[perpetrator] I remembered that I

cracked open the window in Alex's bedroom,

to let in some fresh air.

It might have been at that time

I covered him with a blanket.

He didn't know what was in that drink.

But I didn't give it to him

so I could get rid of him.

[ominous music playing]

[perpetrator] That's not who I am.

Alex so kind.

[music ends]

[Christian] It's possible he realized,

"Oh wow, hey, this worked perfectly."

"What's going to stop me?

And why should I stop?"

"After all, it's working."

[suspenseful music playing]

[woman] "What have I done?

What comes after this?"

Oftentimes, criminals

fear their own development.

After around the third m*rder,

they start to consider

if this is becoming a bad habit

FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIS

and that each k*lling might increase

the chance of k*lling again.

Where will this lead?

The criminal knows this.

[suspenseful, distorted music playing]

[suspenseful music swells]

- [music fades]

- [siren wailing]

[Katrin] And then

another homicide occurred.

This time, the victim

was a man named Peter.

11 DAYS

AFTER THE m*rder IN THE DARKROOM

BASED ON ORIGINAL PERPETRATOR STATEMEN

[perpetrator] I met him

in an internet chat.

But in the chat, he went by Mario.

PETER'S APARTMEN

[perpetrator] While chatting,

we randomly said,

"Come on, let's meet up."

BASED ON ORIGINAL PERPETRATOR STATEMEN

[suspenseful music continues]

[perpetrator] My glass bottle

of knockout drops

was on the glass table in the living room.

We sat on the couch, just talking.

It was just the usual small talk.

[ominous music playing]

[high-pitched tone resonating]

[perpetrator] Afterwards,

I stole the debit card out of his wallet.

On my way home, I tried using it.

I was aware that it wouldn't work.

I didn't have the PIN.

[distorted music playing]

[music swells]

[suspenseful music playing]

[music fades]

Peter was also found

in his apartment alone,

exactly like Alexander, lying on

his stomach, tucked under the sheets.

When we received the results,

we learned that in this case too,

GHB had been detected in his blood,

in a very high dosage.

CORONER

For many, many decades,

we hadn't had a series of

mass murders like this

that used, uh poison.

His handling of the substance

seemed well-rehearsed.

With this modus operandi,

you could commit this sort of crime

for a long time without getting caught.

It's the case of a lifetime.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Monika] The pressure rose immensely

because we feared that he'd strike again.

These crimes need to be solved quickly.

And I asked myself,

how many more victims

are there going to be,

and how many cases

haven't even been accounted for?

COMA k*ller

FRIEDRICHSHAIN'S POISON k*ller

I remember writing an email

to the criminal investigator

that was assigned to my case, which read

SURVIVOR

"I read this article. Is it connected?"

That was the moment he realized

I might need psychological help,

and then told me, "At the precinct,

we have this police psychologist,

why don't you make use of her support?"

The perpetrator's on the loose,

and I'm starting to realize that this case

is getting bigger and bigger.

Just the sheer amount of luck

I had that night

That finally dawned on me,

because there were other victims and, uh

people were dying.

KO-DROP k*ller

HOW MANY MORE VICTIMS ARE THERE?

[Miroslaw] Nobody knows who's doing it.

Who is he? What will he do next?

[suspenseful music playing]

[Dr. Nahlah] As a k*ller,

I have the advantage of knowing

that the victim won't be alive

the next day.

Because I know that soon,

I'll pour knockout drops in their beer.

It's almost like you're playing God.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Christian] If I determine

this guy is narcissistic,

and probably displays

psychopathic behavior,

it's not like these facts

will be written on his face.

Even if he's been treated for this

in the past,

a doctor would never reveal the truth.

So, how do you find him?

[suspenseful music continues]

[Andreas] One thing I ask

the relatives of the victims

is whether they knew about

the victims' plans that night?

Was he going to meet someone?

That's important to us,

because if we retrace

the victims' footsteps,

the criminal usually walks the same path.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Doreen] The criminal is still out there.

And that affects you.

ALEXANDER'S FRIEND

It was all so difficult to grasp,

I didn't understand.

And Alexander's cell phone

was never found.

All we had was the data

retrieved from his phone.

Who was his last contact?

Who did he meet up with?

Because it was clear he knew this person.

[Andreas] At that point,

we had the full, itemized list

of cell phone calls and text messages

from Alexander's phone.

