Crime Chronicles: The Werewolf of Bedburg

The Crime Chronicles series is becoming one of my favorite series' to write - as strange as that may sound. Now, after covering the case of Madeleine Smith in the last instalment, I was at a loss what story to do next. With that in mind, I started thinking and found a story that I'd heard years ago on the History Channel.

That story was the tale of Peter Stubbe, the Werewolf of Bedburg. I hadn't heard the story for a good while so I looked into it and oh boy, do we have a good one...that sounds weird. It's a good story and I wanted to share it with you guys! Let's get to it.

Of Witches and Werewolves

Throughout history, we've seen a great many cases of people accused of witchcraft. Indeed, the fear of witchcraft and the devil was so widespread in places like Germany and elsewhere that there were literal pamphlets on the subject. These pamphlets were typically only a few pages in length, but they offered information and advice on the identification of witches, werewolves, and other such things as well as hunting tactics.

One of these pamphlets was written in 1590 and largely forgotten about until a copy was rediscovered in 1920 in London. It went into grisly detail about Stubbe or Stumpf (as he was also called), covering everything from his life and trial to his execution.

The Life and Times of Peter Stubbe

Peter Stubbe was born sometime in the 1500s (around 1530) in the village of Epprath near Bedburg, Germany. Sadly, the church registers that would've documented his actual date of birth were destroyed during the Thirty Years War. This means that his exact date of birth is unknown.

So, there isn't much that's known about his life. We do know that he was a wealthy farmer who had two children, a 15 year old daughter named Sybil, and a son whose age isn't known.

He seems to have been largely well-liked, and respected among the locals...for a while, at least.

Rumors

So, we have a well-respected, wealthy farmer raising his two kids all by his lonesome. Sounds like a great guy, but apparently not that great.

See, livestock began disappearing and the bodies were always gruesomely mangled. Worse yet, women and children also began disappearing and turning up dead. These problems led the villagers to believe that a werewolf had taken up residence.

The resulting rumors pointed the finger squarely at Peter Stubbe. For starters, there were rumors of an incestuous relationship with his daughter (Ewww!) and another relative. He had lost his left hand in an accident, years earlier. That was important because hunters who claimed to have seen the werewolf said that it was missing its left forepaw; the injuries were a match.

The Most Famous Werewolf Trial in History

Peter Stubbe was arrested in 1589 on charges related to witchcraft and lycanthropy. He was thrown on the rack and tortured. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the rack was an elevated frame with a roller on each end and a ratchet mechanism. Prisoners were strapped to the rack and quite literally stretched until their joints were dislocated...ouch.

A confession was pulled out of him, as you'd imagine. Stumpf claimed to have been practicing black magic from the age of 12, that he had initially turned to devil worship after a visit from a succubus sent by the devil, and most damningly, that the devil had visited in person and gifted him a magic belt.

This magic belt would allow Stumpf to take the form of a wolf wherein he would cause mischief. He confessed to the murder and cannibalisation of 14 children, two pregnant women, and their unborn infants - bringing his total count to 18. Of course, the actual number could be much, much higher considering that the werewolf had been tormenting the countryside for some 25 years at this point.

The Werewolf Meets his Fate

Upon his conviction, Peter Stubbe was sentenced to death. He was put to the breaking wheel - a rather nasty form of punishment that involved breaking the bones in the body and leaving it on display - that's the...cleaner version. Now, if that was all there was to it this wouldn't be much of a story, would it?

No, while he was on the wheel, red hot pincers were used to tear the flesh from his body. He was subsequently beheaded and his body was burned. His daughter Sybil and mistress Katherine, were condemned to death as well for being accessories to the werewolf murders. They were flayed, strangled and thrown onto the burning body of Peter Stumpf.

The punishments were brutal, there's no question about that, but...

Monster or Madman?

Here's the critical question: was Peter Stumpf a monster, a madman, or both? Was he even guilty in the first place? There are many theories about the guilt or innocence of the unfortunate farmer. It's no secret that, at the time, mental illnesses were not well understood. So, it's highly likely that he may have been severely mentally ill - possibly suffering from some form of psychosis.

Another theory is that his trial had a not-so-hidden religious agenda. At the time, Germany was known as the Holy Roman Empire, and Protestantism was gaining traction. Stumpf was a Protestant Christian (I honestly don't know the difference). At the time of Stumpf's arrest, Europe was in the midst of the Roman Inquistion (1542 - mid-18th Century) - an attempt by the Catholic church to make Catholicism the principle religion of Europe.

The theory goes that Stumpf's trial was little more than a show. It was a chance for the Catholic authorities of the time to make an example and 'encourage' conversion from Protestantism.

There is one other theory, this one relates to the hunters who initially captured him. That theory? Laziness. Yes, there's a theory that perhaps the hunters were, in fact, chasing the real werewolf and it escaped. Stumpf was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and, rather than track the animal from scratch, the hunters just decided that Stumpf was their guy.

A Dark Tale...

We may never know the truth surrounding the case of Peter Stumpf.

As far as the people of Germany were concerned, however, the werewolf of Bedburg had been caught and killed.

This was an interesting case to visit, my personal opinion is that the case was largely circumstantial at best and rigged at worst. There was no evidence of any wrongdoing - apart from the coerced confession. That's just my opinion though, what are your thoughts?