Swiss Murder Mysteries

In the previous episodes, we concentrated on the 4 suspects that instantly came under suspicion and were repeatedly questioned by the police. The police that were convinced that 1 of the 4 was the murderer and subsequently focused their investigations primarily on them. But by doing that, they were later accused by the press and private investigators to have neglected to follow-up on alternative leads, having only half heartedly pursued testimonies and observations that were reported from third parties. Furthermore, the case file X Y Television Program did not yield any new leads. The police reached a point where they started to seriously doubt their capabilities.

A year had passed since the murders and they had virtually nothing in their hands. No murder weapon, No motive. No clue as to the location of the murders. No evidence. And certainly no suspect.

This ended abruptly when, basically out of nowhere, a new suspect entered the scene whose connection to the case became only auspicious when a multitude of seemingly unrelated occurrences regarding his persona were combined and put in context with the murders. Coincidences that appeared so baffling that very few considered them to be just coincidences, but rather a proof of his involvement that catapulted him overnight to being the main suspect. My name is Rudolf Eisler and this is The Main Suspect, Episode 6 of The Crystal Cave Murders, an investigative true crime podcast by Playground Media Productions. All interviews were recorded in German and translated into English. All voice overs were done by speakers that are not related to the case.

All individuals mentioned in this podcast must be considered innocent and cannot be prosecuted or convicted as the 30 year statute of limitation for murder in Switzerland was reached in 2012. The presumption of innocence applies. And, finally, this podcast was written without the assistance of JetGPT or AI, which might not make it better, but certainly more human. The new suspect happened to be an architect that was 40 years of age at the the time, married, and with 2 daughters 11 12 years old, living right below the crystal caves. He was a well known figure in the region and grew up in the nearby village of Oberwald.

In 1978 he bought an old farmhouse, which he renovated and transformed into a pretty country house with integrated horse stables and a large living room with huge windows on the ground floor that offered a fantastic view past the vegetable garden, across the pedock, and the Rhine Valley in the distance. A passionate horseback rider, he often participated in equestrian tournaments and owned 2 or 3 horses. A few weeks prior to the girl's disappearance, and in connection with his riding activities, he had taken out a disability insurance policy of 1,200,000 Swiss francs, approximately the same in U. S. Dollars.

And as chance would have it, he then reported a horse riding accident in the end of January 1983. According to his testimony, he hit the branch of a tree with his head after a competition, fell off the horse, and remained unconscious on the ground. The paramedics provided first aid and then swiftly brought him to a nearby doctor in the village of Arbonne. After further investigation hospital. This they did and by the end of the day he ended up in the intensive care unit at the Campno hospital in St.

Cullen. Following the diagnose he remained there for 2 or 3 days before it was considered safe to have him return home. Initially, all seemed well again. But a few weeks later, he experienced symptoms of balance disorders and a severe memory loss. These were then treated by a local family doctor.

So far, so good and nothing substantially that could have connected The only odd thing being the relatively short time span between his taking out a life insurance policy and the actual riding accident. This caused his insurance company to take a closer look at the reported riding accident and his insurance claim. Their investigations run, time wise, parallel to the murder investigation by the police and at some time, they converge. A link between the two cases was first established when, after his release from the hospital, the police showed up at his premises doing house calls in context with the double murders. When he was questioned, he was unable to make a coherent statement, let alone answering the questions put to him by the investigators.

This appeared so odd to the police that they contacted insurance company to acquire details about the latest developments regarding his accident. Their suspicion was obvious. The police thought it possible that the whole thing with the insurance and the accident was a fraud, and that he might only fake the memory loss to conveniently cover up a possible connection related to the double murder. Their assumption was further supported by 2 other facts. The first one being that his house was only a few 100 meters from the crystal caves and that the caves themselves were actually situated on his property and, secondly, that roughly around the same time the girls disappeared, He and a friend climbed the steep terrain off the beaten track towards the caves to locate and fix a leak in the water hose because he too, just like the family at the sawmill, collected fresh water from the stream by the caves.