It's often the case that whoever they

contacted recently on their phones

holds valuable information.

SENIOR HOMICIDE INVESTIGATOR

There were outgoing text messages

to a mobile phone number.

- THURSDAY?

- OKAY.

And our colleagues were able to establish

that this number was registered

to a certain Dirk.

[ominous, distorted music playing]

[Andreas] This could be

an important witness.

But you can't just pick up the phone

and call him.

First you have to run

a standard background check

and figure out who this guy is.

[rewinding]

453 MILES

[music swells]

[music fades]

[woman] I'm Dirk's aunt.

I'm ten years older than him.

DIRK'S AUN

I was basically raised alongside him.

Grew up with him.

It was sort of like

having a younger brother.

This was because as a kid,

he was always at my parents' house.

[children yelling]

Dirk is friendly, nice, and courteous.

That's basically the Dirk

that I was familiar with.

Dirk was only 13

when my father passed away.

And one day, I was visiting at home.

When I got there, I saw Dirk

sitting alone in my parents' bedroom,

and his body was covered up by a blanket

on my father's side of the bed.

Yeah.

But I didn't ask any questions.

Like, "Why are you sleeping

in the same bed as my mother?"

And I think she was forcing my nephew

to sleep with her,

or perhaps requesting him

to wear my father's pajamas to bed.

So, he basically did everything

for my mother,

and my mother was able to use him

in any way she liked.

[ominous music playing]

[Birgit] Dirk had become

a substitute for my father.

She took whatever she wanted from him.

[ominous music playing]

[woman] The first time I met Dirk

was on a night shift.

I liked him pretty much

from the moment we met.

It was known that

Dirk was very much h*m*.

FORMER COLLEAGUE OF DIRK

[Silke] He was very open

about his sexual orientation.

He was able to win people over

with his personality,

but you always felt that Dirk was uh

slightly forcing himself to fit in,

or wanting to belong, to be liked.

And I think somebody that has

strong self-esteem wouldn't have the idea

to change their appearance

with a plastic surgery operation.

[soft suspenseful music playing]

[Silke] Dirk lived at his grandma's,

where he had a separate apartment unit.

He always gave the impression of having

a very normal upbringing as a child.

A good family home.

He had a good relationship

with his parents and his family.

He was really close to them.

But he never really talked about it.

[ominous music playing]

[church bells tolling]

And Dirk was also involved in the church.

He stood in front of the congregation

and read from the Bible.

There are many people who don't come out.

Back then, it was even harder.

Because it was condemned

by the Church's laws.

My mother must have caught him in the act.

And discovered that he was g*y.

You wouldn't want to imagine this woman,

on that day.

Yeah.

I recall her later

using the word, "disgust."

She found Dirk disgusting.

[ominous music playing]

[Birgit] Living with her was impossible.

So, he moved to Berlin.

[suspenseful music playing]

[heart beating]

BASED ON ORIGINAL PERPETRATOR STATEMEN

[perpetrator] I didn't want to be g*y.

I was also afraid of becoming an outsider.

So, I stopped going to places

where I could fall in love with men.

My plan was to simply

suppress my sexuality.

- [techno music playing]

- [men chatter]

[perpetrator] Of course,

that wouldn't last very long.

[dance music continues]

[dance music fades]

[cell phone vibrating]

- [ominous music playing]

- [vibrating continues]

[Katrin] Homicide called the last person

who had been in contact with Alexander M.

before his m*rder.

And, um

They got him on the phone

and arranged to question him in person

as a witness the following day.

My colleague came to me

after the interview.

When he saw him in person

for the first time,

he instantly thought that this could be

the person from the surveillance video.

He actually mentioned this to him,

and it turned out that Dirk

was aware of the footage,

and he told him, "Yes, that's me."

[ominous music playing]

[music intensifies]

[music ends]

So, then there was this huge realization

that we finally had the right guy

sitting right in front of us.

[ominous music playing]

[Monika] "You are here as a suspect,

therefore, you have the right

to make a statement,

or not make a statement."

"You may consult with a lawyer,

and ask them any questions you want

before this interview begins."

"Do you understand these instructions?"

Answer, "Yes."

He seemed just

normal, unhidden.

[ominous music playing]

[Monika] He was very calm.

