A Mother's Revenge; The Story of Marianne Bachmeier
A mother’s love is like no other - I truly believe this. This is the story of Marianne Bachmeier, a mother who could no longer hold in all of her rage. Her 7-year-old daughter would be murdered by an absolute monster named Klaus Grabowski. When faced with him at trial, Marianne would open fire on her daughter’s killer, striking him with six bullets. Now Marianne would be the one on trial, for murdering her child’s murderer. But how would she fare in the court of public opinion?
Who Was Marianne Bachmeier?
Before we she was a mother, Marianne was a little girl who grew up in Sarstedt, Germany. Her parents had fled to this area from East Prussia after World War 2. Her father had been a member of the Waffen-SS, which is the combat branch of the Nazi Party's SS organization. He was an angry violent man who drank all of the time, leading to Marianne’s parent’s divorce when she was just little. Her mother would re-marry and she would live with her mother and stepfather for the majority of her life.
It was not an easy living situation. Marianne would describe her home life as a dictatorship. She said her stepfather was incredibly strict and perceived her to be a difficult teenager. It was a very conservative, religious household with a lot of rules that she had difficulty following. Eventually, her mother would kick her out of the home and she would have to make it in the world on her own.
When Marianne was just 16 years old, she became pregnant with her first child and she decided to give the baby up for adoption. When she was 18 years old, she became pregnant with her second child, who she also decided to give up for adoption. The second pregnancy was supposed to be different - it was a pregnancy with her boyfriend at the time and she had wanted to keep the child, however, shortly before giving birth, she was assaulted by an unknown man. In the end, she gave her second daughter as well.
Marianne would grow up a bit and begin a serious relationship with a bar manager named Christian Berthold. When she was 22 years old, she would once again become pregnant. Christian promised to support her and the baby and stick by her side. However, when Marianne gave birth to a daughter named Anna in 1972, Christian suddenly decided to back out of his responsibilities.
Marianne decided this time, she would raise her baby alone, though she was done with having more children so she also decided to get sterilized. Her daughter, Anna, was perfect - everything that she could ever want or need.
Even though Marianne had made the decision to raise her child without her now ex-boyfriend’s support, it was still a huge struggle. The mother and daughter had financial difficulties, with Marianne doing her very best to manage shifts working at a local pub. It wasn’t a great situation, especially as Anna grew older and needed more consistency in her life when she started school.
Marianne couldn’t afford childcare, so she was known to take little Anna into the bar with her while she worked her shift. Then, when they returned home, Marianne would sleep all day while Anna was expected to care for herself. Those who were close to Marianne would say that she was fully aware of how terrible of a situation this was for a child, but she was trying to balance so many things at once. It was really a sad situation all around because as a result, Anna didn’t have much of a childhood.
And then - she was taken.
Seven-year-old Anna Backmeier was described as a happy and open-minded child. On May 5, 1980, she would be taken from this world by a 35-year-old neighbor named Klaus Grabowski.
On this day, Marianna was having a disagreement with little Anna. They had a huge argument and even at this early age, Anna decided she would skip school and go to visit a friend. It’s unclear exactly what events transpired while she was on her way to this friend’s home, however, we know that she would come into contact with Klaus Grabowski, who worked as a butcher. It’s believed that he lured her to his home with the promise of letting her play with his cats. Once she was in his house for a few hours, he strangled her with pantyhose. Then, he put her in a cardboard box, which he discarded on the bank of a canal.
Grabowski was no stranger to hurting children, he had a criminal past and a pretty extensive history of abuse. He had two prior charges of sexually abusing girls and he was a registered sex offender. In Germany, someone who is a convicted sex offender used to be able to opt-in to be castrated as part of their treatment - the German government strictly refers to it as a treatment rather than a punishment. Grabowski opted to be castrated and he underwent hormone therapy.
It would have been fairly simple for the police to put the pieces together - Grabowski was Anna’s next-door neighbour and he was a sex offender. He likely would have been one of the very first people the police would have wanted to speak to. However, it didn’t get that far. Grabowski’s fiancee called the police because he had confessed his crime to her. Anna’s body was quickly recovered from the canal bank and Grabowski was swiftly arrested.
Back at the police station, Grabowski admitted to killing 7-year-old Anna, but he denied molesting her. And he had a wild story. This monster claimed that Anna was the one who attempted to seduce him, and when he did not go along with what she wanted, she blackmailed him. According to him, she said that if he did not give her money, she would falsely tell her mother that he had abused her. So he panicked, and he killed her.
Marianne was devastated by her daughter’s murder - and even more distraught over this ridiculous claim that her killer was making. To suggest that an innocent little girl would ever come up with such a thing is indignant to her.
The prosecution alleged that they believe the crime was sexually motivated and they wanted to charge Klaus Grabowski to the fullest extent with both sexually assaulting her and then murdering her. Grabowski denied the former, and it would have to go to trial.
The trial began in March of 1981 at the District Court of Lubeck. Klaus Grabowski’s defence was that he killed Anna during a time he was experiencing a hormonal imbalance. He blamed the castration for the hormonal imbalance he said caused him to kill Anna that day.
Anna’s mother, Marianne, had to sit quietly in the courtroom, day after day, and listen to these excuses as to why her child was no longer alive. On the third day of the trial, she could sit quietly no longer.
