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Who shot Kreszentia Moser? Searching for traces of historical bloody deeds in Giggenhausen

2023-03-30T17:25:42.214Z


140 years ago, a spectacular case of (suicidal) murder occurred in Giggenhausen, which is still unsolved to this day. Local historian Ernst Keller was looking for clues.


140 years ago, a spectacular case of (suicidal) murder occurred in Giggenhausen, which is still unsolved to this day.

Local historian Ernst Keller was looking for clues.

Giggenhausen

– A tombstone, a fake suicide and a suspect fleeing to America: What at first glance may look like an Agatha Christie criminal case was bloody reality more than 140 years ago – in Giggenhausen.

The spectacular case is ultimately unsolved to this day.

If you want to go in search of clues to a mysterious historical criminal case in Neufahrn, the best place to start is in the Moosmühle corridor.

An old tombstone can still be found there.

A stone that comes from an abandoned family grave in the Giggenhausen cemetery.

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The search for clues begins with this tombstone.

© kel

A tombstone and its mysterious history

The reason for keeping it may be due to the partially unexplained history behind this inscription, which should not be forgotten for later generations.

But what mysterious story does this tombstone actually tell?

It is the story of Kreszentia Moser;

a woman who lost her life at the age of 21.

A look at the register of deaths in the parish of Massenhausen reveals more about her early death.

There the pastor at the time, Boldinger, noted: “Kreszentia Moser was found shot dead after 1 p.m. on 17 Jenner 1886 in the wheat district of the barn of the Tafernwirt building where she was on duty.” There was an important question in the room: was it murder or was it a murder? Suicide?

Some of the circumstances and interviews after the body was found pointed to a suicide, and the court had not yet officially determined the cause of death.

Nevertheless, the pastor decided to have a burial according to church custom, which basically ruled out suicide on the part of the clergyman.

Great stir because of many mysterious circumstances

The death of the young saddler's daughter caused a stir due to the many mysterious circumstances.

Some journalists even traveled to Giggenhausen from more distant parts of the kingdom.

According to their reports, the course of events could be roughly reconstructed as follows: On Sunday, January 17, 1886, a certain Blasius Adldinger met with the men from the village as usual after the rosary at one o'clock in the afternoon for the bowling.

The detached roofed wooden cone house was located across the street on Kirchgasse, not far from the Grafwirt.

Beer was bowled out, the bowlers had brought the filled beer mugs from the pub across the street.

"The slicing had barely begun," according to the retelling, when suddenly a shot was fired.

A few courageous men dropped everything and ran in the direction of the large barn, which stands across the inn and horse stables on the courtyard boundary, and where the shot must have been fired.

And indeed, after a short search, they discovered an obviously shot person on the ground "in the grain room next to the threshing wagon": It was Kreszentia Moser, the maid at the Grafwirt.

The gendarmerie was immediately notified.

A weapon was not found at first

Sergeant Nuchtern and Gendarme Vitztum inspected the scene of the crime and the corpse and stated that "according to all indications, a revolver bullet had penetrated the heart of the unfortunate victim" and that she was "probably in blessed circumstances".

As a witness said, at lunch at 12:00 p.m., she "didn't show the slightest conspicuous behavior."

The curious thing: A weapon was not (initially) found at the crime scene.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

However, the case became explosive when the next day Gendarme Vitztum went back to the granary and, to his great astonishment, found the alleged murder weapon, a revolver, at the spot where the body had been lying the day before.

In the meantime, the gendarmes had also heard that the maid who was shot was probably in an intimate relationship with Mathias Graf, one of the innkeeper's sons.

Although the host family did everything to refute the suspicion of murder against Mathias and even "solicited witnesses on behalf of their son", he was arrested on the same day and taken to the Freisinger Fronfeste (prison).

However, his pre-trial detention ended quickly – on February 20, 1886, around a month after his arrest.

The newspapers then reported all over the country that the district court of Munich II “suspended prosecution”, i.e. dropped the proceedings against Mathias Graf, apparently due to a lack of evidence.

Mother and sister were shocked

This decision triggered a wave of indignation.

Above all, the mother of the murdered woman, the 52-year-old saddler Katharina Moser and her unmarried sister Anna Moser, a 23-year-old vicar's housekeeper, kept telling everyone around the town that Mathias Graf was not only the father of the child, but also the murderer.

In order to finally get some peace, the innkeeper's son filed a lawsuit against the two women for "slanderous insult".

The gendarme's statement brought about a turning point

On May 28, 1886, mother and daughter Moser were therefore fined 20 marks each by the lay judges in Freising, after which they appealed.

On August 6, 1886, the district court of Munich II summoned the “experienced and straightforward gendarme” Vitztum to the appeal hearing.

And he started right away, as the "Newest News" reported: "Based on my research, I firmly deny that Kreszentia Moser committed suicide." innkeepers about “false witnesses”.

The appearance of the gendarme convinced the judge.

On August 8, 1886, Mathias Graf was arrested again because of "strong suspicion of having committed a crime against life against Kreszentia Moser".

There are no written sources about the further course of history.

It is known, however, that there was no more main hearing because the accused was no longer available - he had simply emigrated to America.

How this could happen despite imprisonment will forever remain a mystery.


Ernest Keller

You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-03-30

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