He spoke very calmly,

but also very eloquently.

He also seemed pretty well-educated.

He kept making eye contact

and was staring at us intently

with these big brown eyes

and answered everything

in a very calm, collected manner.

So, I kept thinking to myself,

"Are you really the perpetrator?"

Some people have

a highly-developed manipulative tendency,

meaning they're simply

very good at influencing others.

They can pick up on exactly what

the other person wants or needs,

and what they can give in return

to gain their trust.

But behind all of this,

they're playing their own game.

"What were you trying to achieve

with the knockout drops?"

"Sexual stimulation."

"For whom?" "For me."

"And possibly create a situation

in which the other person

becomes momentarily unconsc

How should I say?

Momentarily disoriented."

[suspenseful music playing]

"Why did you take the credit card

but not the cash?"

"I wanted to use the stolen credit card

to buy a single train ticket

to Saarbrücken,

but it didn't work."

The ticket machine kept saying,

'unable to process transaction, '

or, 'operation cancelled.'"

"I was dissatisfied, because this feeling,

this emotion of doing something

with someone's property,

did nothing for me."

[suspenseful music continues]

[Katrin] We conducted seven interviews,

and I have to say that

each time he told us something different.

Every time, it was a different story.

And he would

only admit to things

that we had already proven.

"Everything I said is correct,

except that I had two bottles with me."

"I withdraw my statement

from two days ago."

"I was misunderstood then, or rather,

I didn't explain myself properly."

"I didn't know the exact dosage."

"My only motive was to get a hold of

the credit card and use it."

"I don't k*ll people for this."

[suspenseful music continues]

[Monika] At this point, I don't trust him.

He was an experienced nurse.

He knew exactly

about the toxic effects

of even the tiniest dosages.

And you have to know that

this isn't the case for someone

who hasn't received

such extensive training all those years.

I didn't believe him when he said

he didn't want to k*ll them, that's

I didn't believe that at all.

He wanted to.

[suspenseful music playing]

[camera clicks]

POLICE

[Andreas] Then, my team went in

and searched Dirk's apartment.

And what we found, he acknowledged

in statement during his interrogation.

There was a miniature bottle

of "Kleiner Feigling" schnapps

that he had left there.

I think he wanted it to be found,

so this entire thing

could be brought to an end.

[suspenseful music intensifies]

[woman] It appears that the police

have captured a serial k*ller.

The perpetrator is being held on remand

and has confessed to all cases accused.

[Birgit] What happened to Dirk

It makes me sick.

It's disgusting. Disgusting.

This is not the person I grew up with,

and I have no idea

what could have happened to him

to cause him to act like this,

what could've triggered this behavior.

[melancholic music playing]

[Katrin] After presenting the warrant

and arresting the perpetrator,

some of the details

had certainly been confirmed,

but we were still missing

pieces of a bigger picture.

We had to search deeper into

the perpetrator's personality,

his background,

what kind of life did he have.

It was vital to gather more information.

[suspenseful music playing]

"My grandmother died in September 2006

and left me money."

He answered, "It was about 80,000 euros."

"Did your sister also receive money?"

"No, just me."

When my mother died, there was

a lot of strange stuff happening. Yeah.

First of all, Dirk was present

for my mother's death. No?

My mother was lying down in her bed,

saying she wasn't feeling well. Yeah?

Then one day, Dirk finds her dead in bed.

Then a doctor was called,

but it wasn't the family doctor.

Right? Not her own one.

Uh, next, the coroner was contacted.

That's the order of what happened.

And then, my brothers were called.

I didn't even know until the next day.

She was already in the ground.

[suspenseful music playing]

In regards to my mother,

personally, I think he k*lled her.

And that my

nephew had given her

some sort of drug that made her

uh

Yeah.

Whether he put it in her food

or her drink, I don't know.

[dramatic sting]

[Monika] The grandmother was dug up.

There were unusual substances

detected in her bloodstream,

uh, such as medication,

which our suspect had access to

when working as a nurse at the hospital.

[ominous music playing]

One of the medications

was used frequently at the ward,

which was administered to prep operations.

It relieves anxiety,

makes you tired, and puts you to sleep.

And this very medication was also detected

in his grandmother's bloodstream.

[distorted music playing]

If someone told me

I was friends with a serial k*ller,

I would've said,

"That's crazy, I'd be able to tell."

