Gabor Sprungk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gabor Sprungk | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gabor Torsten Sprungk 1971 |
| Died | (aged 46) |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Convictions | Murder x3 Various other crimes |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment with preventive detention x3 (murders) Various (other crimes) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 3 |
Span of crimes | 2007–2008 |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Saxony-Anhalt |
Date apprehended | For the last time on July 1, 2008 |
Gabor Torsten Sprungk (1971 – January 9, 2018), known as The Mansfeld Double Murderer (German: Doppelmörder von Mansfeld), was a German serial killer and rapist who killed an elderly woman and her doctor in Mansfeld in 2008, and was later linked to the earlier murder of a woman he had dated the year prior. Deemed as the most dangerous prisoner in Saxony-Anhalt, he killed himself in prison in 2018.
Gabor Sprungk was born in 1971 in the hamlet of Friedrichrode, located within Bräunrode, East Germany. Little is known about his early life, but he began committing crimes at age 16 and would be repeatedly arrested for rape, sexual assault, possession of a gun, driving without a license and embezzlement.[1] Sprungk is known to have served in the French Foreign Legion at one point, but his activities during this time period are unknown.[2]
Following the German reunification, Sprungk committed a series of rapes and brutal assaults against prostitutes, for which he was convicted and ordered to serve 8 years imprisonment at a prison in Halle. After serving out the sentence in full, he was released from prison and moved to Altstätten, Switzerland, where he lived under an alias.[2]
Murders
While living in Altstätten, Sprungk used an online dating site to become acquainted with 47-year-old Maria Kämpf-Riberio, a divorced saleswoman living in Risch-Rotkreuz. The pair became romantically involved after a few dates, and Sprungk moved in to live with her for a short while.[3]
On the night between June 23 and 24, 2007, Sprungk convinced Kämpf-Riberio to accompany him on a supposed trip to Mansfeld. Instead of going to the town, however, he drove to an isolated section of the Wolfsgrube forest, tied her to a tree and suffocated her with a plastic bag.[4] After stealing her personal items and money, Sprungk buried Kämpf-Riberio's body nearby and left.[4] She was reported missing by her ex-husband on that same day, and while Sprungk was considered the sole suspect in her disappearance, prosecutors were reluctant to press charges due to the fact that they were unable to find a body at the time.[4]
Over the following year, Sprungk committed a litany of crimes for which he was convicted and sentenced to 2 years and 7 months of preventive detention. Fearing that the authorities were after him and wanting to gather funds to escape to Switzerland, he considered robbing a house in Mansfeld. On June 29, 2008, he broke into the house of 76-year-old Annemarie S. - upon seeing her, he attacked the elderly woman and strangled her with a shoelace.[1] To his disappointment, there was little money or valuables in the home, prompting Sprungk to call in Annemarie's 64-year-old family doctor, Dr. Horst Grimm, under the pretense of her having some sort of medical emergency. When Grimm arrived, Sprungk strangled him and stole the car keys to his Mercedes-Benz.[2]