Marianne Bachmeier

Marianne Bachmeier (3 June 1950 – 17 September 1996) was a West German mother who shot and killed Klaus Grabowski (1946 – 6 March 1981), a man on trial for the rape and murder of her daughter Anna (14 November 1972 – 5 May 1980), in the District Court of Lübeck in 1981. The case sparked extensive media coverage and public debate. Bachmeier was convicted of manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm. She was sentenced to six years and released on probation after serving three. Bachmeier moved abroad but returned to Germany after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died at the age of 46 and was buried next to her seven-year-old daughter, Anna, in Burgtor Cemetery, Lübeck.

Early life and motherhood Marianne Bachmeier was born on 3 June 1950. She grew up in Sarstedt, a small town near Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, West Germany, where her parents had fled from East Prussia after the Second World War. was the stereotypical authoritarian figure, a heavy drinker who spent much of his time at a bar close to the family home. Their household was not pleasant, and drinking made her father more aggressive. Her parents divorced, and her mother later remarried. Bachmeier was perceived as a troubled adolescent by—what she described as—a dictatorial stepfather, and her mother eventually kicked her out of the house.

Bachmeier began dating the manager of Tipasa, a pub where she worked, in 1972. She became pregnant for the third time at the age of 22. On 14 November 1972, Bachmeier's third child, Anna, was born, and she raised her as a single parent. As a result, Bachmeier took Anna to work at the pub, and she was said to never feel a need to rush home after her regular hours behind the bar.

In two 1984 documentary films, No Time for Tears: The Bachmeier Case and Anna's Mother, Bachmeier was portrayed as a single mother who worked well into the night and then slept into the day, leaving her seven-year-old daughter on her own during the day. Bachmeier was aware of her problematic lifestyle and wanted to put Anna up for adoption. On this day she was abducted by Klaus Grabowski, a 35-year-old butcher, whose home she had visited before to play with his cats.

Grabowski was a convicted sex offender. He had been sentenced for the sexual abuse of two girls. In 1976, he had submitted to chemical castration. Later, it was revealed that he underwent hormone treatment to try to reverse the chemical castration. Once arrested, Grabowski stated that Anna had sought to extort money from him by threatening to tell her mother about the abuse. He said his fear of going back to prison prompted him to kill her.

Courtroom shooting At around 10 a.m. on 6 March 1981, the third day of the trial, into the courtroom of Lübeck District Court, room 157, and fatally shot Grabowski. She aimed the gun at his back and fired seven times; six shots hit Grabowski, (Eight shots, with seven hitting Grabowski, was also mentioned.) Bachmeier then lowered her gun and was apprehended without resistance. She also said in that moment: "I did it for you, Anna".

While Bachmeier was held in custody, many sent messages of support, gifts, and flowers to indicate their understanding of her conduct. In addition, after Stern published her life story, and details about how she allowed her first two children to be adopted, public opinion shifted as she no longer appeared to fit the "innocent mother" image.

The West German judiciary was criticized for enabling a man who had sexually abused two girls to use hormones to regain his libido. The same year, her autobiography was published by Schneekluth-Verlag. On 21 September 1995, she appeared on the television talk show Fliege on Das Erste, where she admitted to shooting Grabowski after careful consideration to enforce the law on him, and to prevent him from further spreading lies about Anna. Bachmeier never expressed remorse for killing Grabowski.

On 17 September 1996, Bachmeier died at the age of 46 from pancreatic cancer in a hospital in Lübeck. A short version of the play premiered in 1983. The completed play, This Is for You, Anna, premiered in 1984.

Films 1984: Anna's Mother , film by Burkhard Driest (with Gudrun Landgrebe) 1984: No Time for Tears: The Bachmeier Case , film by Hark Bohm (with Marie Colbin)

Documentaries 1993: Vigilante Justice of a Mother: The case of Marianne Bachmeier an interview with Bachmeier by Mirror TV 2006: Marianne Bachmeier's Revenge, documentary of the show Die großen Kriminalfälle (season 5, episode 28) on the ARD channel 2017: When Women Kill: Marianne Bachmeier , documentary of the show Spectacular Criminal Cases on ZDF channel

Books