Did I actually know this man,

or was he someone totally different

than I thought he was?

[suspenseful music swells]

[music ends]

The local police decided they didn't need

to continue the investigation any further,

and told us,

"Well, we have three homicides in Berlin

that he's directly involved with."

"That's enough for a conviction

and to put him away, for good."

FIRST DAY OF TRIAL

22 FEB 2013

[dramatic music playing]

[Katrin] I've worked

thousands of cases in my career,

and only a handful

have left me this impacted.

If I'm being honest with you,

since this case,

I'm still afraid of this man.

[ominous music playing]

[Miroslaw] When I entered the courtroom,

I took my seat with the co-plaintiffs.

That was the first time

I saw any of these people,

who were presumably parents,

standing in place for the other victims.

As I sat there in the courtroom

NICKY'S SISTER

I looked over at my parents,

then the other relatives

I thought, "Wow.

This is bigger than I thought.״

And there he was.

Standing in his glass box.

He stepped out.

I looked at him.

I thought

"You're lucky."

"I can't lay a hand on you."

[suspenseful music playing]

Once the press had left,

he took down the folder,

and that was the moment

when I saw him again for the first time.

I tried to remember every detail,

in order to present

just how crazy this man was to the court.

I wanted to help grant this man

the longest sentence possible.

[Doreen] I remember

at some point I made eye contact.

And all I was thinking was,

"Don't look away. Do not look away."

[exhales]

He turned away, and I thought,

[exhales] "That's right."

I stood my ground.

[ominous music playing]

These sort of people

that I've encountered in my profession,

are seen as

some kind of monster.

They're really just normal human beings,

and more often than not,

you can sympathize

with their troubled histories.

But this particular case was different.

Solved, yes, but still a mystery.

[suspenseful music playing]

LIFE SENTENCE FOR TRIPLE-m*rder*r

PARDON RULED OU

The District Court delivered its verdict

of life imprisonment for triple m*rder.

[suspenseful music continues]

[Regina] A motive was never confirmed.

That makes it even more

difficult to understand.

To think that,

he did all this just for fun.

So, why did he do it?

Why does someone go out

and give liquid ecstasy to random people?

To sit there and watch them die?

To rob them? Was it about the money?

It just doesn't make any sense.

[Dr. Nahlah] We can't say

there was only one motive.

But if we just look

at one of the most obvious reasons,

being

the thrill of the hunt.

It's a thrill to take someone's life.

[rewinding]

[Dr. Nahlah] It's about wanting to k*ll.

[dramatic sting]

"I know what I did is forbidden.

It was wrong."

"And what I did, I would condemn

anyone else for doing the same."

"But in a sick way, I liked it."

"It gave me a certain feeling."

[keys rattle]

[Dr. Nahlah] For a human being,

there is no greater knowledge

than the knowledge that someone

is going to die,

and that person, that victim,

doesn't have any idea

that they are about to die.

The k*ller has the complete upper hand.

It's the ultimate power trip.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Dr. Nahlah] When it's in your nature

to be able to k*ll someone

and to just watch someone die,

it brings some pleasure.

[ominous music playing]

[Doreen] I thought on occasion

about visiting him in prison,

to ask him why he did it.

Or just to tell him

about all the pain he caused us,

what he did to the parents, how many

people suffered because of him.

Not just the victims, but all the people

who were a part of their lives.

[suspenseful music playing]

9 MONTHS AFTER THE VERDIC

DIRK COMMITS SUICIDE

[Doreen] When I heard

he k*lled himself, I thought,

"He finally did something good,

and he can't cause any more harm,

to anyone."

But, my next thought was,

"Hmm."

"We won't find the truth,

the whole story."

"Never."

This man

[sighs] Yeah

He wasn't human.

He didn't even apologize to my

to anyone.

Nothing.

[soft music playing]

[Anka] Naturally, you live with the pain.

It's not easy to get used to.

To move on without them.

It's believed that

the energy of the deceased

can transfer itself into one's family.

Dad he's softer now.

I feel Nicky's love inside him.

Mom suddenly was good at technology.

HEAVEN HAS BEEN ENRICHED BY A STAR

And for me, he made me think for myself.

I didn't have that before.

[Anka kisses]

[Anka] He made me strong.

[dramatic music playing]

[dramatic music continues]

[music ends]