But unlike his neighbor, his pipe reached further up and the water was collected from the lake inside the caves. This, of course, proved that he was very familiar with the terrain. All these things combined the short interval between taking out the insurance policy, the riding accident, the memory loss, the proximity of his house to the caves, and the repair work of the water pipe around the time the girls vanished, was reason enough for the police and insurance investigators to keep him under continued surveillance when released from the hospital. After a few weeks at home and his health conditions not improving, he and his wife decided for a hospitalization in a clinic. He left his home in spring 1983 and spent a full 2 consecutive years being treated by specialists and neurological experts.

During this time he spent days, if not weeks, at renowned university hospitals in Zurich and Basel. He finally returned home to his family and country house in Cobolvald, in much better shape early in 1985. The family then decided to sell the house and move to the southern part of Switzerland, or to be more precise, to Campione d'Italia, a commune of the province of Como in the Lombardy. A tiny Italian enclave surrounded by the Swiss Canton of Ticino of only 2.6 square kilometers, or just about 1 square mile. The move to Italy came as quite a surprise, not only to the family, but certainly to those who lived in the communities near the crystal caves.

It is hardly surprising that this move was, and still is, often interpreted as being proof of him being in some way connected to the events of the double murder. Moving away was one thing. But that he migrated not only to another language region but also to another country was very suspicious. The conclusion by the police and insurance investigators, as well as the press, was obvious. By doing so, the architect intended to escape surveillance and wanted to make an eventual arrest by investigators.

If not impossible, then certainly more difficult. He himself claimed that the reason for selling the house and moving away was due to financial problems and because his family's reputation, inebriate, and the surrounding villages and hamlets, had become unbearable. Everybody was convinced that he had something to do with the murder. They had hardly installed in Campione d'Italia when he and his wife noticed that they were continuously being monitored by several conspicuous looking men as soon as they left the Italian territory. Finally, almost a year later, exactly on his birthday, on February 26, 1986, three and a half years after the murders, he was arrested by the police while on Swiss territory and accused for the murder of Karen Gattiger and Bridget Mayer, as well as insurance fraud.

He was immediately transferred to the capital of Bern and subsequently extensive investigations and inquiries regarding his health began all over again. Doctors were brought in and medical specialists called to provide their expert opinions. Due to the fact that nothing incriminating came to light in connection with the crystal cave murders, This charge was dropped by the prosecution after 2 to 3 months. The investigations into the insurance fraud, on the other hand, were continued and pursued by elaborate medical examination at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne, Germany, as well as then a leading German forensic expert in Munich. Although all the opinions turned out in his favor, he was charged with insurance fraud.

But following the trial he was acquitted on all counts and without any reservations. For the 6th month he spent in pretrial detention, he received a compensation of 30,000 Swiss francs or US dollars. And as a direct result of the acquittal, the insurance company had to fulfill its financial obligation. The architect was fully rehabilitated and a free man again. But his reputation had been damaged beyond repair.

Still, today, many in his own village consider him, if not to be the murderer, to be in some way involved in the case. He himself had always proclaimed his innocence, and throughout the following years even supported private investigators and the press that were still keen on solving the case by giving them access to court files that were in his possession. He was still hoping that the real murderer would be found and convicted, which finally would absolve him from all guilt. But when things did not change to his favor, and he remained under suspicion, even after the Statue of Limitation for Murder was reached in 2,012, and due to his terrible experience with the Press, he understandably remained reluctant to give interviews in connection to the Crystal Cave Murders. Instead he had written a 10 page document that covered his involvement in the case in chronological order.

This being the introduction.

I wrote this comprehensive documentation of events in connection with the Crystal Cave Murders in 2018 due to ongoing media reports as well as the false, unjustified, and public accusations. The descriptions contained were comprehensively confirmed by the investigating authorities and a number of witnesses at the time. The documentation serves as an illustration and for better understanding of why all investigations were stopped at short notice in 1986. This should clearly show that there was never and at no time even the slightest indication of justified suspicion against me.

