Joachim Georg Kroll German serial killer and cannibal Date of Birth: 17.04.1933 Country: Germany

Biography of Joachim Georg Joachim Kroll

Joachim Georg Joachim Kroll, also known as the "Ruhr Cannibal," the "Ruhr Hunter," and the "Duisburg Man-Eater," was a German serial killer and cannibal. He was born in Hindenburg, Upper Silesia, in a miner's family and was the youngest of eight children. Kroll was a weak and sickly child, suffering from enuresis in his early years. He was not academically strong, as he only completed three grades in school, and his IQ was determined to be only 76.

After the end of World War II, Kroll's family moved to North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1955, Joachim began his killing spree. Around 1960, Kroll relocated to Duisburg, where the murders briefly ceased. He initially found work in a local public toilet and later secured a position at one of the steel plants of Thyssen Industries. Shortly after, Kroll resumed his killings.

Kroll was meticulous in his murders, particularly in selecting the crime scenes. He avoided returning to previously used locations for at least a year to avoid detection, considering that several other killers were active in the area during that time. He would attack his victims suddenly, often preferring strangulation as his method. However, Kroll did not stop at murder; he would undress, violate, dismember, and consume the corpses.

After each killing, Joachim calmly returned home, where he engaged in sexual activities with a special inflatable doll. On July 3, 1976, Kroll was arrested for the abduction and murder of four-year-old Marion Kettner. One of his neighbors had called the police after a sewage pipe in their building got clogged, and when the neighbor asked Kroll if he knew the cause, his response was chillingly brief: "Guts." The police decided to investigate the macabre joke, leading to the discovery of Kettner's remains. Some parts were found in the refrigerator, some stuck in the drain, and a hand was still boiling in a pot of water.

Joachim immediately confessed to Kettner's murder, as well as to 14 other episodes. He was sentenced to nine life imprisonments for his heinous crimes. In 1991, Kroll passed away in prison due to heart failure.