Marc Hoffmann

Marc Hoffmann (born 1 August 1973) is a German sex offender and murderer. In 2005 Hoffmann was sentenced to life imprisonment for the sexual abuse and murder of two children that took place in 2004. He may be responsible for other unresolved sexual offences and murders.

Early life

Marc Hoffmann was born in Plettenberg in the Sauerland. His father was a former sailor and his mother worked as a nurse. He grew up as an only child until his family relocated to the small village of Nuttmecke near Attendorn in 1980, where the family lived in a shared home with the boy's grandparents.

Jobs and marriage

In 1995, Hoffmann moved from Nuttmecke to Bremerhaven together with his parents, grandparents and daughter. Shortly after, however, his father died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. After his father's death, Hoffmann began training to become a plumber, but dropped out after failing the final exam twice. He then began working for the German Red Cross as a paramedic at major events for five years, and met his future wife, whom he soon married.

Arrest, trial and sentencing Hoffmann was arrested on the evening of 8 December 2004 in connection with the murders of Levke S. and Felix W.. On the same day, he confessed to the murder of Levke. On 7 January 2005, he also confessed to Felix's murder to his lawyers. On 9 May 2005, a lawsuit against Hoffmann was opened in the Stade district court.

The family of Levke appeared in the trial as co-plaintiffs. Hoffmann remained silent during the whole process, and all statements on his part were read by his lawyers.

Criticism of the police

After Hoffmann's capture, investigating authorities in the murder cases of Levke and Felix were accused of ignoring evidence. Seven weeks before Felix's murder, evidence of Hoffmann's alleged offenses in the Levke case became available. However, corresponding testimonies were viewed as insufficient, and the police continued to reject such claims.

In May 2010, the former special commissioner in the Levke case, Günter König-Kruse, admitted to the Nordsee-Zeitung that on June 13, 16, and 29 Hoffmann had returned to the parking lot where he had thrown away Levke's satchel and jacket. He was captured on CCTV, around four months before Felix's disappearance. However, the recordings did not reach a police file until November 29, around three weeks after Felix's death. In addition, a woman who was a longtime acquaintance of Hoffmann's family had suspected Hoffmann of committing the murders. The woman was aware of Hoffmann's previous rape charge, and reported her suspicions to the police in early September 2004, over a month before Felix's murder took place. However, she did not hear anything from the police until 24 November.

Pathology Contemporary acquaintances considered Hoffmann a "mother's boy", while Hoffmann's mother was described as someone who should have taken better care of their son. Hoffmann was described as an intelligent "grobian" (boorish individual) with little empathy, as well as "friendly and helpful" but also dominated by his mother.

Hoffmann allegedly confessed to six more sexually motivated murders to his cellmate. According to media reports, this supposedly refers to two children killed in East Germany, two hitchhikers, and two older women. Hoffmann later claimed to have lied.

Hoffmann was a suspect in the murder of 8-year-old Johanna Bohnacker from Hesse, whose body was found on 1 April 2000 after she had gone missing seven months earlier. On 26 October 2017, the police announced that paedophile Rick J. had been arrested for the girl's murder, eliminating Hoffmann as a suspect.

During his remand, Hoffmann allegedly hinted to officials about the murder of an old woman in his home village. Because an 86-year-old woman had disappeared there in 1994, Hoffmann is considered a suspect in her case.

Hoffmann was also increasingly associated with the so-called Schullandheim murders, which remained unexplained for a long time. These, however, were eventually attributed to sex offender Martin Ney.

While imprisoned in the Oldenburg prison, Hoffmann allegedly confessed to an informant that he had raped two women.