Richard Müller (murderer)

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Richard Müller was a German dentist in the 1950s, who murdered his wife Gertrude. On February 18, 1954, Müller and his spouse were on their way to their house in Otterbach. According to Müller, they spotted a hedgehog on the road, and they decided to take the animal home to show to their sons. After Richard Müller had gotten out of the car, the vehicle exploded. His wife was burnt alive. Suspicions against him were first aroused when it turned out he had been carrying four full jerrycans of petrol in his car. Apart from that, he had also parked his car so close to the trees along the road that his wife could not have opened the car door on her side. Müller's motive was, apparently, his affair with another woman. In 1955 he stood in court in Kaiserslautern. He pleaded innocence, but was found guilty. He was sentenced to a remarkable six years in prison (Alfred Rouse, an Englishman who committed murder in a similar manner, was hanged).

[edit] References

• J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, The New Murderer's Who's Who, 1996, Harrap Books, London
• International Pattern of Murder, 1977, London