Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
One of the biggest manhunts of the post-war period, which lasted over two years and was the most expensive search in the history of the Federal Republic, was for Bruno Fabeyer. This 1.75-meter-tall, slim man with medium-blond hair was born on June 4, 1926, in Osnabrück. At the age of three, a traumatic experience—a fall into boiling water—led to a loss of speech that lasted six months. Although he regained his speech, he stuttered from then on. His parents divorced when he was six years old. Two years later, his father, who had multiple convictions, committed suicide in his prison cell. His overwhelmed mother then asked the youth welfare office to place him and his older brother Fritz in foster care. In 1936, he and his brother were able to return home to their mother. However, due to frequent truancy, theft, and a trip from Osnabrück to Hamburg without adult supervision when Bruno was 12 years old, the youth welfare office withdrew custody from their mother in 1939. Both brothers were placed in different reform schools, where they were physically abused. When Bruno was 15, he began an apprenticeship as a butcher. His brother Fritz was drafted into the Wehrmacht at the age of 18 in October 1942. After a week, he fled, but was soon arrested and executed on April 14, 1943, in Wolfenbüttel prison for desertion. A stumbling stone in front of the family home at Kornstraße 50 in Osnabrück commemorates him to this day. Bruno suffered the same fate as his brother; he was also drafted into the Wehrmacht. Like his brother, he fled, but was caught and sentenced to four years in prison. He was then imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp, from which he was liberated by the US Army in 1945. After his liberation, he returned to Osnabrück, where he struggled to make a living doing various unskilled jobs. Chronic financial difficulties led him astray, with the result that prison became his second home. In 1948, he served a four-month prison sentence for theft. Shortly after his release, he was sentenced to ten months in prison for theft again in 1949. After serving his sentence, he committed a violent robbery in 1957, which earned him six years in prison followed by preventive detention. On August 1, 1965, Bruno Fabeyer was released from prison in Celle at the age of 39 for good behavior. Instead of meeting with his probation officer, he went into hiding in the forests of Lower Saxony, which earned him the nickname “Waldmensch” (forest man). Bruno Fabeyer continued his criminal career. This time, however, his goal was to never be caught and sent to prison. In the greater Osnabrück area, he began an incredible series of burglaries, committing over 200 break-ins. He always followed the same pattern. He broke into houses, raided the pantry and took food, preferably chocolate and candy, searched the kitchen cabinets for cash and stole clothing. He then fled on a women’s bicycle into the forests and moors of the Osnabrück region. Bruno Fabeyer was considered a habitual criminal. However, this changed abruptly when he broke into a house in the Gretesch district of Osnabrück at around 2:45 a.m. on December 29, 1965. While searching the house, he ended up in the bedroom of 20-year-old Irmentraud Broxtermann, whom he assaulted. When she screamed loudly for help, her father, postal worker Alois Broxtermann, was awakened and rushed to her aid. Bruno Fabeyer, who was completely taken by surprise, shot the man in the stomach and fled on his bicycle. From that point on, Bruno Fabeyer was considered a dangerous violent criminal who was sought after in a large-scale media manhunt. A special investigation unit, “Soko Fabeyer,” was even set up for him, and a reward of 4,000 marks was offered. Despite the large-scale manhunt, Bruno Fabeyer continued his series of burglaries. Bruno Fabeyer did not even shy away from eating in restaurants, even though his mug shots were posted everywhere. On February 24, 1966, at around 6 p.m., he visited the Heemann restaurant in the village of Hunteburg-Meyerhöfen, where he enjoyed a pork chop. The landlady recognized him and informed her acquaintance, who called the police. When police sergeant Heinrich Brüggemann arrived, Bruno Fabeyer had just left. The police officer gave chase in a car and actually managed to catch up with Fabeyer at the edge of the village. He jumped out of his car and ran after Fabeyer, who then fired three shots at Brüggemann and disappeared into the forest. Heinrich Brüggemann bled to death while being transported to the hospital. Since then, the serial thief had finally become a murderous beast in the press and public eye. The largest manhunt of the post-war period was launched to finally apprehend Bruno Fabeyer. Bruno Fabeyer was hunted by the police and the media. The police discovered a total of five hiding places in the woods. Bruno Fabeyer had set up a camp there with food and stolen goods. The police even found the murder weapon with which Broxtermann had been shot. But there was no trace of Bruno Fabeyer. He always seemed to be one step ahead of the police. On February 24, 1967, the inconceivable happened: Bruno Fabeyer was caught. A cashier in a department store in Kassel had recognized Bruno Fabeyer and called the police. Bruno Fabeyer was arrested by two police officers in the department store’s restroom while washing his hands. Bruno Fabeyer was sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter in a particularly serious case. In 1983, he made headlines again when Bruno Fabeyer, now 56 years old, escaped once more while on prison leave in Celle. But this time, he was re-arrested after only two days near Bramsch. He wanted to visit the grave of his deceased mother. But he no longer knew his way around the area, which he used to know like the back of his hand. In 1992, Bruno Fabeyer was released from prison. He died of heart failure at the age of 72 in a nursing home in Bad Orb.
