Karl Hopf (serial killer)

Karl Hopf (26 March 1863 – 23 March 1914) was a German serial killer. He was sentenced to death on 19 January 1914, for murdering his wives, father and daughter, as well as attempting to murder other people from the Frankfurt jury.

Life
Karl Hopf attended the Musterschule and left after the Untersekunda. He began work as a pharmacist in London, and lived temporarily in Casablanca and India. There he trained in fencing, which he mastered to perfection. At the turn of the century, he ran a kennel in Niederhöchstadt, today part of Eschborn. For one of his dogs, he scored a high amount of 10,000 gold marks for sale at one time.

Murders
In 1902, he married his first wife, Josefa Henel, from Niederhöchstadt. She died the same year on 28 November after a short illness. From her life insurance, he received 20,000 gold marks. He then married Auguste Christine, née Schneider, who also began suffering from health problems. She divorced Hopf, left him and died soon afterwards. However, Hopf was unable to collect the insurance of 30,000 gold marks on her. His daughter, Elsa, died in 1906.

In the following years, Hopf appeared in variety shows under the pseudonym "Athos" as a champion in fencing.

In 1912, he married Dresden native Wally Siewec in London. They insured themselves with 80,000 gold marks "on mutuality". His third wife soon became ill with severe gastrointestinal disease. She was treated at the Deaconess Hospital in Frankfurt, where she began to feel better. The toxicology specialist, Dr. Rossmann, recognized symptoms of severe poisoning and consulted forensic physician Georg Popp.

Investigations
As a result, a search of Hopf's home revealed large amounts of various highly concentrated poisons, including arsenic, digitalis and live cultures of typhoid and cholera bacilli. He was arrested on 14 April 1913. Hopf had brought a bottle of cyanide with him, but police seized it from him.

Trial
The trial in front of the jury in Frankfurt and lasted from 9 to 19 January 1914, and was very well received by the public. More than 64 witnesses and experts were invited and heard. At the trial, it came to light that Hopf had murdered his father, first wife, illegitimate child and his daughter Elsa from his second marriage with poison. He secretly, partially over long periods of time, poisoned all the murdered, mostly hidden in foods and drinks.

In an exhumation of the bodies of all his deceased relatives, Popp succeeded for the first time in criminal history to scientifically lead the poison detection in the bones and body parts.

Execution
After he was sentenced to death, Karl Hopf was guillotined on 23 March 1914, in the courtyard of the Royal Prison Preungesheim.