Arwed Imiela

Arwed Erich Imiela (October 7, 1929 – June 3, 1982), known as The Bluebeard of Fehmarn , was a German serial killer who killed four women for monetary purposes in Fehmarn from 1968 to 1969. While he insisted on his innocence, Imiela would later be convicted of all the killings and sentenced to life imprisonment, dying in prison in 1982.

Early life Arwed Erich Imiela was born on October 7, 1929, in Schlawe. In 1936, his parents divorced, forcing the young boy to commute between school in Köslin and his administration apprenticeship in Berlin. At the time of the currency reform in Germany, Imiela found himself without any money, and asked to be housed in by a friend living in Marsberg. He later married his friend's 15-year-old pregnant sister, and made a living through unskilled labour. After a year and a half, his marriage ended in divorce, but not long after, Imiela, still presenting himself as Holm-Menhardt, met and married Ilse Müssener. Eventually, Imiela was allowed to live in her rented villa in Marienuchter, near Fehmarn, where Schröder would later move in with her 75-year-old mother, Anna-Maria Kieferle. The women vanished mysteriously circa December 1968, and have never been seen since.

In 1969, Imiela met 24-year-old Ulrike Roland at a party in Reinbek. Charmed by his polite and respectful manner, the pair soon married and she moved to live with him in his apartment. Imiela was sent to serve his sentence at a prison in Hamburg's Fuhlsbüttel Prison, where he died on June 3, 1982, from heart failure. His body was later anonymously interred at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery.