Vinko Pintarić

Vinko Pintarić (3 April 1941 – 25 May 1991) was a Croatian serial killer and outlaw who murdered five people over the course of 17 years and escaped from prisons and police stakeouts on multiple occasions. His violent, vindictive nature and proficiency with firearms struck fear into inhabitants of Hrvatsko Zagorje, a region of northern Croatia where he spent years at large, hiding from law enforcement and engaging in various crimes, until his 1991 death in a shootout with the police.

Protracted media coverage of his exploits made Pintarić a household name in Croatia and Yugoslavia and even brought him a degree of sympathy from the general public, who saw him as a Robin Hood-like figure, and dubbed him "Čaruga of Zagorje", after an infamous post-World War I outlaw Jovo Stanisavljević Čaruga.

Pintarić's mother remarried after a couple of years, and his alcoholic stepfather physically abused him. All these traumatic events instilled a permanent sense of betrayal in Pintarić and fueled his anger and resentment; he would often talk about "avenging his father". In his adolescence, he developed an interest in firearms, using them for poaching. On several occasions, Pintarić had his illegally-owned weapons confiscated by the police.

Pintarić was suspicious towards his wife, believing that she was helping the police to capture or even kill him. On 24 October 1973, Pintarić shot her dead through the window of his brother's house and fled into the night. Again, Pintarić was drunk when he committed the crime, and had no recollection of the event on the following day. Only after inquiring about what had happened in Zabok, he realized that he had murdered his wife.

Imprisonment and escape Pintarić served his sentence in Stara Gradiška prison. Due to his good behaviour, he was assigned duties which were not accessible to other prisoners, such as preparing coffee and growing flowers. Still, after eight years in prison, some problems emerged, as Pintarić was issuing threats to his former neighbours. At the same time, he was petitioning for a leave. The authorities were aware of his threats and denied all his petitions, assessing that he might commit more crimes upon release.

The police were closing in on Pintarić, and twice came very near to apprehending him. However, on both of these occasions, Pintarić opened fire, wounded a policeman, and managed to escape.

Death By 1991, the Zabok police had set up a team dedicated to locating and capturing Pintarić. Over time, they learned more about his habits. He was getting increasingly careless, partly due to alcohol abuse. In May 1991, they received information that Pintarić was visiting his lover Ankica Buhiniček and decided to set up a stakeout on her house near Veliko Trgovišće. On the third night, the policemen saw a man coming from the woods and approaching the house. After they radioed for backup, they were joined by a special forces team from Kumrovec, and the compound was quickly surrounded.

When Pintarić exited the house in the morning, he was called to surrender, but he opened fire instead. There was a brief exchange in which Pintarić was wounded and he ran back into the house. He still refused to surrender and asked for his attorney. When the attorney came, Pintarić asked him to come to the house, which the police did not allow. By noon of the same day, it was apparent that voluntary surrender was very unlikely, and the police fired tear gas into the compound. Pintarić then shot Buhiniček in the stomach, accusing her of "ratting" on him, and fired on the police. One of the policemen then entered the house and killed Pintarić with a single gunshot to the head. Buhiniček survived the shooting.

Pintarić is buried in the Lepoglava cemetery, in an unmarked grave.