I was given a copy of this document by a private investigator, telling me this was about as much as I will ever hear from him. When I voiced my desire to meet and talk to him, everybody told me that this was wishful thinking. Too negative were his experiences with the press and journalists. But I had nothing to lose. I found out his phone number and, when spending a few days in the southern part of Switzerland between Christmas and New Year, I rang him.

He answered the phone and after I told him about my podcast, he explained in a calm, polite, but determined voice that he had absolutely nothing to do with the murder. But to my utter surprise, he agreed to meet me for an interview. So I'm on my way to meeting the architect exactly at 11 o'clock in a restaurant at Lugano train station. It is actually the very first time in a couple of years that he has agreed to meet someone and to talk about the case. So I'm quite surprised that, actually, he agreed to meet me.

So link 1. Okay. Here is the, cafe. Let's see what happens. I parked the car near the railroad station where we were supposed to meet.

A minute later I opened the door and entered the pizzeria, which luckily only had a few guests. Sitting all the way in the back, on a table by the window, was a white hair, spry looking and well dressed man, and considering her age, rather attractive woman. Both in the early eighties. When I walked in their direction, he stood up. I knew he was the man I was to meet.

We shook hands. I introduced myself. And he did likewise presenting himself and his wife. We sat down and ordered tea and coffee and I asked if he would mind me recording the conversation. He did.

Instead, he handed me a copy of the document I had already in my possession and asked me to read it. I did, or I pretended to, while he watched me silently. When I looked up again, I thought that this might already be the end of our meeting. He had nothing to add, he explained. But after some small talk about the weather, and I don't know what else, he agreed to recount what he had observed and reported to the police when having been questioned by them immediately following the girl's disappearance on the fateful Saturday in July 1982.

Mind you, this was before his riding accident. Because I was not allowed to record that part, the following is the translation of the written report as documented by the police. And just for clarification, the sawmill he mentioned is not the sawmill of the family.

On July 31, 1982, between 11 and 11:30, I drove my Mercedes and the horse trailer on the road coming from Oberit in the direction towards Kobylvise. I live in Kobylvald. I often take this route, especially with the horse trailer, because the road heading home is safer and easier to drive than the direct route, which is steep and curvy. So I drove from Metlin in the direction of Grabber Sawmill, which then leads to the junction. On the section between Metlin and Grabber Sawmill, a silver gray passenger car, possibly an Opel or Mazda, came towards me at high speed.

Apart from the driver, there were other people in the vehicle. However, I could not recognize them because the car was speeding, and I had to take evasive actions. But I did see the driver. It was a man around 30 to 40 years old. He had brown to light brown hair and a bold forehead.

I think I would recognize him again if I were showed a photo, But I cannot give any more information about the incident.

The account he gave me that day was very much consistent with the police report. The only difference being that now he mentioned that his daughter was also with him in the car. When I made him aware of this, he explained that he did not consider this relevant at the time. Important was what he noticed and not who sat next to him in the car. He also explained that this observation was regrettably filed away by the investigators and never followed up on.

After asking his permission to record our conversation, he agreed.

He all demate any answer? No. I am still convinced that the 2 girls were sitting in the car that came towards me. If the police had worked thoroughly and conscientiously at the time and had double checked my observation, I feel the case most certainly would have been solved. But instead, they deemed it unnecessary.

And he then went on to explain what happened right after this incident when he arrived home.

I arrived at home with my daughter at around 11:45 and unloaded things we had bought for the horses and stored in the trailer. Mostly hay and other things for the stable. This by the way was the reason we had the horse trailer coupled to our car, which was a dark gray Mercedes 230e. Afterwards, we had lunch and expected a visit from a business friend and his family from Germany in the afternoon. We had planned a ride with him and his children and he arrived around 1 PM.

Because their daughter had taken a friend along, we were short one horse. Without further ado, I borrowed one from my neighbor. Then we went for a ride in the surroundings of Cobelwald and arrived back home late in the afternoon. We groomed the horses, took off the saddles, and I returned the borrowed horse to my neighbor. In the evening, we enjoyed a barbecue at my home.