On March 4th, Marianne Bachmeier snuck a .22 caliber Beretta pistol into the courtroom with her. She fired eight shots into the crowd, six of those which hit Klaus Grabowski in the back, killing him immediately. One of the witnesses in the room heard her say, “I wanted to kill him.” Then, she dropped the gun and was taken into custody without incident.
Marianne was charged with murder. If convicted, she could have been sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison. This was really one of the first big cases of vigilante justice that the German courts had seen, the media took this story and ran with it. Most people saw Marianne as a grieving mother who could no longer handle hearing about the horrible details surrounding her child’s murder. Her murder trial played out in the courts for about 4 months, with her defence team saying that she could not be held responsible for her actions because she was overtaken with severe emotional distress.
Marianne would take the stand in her own defence and testify that prior to that day, she had a dream where she had shot Grabowski. And then when she walked into the courtroom that morning, she saw visions of her daughter standing there. She had to take action.
The prosecution alleged that she fully knew what she was doing that day. She had purchased the handgun about a week prior to the shooting and she had said something highly suspicious, which was overheard by the judge. After shooting him, she was overheard saying "I wanted to shoot him in the face, but I only got him in the back. I hope he's dead,"
There were also two policemen present on the day of the courtroom shooting who testified they heard Marianne refer to Grabowski as a pig. After she shot him she said, “Unfortunately I only got the pig from behind.”
The statements would be used to demonstrate that Marianne knew what she was doing that day. She was not in emotional distress, she was a mother on a mission to enact revenge for her daughter’s death, according to the prosecution.
One of the most heartbreaking accounts, in my opinion, came from a doctor who examined Marianne shortly after she shot Grabowski and asked her for a handwriting sample. According to the doctor, Marianna wrote on the paper, “I did it for you, Anna” along with seven hearts.
With the overwhelming support of the country behind her, the murder charges would be dropped, however, instead, she would be charged with manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm. While she was imprisoned and awaiting her trial, she was sent many letters and gifts from people who supported her. All of the media was covering her story and Marianna was even able to sell her life story for around $60,000 USD, though she would use it to pay for her legal fees.
Public opinion began to waver when a news story was published about Marianne’s history. While initially she was portrayed as a heroic mother who shot her child’s killer, feelings about who Marianna was began to change when people learned about her past two pregnancies where she gave the children up, as well as her father’s connection to the Waffen-SS.
In the end, she was sentenced to six years in prison and this was thought to be mostly a fair compromise. After sentencing, a poll was carried out by the Allensbach Institute, which indicated that 28 percent of Germans thought her sentence was appropriate, while 27 percent believed it was too heavy and 25 percent believed it was too light of a sentence.
Marianne would actually only serve three years for shooting her daughter’s killer - she was released early from prison because she was deemed at risk for suicide. She would move on with her life, marrying a teacher and moving to Ghana where her husband taught at a local school. She would later divorce her husband and move to Italy where she worked as a euthanasia assistant in a hospice.
At the early age of 46, Marianne Bachmeier would die from pancreatic cancer. She was buried right next to her daughter, Anna.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56HBXIte_pc
https://www.unilad.com/news/marianne-bachmeier-courtroom-shooting-891905-20221231
Comments
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Stories with CAT
Why can't we house homeless people in abandon places?
Why aren’t we housing the homeless in abandoned motels? It’s not rocket science—seal off broken windows, install security cameras, and rent them at 50/ month. But here’s the catch: The system profits from keeping people destitute. Politicians don’t want you to know that Housing First programs do work—they cut emergency room visits by 6010k/year for mental health meds.
Arizona Luminaria
At least 50 ASU students have now had visas revoked, lawyer says
The number of international students at Arizona State University who have had their visas revoked is now at least 50, according to an attorney representing the students. Last week, Arizona Luminaria reported on eight students at ASU who had their visas revoked. That number has increased quickly, with at least three students facing some time in immigration detention, according to Senior Attorney Ami Hutchinson, with Green Evans-Schroeder, the Tucson-based law firm representing the students. She said students she’s spoken to are confused.
The HD Post
Reward for up to $20,000 for information about decapitated sea lion at Doran Beach
CALIFORNIA – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on March 11 it is offering a $20,000 reward for tips leading to a penalty or conviction in the case of a decapitated California sea lion.
Dianna Carney
Stories with CAT
Florida market is crashing slowly, my true sad story
Florida's real estate market is taking a slow dive here in South Fort Myers. My wife and I bought our 3-bed townhome near Gulf Coast University for 400k in 2020. Now identical homes in our complex are listing for 320-$360k - some have been on the market over six months with zero offers.
TRENDING SEARCH
- Social Security Moves to X
- Mom Bathes After DUI Crash, Toddler Dies
- 97-Year-Old Grandmother Dies in Cold
- Why McIlroy's Driver Has Dog Headcover?
- Cardi B's Reaction to Kulture's Art
- Florida School VP Arrested for Abuse
- US Priest Kidnapped During Service
- Trump's Presidency in Peril: Expert
- Meghan's Clash with Cancer-Stricken Charles
- Nico Iamaleava's Bold Tennessee Move
Comments /