Case 178
The Woman Without a Face
Between 1993 and 2009, DNA discovered at 40 crime scenes across Germany, Austria, and France were linked to an unknown woman of eastern European descent. Dubbed ‘The Woman Without a Face’, her crimes ranged from petty theft to murder. After her DNA was linked to the murder of Heilbronn police officer, Michele Kiesewetter, the suspect was renamed ‘The Phantom of Heilbronn’.
But who was this dangerous woman and what was her motive? All would be revealed after a chilling DVD was sent to media outlets.
CREDITS
EPISODE:
Research – Holly Boyd
Writing – Jessica Forsayeth
Creative direction – Milly Raso
Narration – Anonymous Host
MUSIC:
‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro – www.dl-sounds.com
Audio production – Mike Migas
Music –Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn
OTHER:
Logo and website design – Paulina Szymanska
RESOURCES
NEWS ARTICLES
Mystery of Phantom solved? – The Stern
Phantom of Heilbronn never existed – News von Morgen (via wayback machine)
‘Woman without a face’ leaves German police in the dark – Sydney Morning Herald
Hunt for Woman without a face – Mirror
The Phantom of Heilbronn – Crime Magazine
The hunt for the Phantom of Heilbronn – Berliner Morgenpost
Police murder – what does the Phantom have to do with the nursing assistant? – Stimme
Traces of blood from an invisible woman – Sueddeutsche
Police are investigating new leads to the phantom – Spiegel Panorama
Austrian Police pulled in cotton swabs weeks ago – Spiegel
Germany’s Phantom serial killer: a DNA blunder – Time
Killer Phantom vanishes into thin air – Neue Press
That should not have happened – Spiegel
The mystery of the Phantom of Heilbronn – ISO
40 clues, but not a hot lead – Schwartzwalder Bote
Departure of Phantom hunter – Spiegel
NSU, the neo-Nazi group that forced Germany to confront its racist demons – Haaretz
Germany’s new old problem, the rise of neo-Nazism – The Atlantic
The many faces of neo-Nazism – DW
Beate Zschäpe given life in German neo-Nazi murder trial – BBC
NSU – what you need to know about Germany’s neo-Nazism terror group – DW
Wrestling with invisible attackers in the Mullerthal region – time comes for everyone – RTL Today
The incredible – Taz archive
Neo-Nazi attack survivior: “I won’t stay silent” – DW
A brief history of German neo-Nazi group NSU – AP News
The neo-Nazi murder trial revealing Germany’s darkest secrets – Guardian
The chilling neo-Nazi trial that exposed the dark side of a new Germany – New Republic
New evidence in murder of German police officer by far-right – World Socialist Website
German neo-Nazi Beate Zschaepe sentenced to life for NSU murders – Guardian
Michele Kiesewetter – Forgotten victims of right-wing violence
DNA of neo-Nazi terrorist Böhnhardt found near remains of murdered girl Peggy – DW
Germany: Suspect confesses to transporting corpse of missing girl Peggy – DW
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