In March 1981, Marianne Bachmeier opened fire in a crowded courtroom and killed Klaus Grabowski — the man on trial for murdering her 7yearold daughter.
On March 6, 1981, Marianne Bachmeier opened fire in a crowded courthouse in what was then known as West Germany. Her target was a 35yearold sex offender on trial for her daughter’s murder, and he died after taking six of her bullets.
Immediately, Bachmeier became an infamous figure. Her subsequent trial, which was followed closely by the German public, begged the question: was her effort to avenge her slain child justified?
Forty years later, the case is still remembered. German news outlet NDR described it as “the most spectacular case of vigilante justice in German postwar history.”