Günter Hermann Ewen (1962 – 18 May 1999) was a German mass murderer who killed four people and wounded at least nine others in Dillingen, Germany on 16 May 1999, before escaping to Sierck-les-Bains, France, where he killed another person, and wounded two more. Hunted by German and French police, he eventually committed suicide in a hotel in Strassen, Luxembourg on 18 May.[1][2][3][4]
Günter Hermann Ewen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Günter Hermann Ewen 1962 |
| Died | 18 May 1999 (aged 36–37) Strassen, Luxembourg |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Occupation | Paver |
| Details | |
| Date | 16 May 1999 4:40 a.m. – 5:40 a.m. |
| Location(s) | Dillingen, Germany Sierck-les-Bains, France |
| Killed | 6 (including himself) |
| Injured | 11 |
| Weapons | |
Life
editEwen was born in Dillingen in 1962, being the youngest and only boy among five siblings, and suffered from asthma from childhood. He showed little interest at school, had to repeat two grades and left Hauptschule after grade seven,[5] whereupon he started an apprenticeship as a paver, which he quit after two years due to his ailment. Up to the age of 30 he lived with his parents and mostly worked odd jobs to earn money.
According to conflicting reports Ewen began to consume alcohol excessively either at the age of twelve[6] or eighteen, animated by one of his sisters' boyfriends, whom he admired for his rather wasteful lifestyle. As a youth he was arrested for theft, fraud,[5] and battery, and starting in 1982 he was caught numerous times while driving under the influence of alcohol, which resulted in a three-month prison term when he was 26. Since 1990 he was arrested for acts of voyeurism and exhibitionism, and in February 1991 he was fined after masturbating in front of women at a tennis club. Six months later Ewen, whilst drunk, twice broke into a home for mentally disabled women and sexually molested them in their beds. One hour after the second such incident he raped a woman in her home.[7]
In February 1993 Ewen was convicted of rape and sexual assault in three cases, and sentenced to a prison term of five years and six months. A psychologist found him to be a narcissist, who, in his infantile egocentrism, ruthlessly tried to satisfy his own needs, especially when under the influence of alcohol. In prison he was in therapy concerning his sex offences and was eventually released in October 1996, after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
Out of prison Ewen started his own business, but in August 1998 he was accused by his friend Robert Fisne of six counts of burglary, whereupon he was again arrested. He remained in remand until January 1999, when he was acquitted, since no incriminating evidence could be found and the testimony of Fisne, the only witness in the case, was vague and contradictory. Even though he left prison cleared of these accusations, the arrest turned out to be devastating to Ewen's personal life, as during this time his business went bankrupt, he lost his home, his girlfriend left him, and he had accumulated DM 60,000 in debt, while the DM 3,000 granted as compensation for his wrongful imprisonment were barely enough to pay his attorney.
Ewen eventually found shelter at the home of his sister and brother-in-law in Beckingen where he lived up to the day of the shooting and helped renovate the building.[8][9]
Victims
editReferences
edit- ^ Manhunt for border killer, BBC (May 17, 1999)
- ^ Cross-border murder suspect found dead, BBC (May 18, 1999)
- ^ Briton among the dead as disco gunman kills five, The Independent (May 17, 1999)
- ^ La chasse à l'assassin fait trembler la Moselle, Libération (May 18, 1999)
- ^ a b Der verdächtige Ewen wurde vom kleinen Ganoven zum Schwerverbrecher, Saarbrücker Zeitung (May 18, 1999)
- ^ Vom Voyeur zum Serien-Mörder, Saarbrücker Zeitung (May 22, 1999)
- ^ Tag der Abrechnung, Focus (21/1999)
- ^ Fieberhafte Jagd nach dem Dillinger Mörder, Saarbrücker Zeitung (May 18, 1999)
- ^ 'Der beschte Bua', Stern (May 27, 1999)
- ^ Killing spree gunman evades police hunt, Irish Independent (May 18, 1999)
- ^ Killer may have sought revenge against theft case witness, The Times (May 18, 1999)