It must have been around 11 PM when the family left and returned to their holiday home. We then went to sleep. I spent Sunday with my horses at a horse show near Landcourt. My neighbors and the German business client were questioned. Both confirmed these events to the investigating authorities, and they were put on record.

He also explained that during the outing with his horses and his friend, he did not make any suspicious observation and did certainly not see the 2 girls. To double check on this, I later rang the neighbor that, according to his testimony, borrowed him a horse that day. He and his wife, not surprisingly, did confirm every detail the architect had told me, including the date and time. He then continued and described what happened once he had left the village of Cobolvald and had moved to Campionet Italia in 1985.

Whenever we left the Italian territory to, for example, drive my daughters to school, They were waiting for us in a car at the border. It was so obvious. It appeared they did not take great care to remain unnoticed. I guess their intention was to find some sort of hint or clue that I'd been faking the mental and physical consequences of the accident. Just about anything really that could connect me to the murder.

Something that proved that I was part of a conspiracy of some sort. Everything was so odd. It just didn't make any sense. But I really have no other explanation.

And finally, when I asked if there was anything else he wished to add, he made the following statement.

So what I would like to add, I have never been found guilty of anything, not even the smallest detail. 0. Not. I had young girls as apprentices in my architectural office. Often, there were girls in my stables, horse lovers, teenagers who helped with the grooming of the horses or taking them out for a ride or to the paddock.

Never, not once was there any complaint from any side. All these girls were questioned by the police. And then I am supposed to have driven around the corner in my car on a Saturday and killed 2 teenagers. Please. Just how absurd is that?

When I walked out of the restaurant an hour and a half later, I was convinced that the architect was not the man that killed the 2 girls. Himself a married man and father of 2 girls, his demeanor and honesty convinced me of his innocence. But then again I never claimed to have a very good judgment of people. By the end of 1986 the police investigators stood there empty handed and the case went cold, This time for good. No new evidence surfaced.

Nobody came forward with new observations. And the man that took the girl's last picture remains a mystery man to this day. It even appeared that the investigators were not unhappy when in 2012, 30 years later, the Statue of Limitation was reached. The prosecution destroyed all the evidence they had And so it is assumed also the files. The case remained unsolved and would have been off the tabloids in most everybody's mind if it were not for a private investigator by the name of Thomas Bentz.

A man who dedicated a big part of his life to keep this case alive. For 40 years he meticulously gathered everything connected to the case, talked to people involved, collected newspaper snippets photographs and copies of police reports visited the area by the caves more often than anybody else, and founded an independent community of interest to keep investigations going. It is thanks to him that the case was never completely forgotten. We will focus on his work and opinion in an upcoming episode. So to sum up this episode, all charges against the new and prime suspect, the architect, with regard to his involvement in the double murder and the insurance fraud, were dropped in 1986.

There was no evidence that linked him to the Crystal Cave Murders, nor that he had faked his riding accident and the resulting health consequences, thereby claiming the insurance to which he was rightfully entitled. But if you think that this was the last time we heard of him, You are dead wrong. Tune into Episode 7, The New Leads, when new witnesses approach the press and a private investigator with yet more baffling and unheard of observations, catapulted the architect once more right into the spotlight. This time, in context with the car he owned, a dark gray Mercedes 230e. The car that became of vital importance even 5 years after the case had passed the 30 year statute of limitation for murder.

And while this new evidence made it to the front of most every newspaper, was covered on the radio and television stations across the country, the police followed the developments with no more or less curiosity and interest than the average Swiss citizen. Please do visit our website at thecrystalcavemurdersdot com for additional information, including maps, photographs, videos, and details on how to support the makers of this podcast should you suddenly have developed the desire to do so and to keep the Crystal Cave Murders free from tiresome advertisement by manufacturers of Swiss watches, chocolate, or cheese. My name is Rudolf Eisler, and this was The Main Suspect, Episode 6 of The Crystal Cave Murders, an investigative true crime podcast brought to you by Playground Media Productions. Available on Apple Podcasts or almost any platform of your preference.